There is nothing revolutionary about Marxism. People have used force to achieve their ends since the beginning of time. Marx gave the world a false revolution remarkable for its incalculable suffering and death. Now that America has reached her 250th birthday, we know with the benefit of history that the truly revolutionary ideas were born in Philadelphia in 1776.
No greater authority than the late historian Gordon S. Wood tells us that "it was the Revolution, more than any other single event, that made America into the most liberal, democratic, and modern nation in the world."* His is a bold claim, particularly for we Americans who know nothing other than our birthright that "all men are created equal."** Even today, this is a revolutionary idea.
Since the beginning of time, it had not been so. Men and women were born into their places and had hereditary superiors before whom they needed to grovel. Wood writes that "if we measure the radicalism by the amount of social change that actually took place--by transformations in the relationships that bound people to each other--then the American Revolution was not conservative at all; on the contrary: it was as radical and revolutionary as any in history."*
When we look abroad, we see that other revolutions are enforced by bands of armed thugs. Our revolution sustains itself by the truth of its founding ideals. When we find ourselves off course, we know which way to steer because the Declaration is our pole star. We correct our faults because our founding principles are right and true and eternal. Lincoln explained it in his 1862 Annual Message to Congress on the importance of emancipation.
We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope on earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just--a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.***
God bless America and Happy Independence Day to all.
*Wood, Gordon S. 1993. The Radicalism of the American Revolution, New York: Vintage Books.
** In Congress, July 4, 1776"Declaration of Independence: A Transcription." National Archives, online, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript. Accessed 07.01.2026.
*** "Abraham Lincoln's 1862 Annual Message to Congress, Final Remarks December 1, 1862" American Battelfield Trust, Home-Learn-Search Abraham Lincoln's 1862 Annual Message to Congress, Final Remarksshttps://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/abraham-lincolns-1862-annual-message-congress-final-remarks. Accessed 07.01.2026.