When we talk about the Founding Fathers, we’re usually just talking about the Big Five: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.
Of course, these men deserve our veneration. But Jefferson, Madison, and Washington are synonymous with the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and presidency, respectively. Adams and Hamilton both have award-winning Broadway musicals and popular 20th century biographies that keep them top of mind.
But what of the other Founders, the men who thought, fought, and wrote this country into existence? In honor of America’s 250th birthday, The Daily Wire asked lawmakers, writers, and historians to draft a new Founding Father starting lineup. The only rule: they couldn’t choose one of the Big Five. Here are their picks.
<h3>Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives</h3>
Frederick Muhlenberg was elected to serve as the very first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives by the First Congress in 1789, and was the first signer of the Bill of Rights. An ordained Lutheran minister, Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress, and former 3rd Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, he was well prepared to accept the great privilege and challenge of leading and establishing a brand new institution.
Shepherding our great deliberative body through its formative days was no small task and required tremendous vision, skill, and patience. Muhlenberg was up to the task, and effectively crafted the rules, procedures, and protocols of Congress while actively serving in it. Because he and his colleagues had to travel treacherous or nonexistent roads on horseback, he was forced to delay the first meeting of Congress by a month until a quorum was reached. In August 1789, he cast the deciding vote for the location of the nation&#8217;s new capital.
While the speakership has changed considerably since Muhlenberg wielded the gavel, his efforts to construct a Congress capable of governing itself, debating openly, and exercising a check on the other branches of government were essential. As we celebrate America’s 250th, we do well to remember the wisdom and invaluable contributions of our founders and the unsung heroes who set our nation on its course to become the greatest in history.
<h3>Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus, The Daily Wire</h3>
Robert Morris was the greatest entrepreneur of the Founding generation. He bet his entire fortune — the largest in the country — on the riskiest startup the world has ever seen: the United States of America itself. Morris lived out the saying “freedom isn’t free”: you can proclaim your self-evident truths, but if you can’t pay your army, the British win.
Morris had every reason in the world to sit the Revolution out, hedge his bets, and stay rich. Instead, he became one of only two men to sign the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. Morris risked it all because he understood the American experiment was worth more than his own fortune, or even his own life. That’s not a businessman’s calculation. That’s closer to love than anything else.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ben-shapiro-show-mini-doc-robert-morris?utm_campaign=founding&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=iterable&amp;utm_content=email_blast_creative00098_na">WATCH: BEN SHAPIRO ON ROBERT MORRIS</a></h4>
<h3>Dr. Ben Carson, president, American Cornerstone Institute</h3>
George Mason doesn’t come off the bench; he’s a starter. Mason’s thinking about liberty and the best way to structure government had an outsized impact on the Founding. To take just one example, the Virginia Declaration of Rights might be the most important but least appreciated document from the time. Too few Americans have even heard of that document. If you have never read it, take a minute and do it now; you’ll see that it was basically the first draft of both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. True, Mason did not support the Constitution, but his objections to the Constitution — based on concern about too powerful a federal government — seem prescient given how much power Washington has aggregated for itself. George Mason isn’t the B-team; he should be talked about in the same breath as the other giants of the Founding.
<h3>Dr. Larry P. Arnn, president, Hillsdale College</h3>
You could no more put together an alternative starting five for the American Founding than you could for the 1991 championship Chicago Bulls. But if asked what secondary founders deserve attention, Benjamin Rush and Robert Morris come to mind. Rush, a Philadelphia physician, was a leading opponent of slavery and a great advocate of education in addition to being an ardent revolutionary. Morris, a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, took on the impossible job of Superintendent of Finance during the Revolution and played a critical role in getting arms to American troops in the field. But these men themselves recognized the superiority of those on the starting team. Rush said of Washington, “There is not a king in Europe that would not look like a valet de chambre by his side.” Morris, when asked by Washington to serve as the country’s first treasury secretary, declined and recommended Hamilton.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/could-donald-trump-finally-dismantle-the-deep-state-ronald-pestritto-thinks-so">READ MORE: HILLSDALE PROFESSOR EXPLAINS HOW DONALD TRUMP COULD KILL THE DEEP STATE</a></h4>
<h3>Daniel McCarthy, distinguished fellow in conservative thought at the Heritage Foundation</h3>
No one can replace the greatest of our Founding Fathers, but if we lost all record of them tomorrow, we might try to approximate the effect of their ideas and sensibilities in combination by looking to James Otis and Samuel Adams in place of Jefferson; Robert Morris, who was Washington’s first choice for Treasury secretary, in place of Hamilton; Roger Sherman, a wise constitutionalist, in Madison’s or John Adams’s stead; and James Wilson instead of Benjamin Franklin to supply some Pennsylvania principle. No one can compare to Washington, but John Marshall might occupy the place of a great Virginian profoundly committed to the Union. These less appreciated figures would give us a strong sense of our founding, though they would also remind us of what we were missing without the most renowned names available.
<h3>Richard Brookhiser, author, The Hero Returns: Lafayette and the Legacy of Revolution</h3>
For all the brilliance of the founders, not many of them understood economics. Tench Coxe, a Philadelphia merchant, did. He assembled facts and figures for Alexander Hamilton&#8217;s “Report on Manufactures,” and might have filled his shoes had Hamilton not existed. He later became a supporter of Thomas Jefferson, so he was also adroit politically. Nathanael Greene was also widely acknowledged for his military brilliance, losing every battle he fought against Cornwallis in the Carolinas yet driving him to Virginia and ultimate defeat at Yorktown. Georgia awarded Greene a plantation for his services, where he died of heat stroke after the war. Had he lived he might have made an excellent Secretary of War.
<h3>Troy Senik, author, A Man Of Iron: The Turbulent Life And Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland</h3>
Because he didn&#8217;t sign the Declaration of Independence, John Dickinson is always portrayed as a coward, the jittery man blind to the glory of the moment. The irony is that he walked into the Second Continental Congress arguably the most prominent advocate for colonial rights in America.
