When President Donald J. Trump went to the Iowa State Fairgrounds last week to kick off the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, he launched a deeply important project.
The 250th anniversary is a terrific opportunity to re-educate two generations of Americans who came out of schools in which patriotism was downplayed, and American history was largely ignored or distorted.
It is also a great opportunity to help tens of millions of legal immigrants gain a deeper and better sense of the country in which they live. Too many first-generation Americans have been misguided by activist teachers and advisers who ignore the importance of America’s unique history.
America has a specific need for historical understanding among its citizens. As British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “Europe was created by history; America was created by philosophy.” Learning the philosophy of America – from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and other foundational works – is vital to truly learning what it means to be American.
We defined our rights as coming from God – not from Kings, bureaucrats, or warlords. In our founding document, we asserted “we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This was the most radical assertion of personal liberty and God-endowed freedom ever written. It was then historically put into practice by generations of Americans committed to the American dream.
President Ronald Reagan understood this at a foundational level.
At a dinner with Senate Republicans on Nov. 29, 1988, he asserted: “It’s the American vision of creating a new nation of free people, a country that would be a light unto the nations, and a shining city upon a hill. It is that vision that brought each one of us here to Washington, and I know that you each will keep faith with that great American dream that burns within our souls and within the soul of every American.”
In his farewell address, President Reagan warned:
“An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn’t get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties.
“But now, we’re about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren’t sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven’t reinstitutionalized it. We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs [protection].
Reagan went on to warn that: “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let’s start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.”
President Trump called for an America 250 project during his first term as an essential step in responding to President Reagan’s warning about the importance of learned patriotism. He took the second major step last week in Des Moines.
If we stay committed, America 250 will inspire a new generation of American pride. It can make all Americans more aware of how remarkable our country is, how precious our God-given rights are, and why we should all be proud, patriotic Americans.
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