July 4th: Remembering the Promise, Carrying on the Work

Every July 4th brings fireworks, picnics, parades and happy celebrations of American freedom. But behind the festivities lies a deeper, more enduring story. To me, July 4th is more than America’s birthday; it’s a reminder of unfinished work and a call to keep America’s promise alive and moving forward.

We correctly associate the date with the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia. But July 4th carries additional meanings. Notably, on that day in 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration, both Jefferson and John Adams, two Founding Fathers and former presidents, passed away. Their deaths on that date feel almost fateful. They helped give birth to America and their passing reminds us how closely their lives were tied to America’s psyche.

Like many Americans, I was required in school to memorize the opening lines of Jefferson’s Declaration and the entirety of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. At the time, I was concerned primarily with getting the words right. But over the years, those words took on deeper meaning. They became touchstones and reminders of how to be a good citizen and a better American.

The Declaration’s primary purpose was to justify dissolving the political connection between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. It was ratified on July 4th, 1776. The U.S. Constitution was adopted twelve years later and George Washington became our first president. Also embedded in Jefferson’s words is one of history’s most enduring ideas that “all men are created equal,” with unalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These were bold words for the time, being more aspirational than factual. In 1776, many were excluded from those promises. But I believe the idea took root and for nearly 250 years Americans have looked to it as a guiding star.

Eighty-seven years after the Declaration, Abraham Lincoln returned to that same idea at Gettysburg, where that decisive Civil War battle was fought from July 3rd through 5th. There, he asked whether a nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” could endure. Lincoln understood the Civil War was not just a military conflict. It was a test of whether the American experiment could survive. At that time, the outcome was far from certain. Lincoln’s message to his generation and to ours was clear: we must be dedicated to the unfinished work for which so many gave their lives. His words still challenge us to ensure that “government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” I believe that’s a burden worth shouldering.

Each time I reread these two documents, I’m struck by their clarity and moral force. They are short, strong and deeply connected. They almost feel like bookends. Both documents ask something of every American: that we carry forward the hard-won progress of the past 249 years. This is a duty I accept and take very seriously.

America has been blessed with leaders who helped renew our national spirit. In the second half of the 20th century, voices like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan and others inspired us toward higher ideals and shared responsibility. Their words still echo and still matter. But so far in this century, such leadership feels harder to find. Today’s political discourse generally feels bitter, shallow and performance based.

A functioning democracy requires compromise, but compromise has grown rare. When we can no longer work together our system begins to falter. If we lose the ability to listen, to reason and to find common ground, we risk losing everything past generations built for us. That isn’t fearmongering, it’s historical reality. And it’s a real threat to the democracy we’ve inherited. Shame on us if we allow it to decline on our watch.

This year, I hope we all look beyond the fireworks. Also, I hope we read the Declaration and the Gettysburg Address not as relics but as roadmaps. We are not founders like Jefferson. We are not saviors like Lincoln. However, we are stewards. We’ve inherited something precious and must strengthen and pass it on in better shape than we found it.

The question now is: Will we do our part? Will we rise above the noise, the anger and the division? Will we find the courage to compromise and put the greater good of America first? This is our moment. This is our watch. History and our heirs will be our judges.

Jim Ludlow is an Executive Producer of the Good Government Show podcast and founder of the Good Government Institute, a nonprofit that fosters ethical leadership and civic engagement.

June 18, 2025