Dickinson did not oppose independence. He opposed declaring it before the preconditions for sustaining it were in place. No foreign alliance had been secured. The Articles of Confederation were nowhere near complete. The military situation was uncertain at best. His argument was methodical, not ideological: do these things first, then declare.
What happened next proved him right about virtually everything save the final outcome. The country barely survived the early days of the war, and only through a sequence of events so improbable that it would have been folly to plan for them. Had things gone south, Dickinson would have been remembered as Cassandra. Instead, he became a footnote in a story he helped write.
John Dickinson knew he was destroying his reputation by resisting the rush to declare independence. But he did so anyway because he believed the country&#8217;s long-term survival mattered more than the passions of the moment. It&#8217;s a sober patriotism to ask the questions nobody wants to hear rather than to give the hosannahs that everyone expects. Dickinson asked those questions, was overruled, and was later proven right. What had he done in the interim? Put on a uniform and fought for the cause anyway.
We could use more cowards like that.
<h3>Brian Anderson, editor-in-chief, City Journal</h3>
That’s easy: If Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and Hamilton were unavailable, my first draft pick would be James Wilson. One of the Constitution’s principal architects but now less well-known than the Big Five, Wilson argued that America’s liberties rest on more than individual rights; they also grow out of a moral order discoverable through reason and grounded in natural law.
Big themes: Rights and duties are inseparable, liberty means self-government rather than license, and political authority flows directly from the people because all persons are naturally equal before that higher law. Wilson offers a distinctly American synthesis of natural rights, civic responsibility, and constitutional self-government that in my view deserves renewed attention.
<h3>Ryan Williams, president, the Claremont Institute</h3>
John Quincy Adams was only 11 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed, but he would go on to a long career as senator, Secretary of State, Minister to Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, and finally, president. After Washington’s peerless inaugural example, JQA remains, to this day, the greatest foreign policy strategist and diplomat of American history. For a continued restoration of a truly America First foreign policy, all roads lead through JQA.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-editor-of-the-most-popular-edition-of-the-federalist-thinks-its-more-important-than-ever">READ MORE: THE CLAREMONT INSTITUTE&#8217;S CHARLES KESLER ON WHY THE FEDERALIST PAPERS MATTER</a></h4>
<h3>Daniel Gullotta, assistant professor at the Ohio State University’s Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society</h3>
While I&#8217;m sad most people don&#8217;t know who Gouverneur Morris is, it&#8217;s a lot of fun telling people who he was. Just mentioning he had a peg leg usually gets people&#8217;s attention. But his role in the Constitution, crafting the opening &#8220;We the People,&#8221; is something people should know just as commonly as they know Jefferson was the drafter of the Declaration. He was also arguably the most anti-slavery Founding Father (just read some of his speeches during the compromise debates). He also refused to leave France during the Reign of Terror while serving as our minister, despite the danger. Then there&#8217;s the crazy way he died, trying to clear a urinary blockage with a piece of whalebone from his wife&#8217;s corset. I know everyone says this person or that person needs a movie or miniseries, but come on, there&#8217;s just no part of his life that isn&#8217;t compelling.
<h3>Mark Helprin, author, “Elegy In Blue”</h3>
We&#8217;re sorely in need of Benjamin Franklin, maybe a few dozen of him, to correct the abysmal ignorance and inexperience of today&#8217;s &#8220;Yutes,&#8221; who know virtually nothing and yet are powered by the energy of the young and destined to run the zoo. And it is a zoo. Franklin made use of his long experience and inherent brilliance to take under his wing Adams, Jefferson, and a lot of others, guiding them with practical and long-lasting results. Maybe I say this about the younger generations because I&#8217;m in my 80th year and am falling prey to chasing them off the lawn. But, really, they can hardly speak English, the girls&#8217; speech sounds like frying eggs, and they know so little that they buzz around communism and fascism like moths around a flame. You know what happens with moths and flames.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/he-turned-the-royals-into-a-joke-his-take-on-america-is-anything-but?trueLinkId=75JIYEMEAhD1KHqlEouqVfPC%2Fc5LDaS1niXzcEeobct2bv%2FJcUHC%2BLs8PvnWg1HDBGj%2FUEf2tfG%2B%2BQqbHoPtag%3D%3D&amp;trueLinkTs=1782577908&amp;trueLinkExpiry=43200">READ MORE: A CONVERSATION WITH MARK HELPRIN, AMERICA&#8217;S GREATEST LIVING WRITER.</a></h4>
<h3>Brenda Hafera, Assistant Director and Research Fellow, B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies</h3>
Mercy Otis Warren was an exceptional woman who contributed to the founding of an exceptional nation. A staunch republican, she depicted the happenings in her native Boston through plays and poems intended to drum up support for the patriot cause. The list of her correspondence was a &#8220;Who&#8217;s Who&#8221; of the Founding generation, including John and Abigail Adams, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, enabling her to write the only Anti-Federalist account of the War of Independence. That opus, along with her thoughtful and uncompromising defense of the importance of morals and manners, justly earned her the designation, &#8220;The Conscience of the American Revolution.&#8221;
<h3>Anastasia Boden, Director of Constitutional Scholarship at Pacific Legal Foundation and the host of the In Dissent podcast</h3>
James Wilson has largely been forgotten. He deserves better. Wilson&#8217;s argument that the people, not the government, are sovereign justified not only rejecting Parliament&#8217;s taxes but breaking with Britain altogether. A Scottish immigrant steeped in the Scottish Enlightenment, Wilson helped popularize the radical idea that the people — not kings or Parliament — are the ultimate source of political authority and are fully capable of governing themselves. Wilson also played a leading role in shaping <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-can-sue-the-government-right/id1896779544?i=1000772988868">Article II of the Constitution</a>, strengthening the presidency with the counterintuitive goal of protecting liberty. In an era of debates over democracy, federal power, and constitutional government, few Founders have more to teach us.
<h3>James Patterson, author, “Why Postliberalism Failed”</h3>
The Founders we admire today were stark personalities and prolific writers, men who overshadowed impressive figures we tend to forget. One is John Witherspoon, the only member of clergy to sign the Declaration of Independence and teacher to James Madison, who gave both a religious and intellectual heft to the Revolutionary cause. As a Catholic, I have to recommend Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence, a major financier of the Revolution, and a fierce advocate for republican politics and religious liberty. And then there’s Roger Sherman, who was something of an unsung workhorse from the start of the Revolution through the early Republic years. He opposed slavery, and he was the chief author of the Connecticut Compromise that gave us the bicameral Congress we have today.

