The Declaration of Independence is one of the most consequential documents ever produced. The blueprint for America, the document espouses the central tenants of the Natural Law in perhaps its most well-known sentence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The framers express, as core to the idea of America, that there are moral principles that are “self-evident” and freedoms that are “endowed by their Creator” to all citizens. Although it took over a century from the publication of the Declaration for its aspirations to be fully realized, they are unique in political history.

What’s truly remarkable is that this document was drafted and adopted in 1776. This was a time in world history when slavery was the way of doing business and the inherent racism and cruelty was normal. Under those conditions, the Continental Congress put these words, ideas, and principles to paper. They did so despite the state of global affairs, and knowing full well that they were challenging the era’s preeminent and battle tested superpower, the British Empire. If America failed, the recriminations would be brutal, grotesque, and inhumane. But they signed the document anyway.

The United States is the most successful democracy, despite challenges that other failed democracies didn’t have to overcome. We are multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-religious nation. Our pluralism highlights that it isn’t hegemony that unites us, it’s our belief in these principles. It’s our mutual desire to build a society, government, and nation based on a shared belief in the Natural Law, whose tenants all people of goodwill share.

We are an imperfect nation searching for a more perfect Union. We’re better today than we were in 1776, and we’ll continue to strive for perfection every day that the American experiment continues.

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