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14 Lawmakers, Writers, And Historians Pick Their Favorite Forgotten Founding Fathers

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&#8220;Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of &#8230;&#8221; Caesar Rodney?
July 1776. Nearly 15 months after Paul Revere&#8217;s famous ride — forever immortalized in the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — trouble was brewing as the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to discuss the question on everyone&#8217;s minds: will the 13 American colonies declare independence from England?
Virginia Delegate Richard Henry Lee put forth the proposition, stating that &#8220;these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states.&#8221;
A vote on the matter was set for July 2.
Delaware Delegate Caesar Rodney was at home in Dover, battling cancer and asthma and attending to his duties as an officer in the Delaware State Militia while his state&#8217;s two remaining delegates — Thomas McKean and George Read — were in Philadelphia. But when it came time to vote for independence, McKean and Read were at odds: McKean favored independence, while Read did not — and it quickly became apparent that Delaware would be the deciding vote.
A desperate McKean sent word to Rodney, a strong proponent for independence, who got the message on July 1 — and he acted without hesitation.
Meanwhile, a preliminary vote was taken on July 1 in Philadelphia. Nine colonies voted for independence. Two colonies — Pennsylvania and South Carolina — opposed. Delaware was deadlocked, and New York abstained because the delegates in Philadelphia were waiting for word from their local governments.
Rodney rode for 18 hours straight, pausing only to change horses, covering the 80 miles from Dover to Philadelphia — despite oppressive heat, dangerous storms, and his own failing health — bursting into the Pennsylvania State House (now known simply as Independence Hall) still wearing his mud-caked clothing and riding spurs.
&#8220;As I believe the voice of my constituents and all sensible and honest men is in favor of independence, and as my own judgment concurs with them, I give my vote for independence,&#8221; he <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-birthday-founding-father-caesar-rodney/">declared</a>.
Caesar Rodney&#8217;s vote broke the Delaware deadlock, and on July 2, 1776, the majority voted for independence. Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted with the majority, making the vote 12-0 with New York still abstaining. New York continued to abstain — although the delegates did not raise any objections — when they voted for the text of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
On July 9, 1776, New York&#8217;s provincial congress voted to officially adopt the Declaration of Independence, finally making the colonies unanimous in their position.
Unanimity was of the utmost importance to the Continental Congress, largely because they believed dissent would be seen by the British as a lack of resolve and would likely be exploited as the war continued.
The consequences of Rodney&#8217;s ride — and the subsequent vote — were immediate: British loyalists in Delaware ensured that he was not reelected to either the state legislature or the Continental Congress. He did return to politics, however, and was elected to serve as the President of Delaware from 1778-1781. He also briefly served as Speaker of the Delaware Senate before his death in 1784.
Rodney&#8217;s ride seems obvious fodder for a Hollywood film — or at the very least, an epic poem — so why is it that so many in America have never heard of him?
Perhaps it&#8217;s because Rodney himself often hid from the public eye. His skin cancer, diagnosed several years prior to the war — along with surgery to remove a tumor from his nose — had left his face so severely disfigured that he often wore a green silk veil to hide it.
Or maybe it&#8217;s just that Paul Revere &#8220;<a href="https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/699415-outlander-freedom-whisky?page=4">had a better publicist</a>&#8221; in Longfellow, as was noted in an episode of &#8220;Outlander&#8221; (Season 3, Episode 5). Revere, despite being immortalized in the famous poem, did not actually complete the &#8220;midnight ride&#8221; for which he is known. He set off for Lexington and Concord with William Dawes, and both were captured by the British before they could reach their destination. Dr. Samuel Prescott was the patriot rider who ultimately reached Concord in time to sound the alarm.
Rodney was not completely forgotten, however: the image of him on horseback appears on the Delaware quarters minted in 1999.
His name came up again in 2020, when Black Lives Matter protesters targeted statues of him — among many others — because he was a slave owner. A bronze statue of Rodney was taken down from its perch in Wilmington, Delaware, amid the protests that took place that summer.
In April, just ahead of the America 250 celebrations, the famed statue of Caesar Rodney was given a place in Washington, D.C.&#8217;s Freedom Plaza.
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As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, <a href="https://x.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> has been committed to celebrating and acknowledging the full breadth of our nation’s history, including the story of Caesar Rodney and his pivotal ride in July 1776.
Despite being gravely ill with a cancerous condition that… <a href="https://t.co/0ownpdHows">pic.twitter.com/0ownpdHows</a>
— Secretary Doug Burgum (@SecretaryBurgum) <a href="https://x.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/2048096835047150039?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The Midnight Rider Who Made America Possible Was Not Paul Revere

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MSNOW host Katy Tur, in a stunning display of historical illiteracy, questioned the foundational bedrock of the American republic, targeting House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had dared to repeat the very premise that birthed the United States: that our rights come from God, not the government.
During a segment on her show, Tur referred to Johnson’s speech at the &#8220;Rededicate 250&#8221; rally on Sunday, in which Johnson stated:
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And You gave our fathers the wisdom and faith to establish this new nation, premised on the Biblical and foundational principle that all men are created equal and free before you. Through Your divine providence, our Founders acknowledged and boldly proclaimed this self-evident truth: That every single person is created in your image and that we are endowed by you, our Creator, with our unalienable rights to life and liberty. The pursuit of happiness.  
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To any student of basic American history, Johnson&#8217;s words were a standard recitation of the Declaration of Independence. But to Tur, it was a scandalous theological overreach. A bewildered Tur asked, “What about this passage from Mike Johnson declaring that our rights do not derive from government, they come from You, our Creator and heavenly Father. Is this him putting God over the Declaration of Independence?”
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God talk is SO foreign to MS NOW. Katy Tur: What about this passage from Mike Johnson declaring that our rights do not derive from government? They come from you, our creator and heavenly father. Is this him putting God over the Declaration of Independence? McKay Coppins: I… <a href="https://t.co/sfpykN5bYc">pic.twitter.com/sfpykN5bYc</a>
&mdash; Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimJGraham/status/2056471098057744725?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The irony, of course, is that by asserting our rights come from God, Johnson wasn&#8217;t putting God over the Declaration of Independence — he was literally quoting it.
The Left&#8217;s modern discomfort with this concept betrays a dangerous desire to elevate the State to the position of the Almighty. The American Founders, heavily influenced by John Locke and the concept of &#8220;Natural Law,&#8221; synthesized a radical political philosophy: there is a divine law that supersedes any earthly king, parliament, or congress.
Thomas Jefferson famously encapsulated this in 1776, writing that all men are &#8220;endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.&#8221; By definition, &#8220;unalienable&#8221; means these rights are inherent to human nature. Because the government did not grant them, the government has no authority to revoke them. In the Founders’ view, the state is not the source of rights; it is merely a trustee — a security guard hired to protect them. If the security guard begins to violate those rights, the citizens retain the moral authority to fire the government.
Whether looking through an orthodox Christian lens or a Deist Enlightenment lens, the Founders united under a singular banner: No human politician has the authority to override divine design.
This distinction is not a matter of semantics; it is the ultimate shield against tyranny. If rights are granted by the state — via a constitution, a dictator, or a shifting democratic majority — then they can be amended, restricted, or entirely voted away by the state. But if they are a gift from God, they remain absolute and permanent.
Katy Tur’s inability to grasp this fundamental truth exposes the Left&#8217;s ultimate goal: a society where the government is the supreme arbiter of human freedom.

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Grab your best red, white, and blue, and get ready for some patriotism, because The Daily Wire and Young America’s Foundation are coming together for an epic celebration of freedom in honor of America’s 250th birthday.
Your favorite Daily Wire hosts are hitting the road for “Freedom at 250,” a series of rallies throughout America’s semiquincentennial year meant to coincide with YAF’s legendary student conferences. Governor Scott Walker, YAF’s president, said the group’s partnership with The Daily Wire will help reach more students than ever before.
“While the radical Left continues its attempts to demonize and undermine our nation’s heritage and values, it is more important than ever to inspire and equip the rising generation with the ‘informed patriotism’ President Reagan called for in his farewell address,” Walker said. “Freedom that allowed America to flourish is special and rare, and its defense requires bold action.”
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🚨 Young America’s Foundation is excited to announce a new expanded partnership with <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdailywire</a> to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence: Freedom at 250.
Coinciding with YAF&#8217;s life-changing student conferences in 2026, a series of Freedom at 250 rallies… <a href="https://t.co/CDA5C0QFqD">pic.twitter.com/CDA5C0QFqD</a>
— YAF (@yaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/yaf/status/1998422600700080255?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
Freedom at 250 will focus on our founders’ revolutionary bid for independence, grounded in the belief that all people are created equal, with their rights coming from God rather than from government. Those beliefs survived a civil war, making the United States a more perfect union, liberating Europe from tyranny, and taking down the Soviet Union’s “Evil Empire.”
The freedom so many before us fought for and defended has guided the United States for 250 years. That freedom is worth celebrating all year long!
Michael Knowles, Cabot Phillips, Mary Margaret Olohan, and Reagan Conrad are already booked for Nashville’s Freedom at 250 rally in February at the historic Country Music Hall of Fame.
After the tour kicks off in Music City, Freedom at 250 will make stops in Santa Barbara, California; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; and more cities will be announced!
Freedom at 250 builds on The Daily Wire and YAF’s years-long collaboration to bring bold voices to students nationwide at YAF’s student conferences. The always anticipated narrative-disrupting campus lectures will continue as part of Freedom at 250.
Our country’s milestone 250th birthday is a perfect time to remember President Ronald Reagan’s challenge to Americans.
“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.”
Freedom will be protected and celebrated throughout 2026.
To secure your spot at a rally, click <a href="http://yaf250.com/">here</a>. We will see all you patriots in the new year.

BenYAF

The Daily Wire And Young America’s Foundation Announce America 250 Celebration

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Joey Chestnut, the world-famous hot dog eating champion, returns to the Nathan&#8217;s Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition after taking a year off — and is expected to dominate once again.
Chestnut, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hot-dog-legend-joey-chestnut-signs-with-vegan-brand-gets-booted-from-july-4th-competition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">booted</a> from last year&#8217;s July 4 competition after taking a deal with fake meat company Impossible Foods, announced his return last month.
&#8220;I&#8217;m thrilled to be returning to the Nathan&#8217;s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest,&#8221; Chestnut <a href="https://x.com/joeyjaws/status/1934612017052336469" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;This event means the world to me. It&#8217;s a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture, and a huge part of my life.&#8221;
Although Chestnut did not compete in Nathan&#8217;s 2024 competition, he still holds 55 world records for various eating competitions. According to <a href="https://majorleagueeating.com/eaters/106" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Major League Eating,</a> the moderating body behind the hot dog eating contest, Chestnut also holds records for eating 121 Twinkies in six minutes, 390 shrimp wontons in eight minutes, and, of course, 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Chestnut has earned the &#8220;Mustard Belt&#8221; 16 times since 2008, the most anyone has ever won. He holds a strong lead over the competitor with the next highest number of wins, Takeru Kobayashi, who earned six belts before retiring due to health concerns.
Major League Eating <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hot-dog-legend-joey-chestnut-signs-with-vegan-brand-gets-booted-from-july-4th-competition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned</a> Chestnut from the Nathan&#8217;s Famous competition last year after he signed a deal with Impossible Foods, a Nathan&#8217;s competitor.
In a <a href="https://x.com/eatingcontest/status/1800607390636875792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1800607390636875792%7Ctwgr%5Ec0d98868a70172f80ffb323be440b5ea4f586a0d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fhot-dog-legend-joey-chestnut-signs-with-vegan-brand-gets-booted-from-july-4th-competition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> last year on X, the group said, &#8220;We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan&#8217;s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.&#8221;
During his hiatus from Nathan&#8217;s Famous competition, Chestnut set the <a href="https://x.com/joeyjaws/status/1916645992176173327" target="_blank" rel="noopener">record</a> for the most Buffalo Wild Wings eaten in one sitting, consuming 14.4 pounds of wings.
Patrick Bertoletti, who won last year&#8217;s competition with 58 hot dogs, has expressed his concern over Chestnut&#8217;s return. In an <a href="https://www.sportsbookreview.com/picks/more-sports/patrick-bertoletti-interview-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-2025/?utm_content=336287137&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;hss_channel=tw-174346152" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with Sportsbook Review, Bertoletti said, “I want to do better so that I can silence [Chestnut].&#8221;
&#8220;My goal the whole time was to do better than last year, and that&#8217;s always been the case,&#8221; Bertoletti said. &#8220;If Joey&#8217;s not there, then I have a very good shot of winning if I do that. And now that Joey is going, it&#8217;s the same thing.&#8221;
Major League Eating celebrated his return to the Nathan&#8217;s Famous competition by <a href="https://x.com/eatingcontest/status/1940470661396259297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, &#8220;He&#8217;s back. The legend. The GOAT. Joey Chestnut. Watch him dominate once again at the Nathan&#8217;s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. You don&#8217;t want to miss this.&#8221;
The winner of today&#8217;s competition will take home $10,000. The runner-up will receive $5,000, and third place wins $2,500.
Online prediction market Polymarket already has a few bets on the competition live. Fans have given Chestnut about a 90% chance of <a href="https://polymarket.com/event/nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-winner/will-joey-chestnut-win-the-2025-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">winning</a>. They are also more divided on how many hot dogs Chestnut will eat, with most <a href="https://polymarket.com/event/will-the-76-hot-dog-record-be-broken-on-july-4-172" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubting</a> he will beat his own record.

Joey Chestnut Visits “The Claman Countdown”

Joey Chestnut Returns To Coney Island, Expected To Dominate Hot Dog Eating Contest

meat

Let’s be real: most of us aren’t crossing the Delaware this 4th of July. We’re crossing the backyard in flip-flops to open the cooler. And that’s fine. That’s American, even. But while we’re manning the grill and dodging bottle rockets, we’d do well to remember: this day isn’t just about fireworks and flag-themed cupcakes. It’s about something far rarer — and far more worth preserving.
Because America didn’t just happen. It was made — and paid for.
Two hundred and forty-nine years ago, a bunch of men in powdered wigs looked at the most powerful empire on Earth and said, “Nah—we’re going to try something different. Hold my beer.” They didn’t tweet about tyranny. They fought it. They signed their names on a document that would’ve earned them a hangman’s rope had things gone south. And then they backed it up — starving, freezing, bleeding, and winning, so that one day you and I could argue over gas prices and post pics on Instagram.
They weren’t fighting for tax credits or better trade deals. They were fighting for the radical belief that our rights come from God, not government. And they risked everything for it.
We, by comparison, are just risking the brisket.
But maybe that’s the point. You don’t have to be Washington at Valley Forge to honor the Spirit of ’76. You just have to be intentional. You just have to remember.
Because the truth is, most Americans today couldn’t name five Founders. Some think the Revolutionary War was a Marvel spinoff. And every summer, like clockwork, the usual suspects try to reduce the Founding to a footnote in oppression — something to apologize for, not admire.
But the American Founding wasn’t a mistake. It was a miracle. Were the Founders flawed men? Sure. We all are. But the system they built — this Constitutional Republic grounded in natural rights and self-government — is still the greatest experiment in liberty the world has ever seen.
And it’s worth celebrating.
So, this Independence Day, take a minute — take five — to appreciate not just the fireworks, but the fire that lit the Revolution.
Maybe take some time to think about Jack Jouett. You’ve probably never heard his name. But when British troops were closing in on Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Legislature, Jouett rode through the night, 40 miles on rough terrain, branches slashing his face, to warn them.
He didn’t do it for fame. He didn’t expect a reward. He was just a regular guy who refused to let tyranny win on his watch.
So too were the legions of cold, hungry, bleeding men in Washington’s army who crossed the icy Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776. They marched barefoot through the snow to launch a surprise attack on a Hessian outpost in Trenton. Some died before the battle even began. But the rest fought, and they won. And with that win, the Revolution roared back to life.
These weren’t abstract ideals on parchment. These were men, enduring literal hell so that future generations could taste Heaven’s gift: liberty.
And that gift has only survived this long because, in every generation, regular people stepped up to keep it alive.
That includes you.
John Adams said, “Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”
So, if you want to make good use of it, here’s your checklist for a meaningful 4th of July:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Read the Declaration of Independence with your kids. Yes, even if they roll their eyes. Especially if they roll their eyes.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Fly the flag. Not because it looks good on your porch, but because you know what it cost.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Ask your kids what freedom means to them. Not a lecture — a conversation. They’re starving for meaning. Feed them something real.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Turn off TikTok. Read a chapter of the Federalist Papers. Or watch The Patriot instead of a reality show about people with fake names and real dysfunction.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Say grace. And thank God you live in a country where you can.</li>
</ul>
And if you’re Gen Z, no one expects you to recite the Constitution from memory. But maybe — just maybe — start asking questions. Read a book. Volunteer. Serve your neighbor. Build something with your hands. Log some service hours instead of screentime.
Because guess what? Next year is America’s 250th birthday. That’s not just a milestone. It’s a moment. A year from now, when the fireworks explode and the flags wave, don’t be the one just snapping selfies. Be the one who knows why it matters. Let this year be your warm-up lap. Spend the next 12 months loading the intellectual cannons. Read the Founding documents. Relearn the history. Equip yourself with truth.
Because if America is going to survive another 250 years, it won’t be because we got more “progressive.” It won’t be because of people like Barack Obama, who infamously said “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”
No, if America is to survive, it will be thanks to people who fought to conserve who we are: a nation under God. A people forged in sacrifice. A Republic—if we can keep it.
You can’t defend a country you refuse to define. And you certainly can’t celebrate one you won’t even elevate.
So, fire up the Weber. Salute the flag. Tell your kids the truth. Thank the ones who served. And say a prayer for the country that lets you do all five without asking permission.
We don’t need more guilt. We need more gratitude.
We don’t need perfect people. We need present patriots.
And we don’t need another political lecture. We need more parents, more truth, more God, more America.
Now, hold my beer. The brisket is burning.
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast We The People. Follow him on IG and X @GatesGarciaFL
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Friends celebrating Forth of July

The Everyday American’s Guide To The Fourth Of July

Freedom

Gen Z

Patriotism

Revolutionary War

The Fourth of July must be very hard for the British.
I mean, imagine fumbling a sizable chunk of your empire, watching it grow into the greatest country in the world, and then having them celebrate the breakup every year with pyrotechnics? Not even 250 years is long enough to get over that.
So, I don’t begrudge our pals across the pond for finding ways to cope when Independence Day rolls around. Like the good chaps over at JL Partners, who commissioned a poll that found that one in five Americans want to replace the president with the British monarch. Or their fellow expatriate, POLITICO’s Jack Blanchard, who <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2025/07/03/congress-caves-again-00438202?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=00000155-9c90-dad1-ad7d-fed474bb0000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">printed the poll results</a> in this morning’s Playbook.
“You heard me right,” Blanchard writes. “Polling and strategy firm JL Partners asked 1,000 U.S. voters if they support or oppose replacing the current president of the United States with the British monarch. The survey found 19% of Americans supported the idea.”
This support was “even higher among certain groups,” JL Partners’ James Johnson told POLITICO, noting that “more than one in three 18-29-year-olds back the idea.”
Does Gen Z really yearn for a return to the monarchy? Well, not exactly.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent">JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free</a>
Johnson confirmed to The Daily Wire that JL Partners collected information through an online, opt-in poll. According to the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/05/online-opt-in-polls-can-produce-misleading-results-especially-for-young-people-and-hispanic-adults/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pew Research Center</a>, these polls “can produce misleading results, especially for young people.”
The issue, it seems, is that young people who opt into these polls and click through quickly, “with as little effort as possible to earn money or other rewards.” The result? “Studies have shown that bogus respondents can cause opt-in surveys to overestimate rare attitudes and behaviors.”
Pew tested this theory by asking online opt-in respondents if they were licensed to operate a nuclear submarine. Twelve percent said yes. The actual proportion of Americans licensed to do? Less than 1%.
In other words, you can pretty much get 18-29-year-olds to say yes to anything, if you ask. This is why there’s still a market for Chappell Roan singles, or nonalcoholic beers.
And Gen Z isn’t perfect. Just <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/692150/american-pride-slips-new-low.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">41% of them say</a> they’re “extremely or very proud to be Americans,” according to Gallup.
But that doesn’t mean young Americans want King Charles to swoop in and hand them a cup of tea. In fact, Gen Z is moving <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/414266/republican-conservative-two-gen-z-young-voter-trumpier-progressive." target="_blank" rel="noopener">more and more to the Right</a>. And why wouldn’t they? We’re entering a new American golden age.
The economy is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-effect-u-s-adds-147k-jobs-beating-projections-for-fourth-straight-month?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Catherine+Maxwell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=TRUMP+EFFECT%3A+U.S.+Adds+147K+Jobs%2C+Beating+Projections+For+Fourth+Straight+Month" target="_blank" rel="noopener">booming</a>. Iran’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pilots-who-bombed-iran-will-come-to-white-house-on-fourth-of-july?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Pilots+Who+Bombed+Iran+Will+Come+To+White+House+On+Fourth+Of+July" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the ropes</a>. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-met-the-pope-it-was-amazing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pope</a> is from Chicago. Joey Chestnut’s back at Coney Island.
And what’s happening in England? Rappers are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-dept-revokes-bob-vylans-visa-as-agency-drops-him-and-u-s-tour-is-canceled" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling for jihad</a>, and people are <a href="https://x.com/ByDobson/status/1936014831003615621" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losing their minds</a> about the 78-degree heat. Yeah, no thanks.
At the end of the day, you can never trust the polls. They said <a href="https://x.com/ByDobson/status/1936014831003615621" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump would lose</a> in November, and look how that turned out. But we don’t need statistics to know how Americans feel about monarchy. As Americans, we know deep down that we would never, could never have a king. That ship sailed long ago — long before we even declared independence in the first place.
As John Adams <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6854" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> to Hezekiah Niles in 1818: “What do We mean by the American Revolution? Do We mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the Minds and Hearts of the People.”
That Revolution lives on in the hearts and minds of today’s Americans. And, whether they know it or not, it lives on in the hearts and minds of today’s Brits, too.
In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Freddy-Fredericka-Mark-Helprin/dp/0143037250" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freddy and Fredericka</a>, Mark Helprin, one of America’s greatest living novelists, imagines a modern-day Prince of Wales who must reclaim “the colonies” before he’s crowned king. As he crosses the United States to complete his mission, Freddy grows to love and understand the country he’s meant to reconquer, eventually coming to this conclusion:
<blockquote>“America does not need and cannot have a king, for it is majestic in itself as perhaps no country has ever been. And its great majesty is not the splendid landscape or the long and sunny coasts, not the Mississippi or the snows of the Pacific Crest. Its greatest majesty, its gift to the world, is that it has carried out God’s will to make each man a king, subservient only to Him. From the beginning, this has been the underlying force of every footfall, smile, and blink of an eye in this country.”</blockquote>
So, the monarchists can poll all they want, and journalists can print the results. It doesn’t matter to us — we’re too busy not having a king.

Independance day

Dear England: We Still Don’t Want Your King

England

United Kingdom

250 years ago today, future president John Adams declared this was “one of the happiest Days of” his life. As he <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/01-02-02-0004-0006" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded in his journal:</a>
<blockquote>&#8220;This was one of the happiest Days of my Life. In Congress We had generous, noble Sentiments, and manly Eloquence. This Day convinced me that America will support the Massachusetts or perish with her.&#8221;</blockquote>
Why so happy? Because the First Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia and composed of respected Virginians like George Washington and Patrick Henry and Massachusetts natives Sam and John Adams, had endorsed the <a href="https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=696&amp;img_step=1&amp;pid=2&amp;mode=transcript#page1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Suffolk Resolves</a>, a series of 19 resolutions written by defiant colonists from Boston’s surrounding counties.
Why was this so monumental?
In one sense, the Suffolk Resolves were not unique. Other localities throughout the colonies issued similar statements of resistance. American colonists had long governed themselves through their own institutions, assemblies, and charters. They resented Britain’s creeping interference and were preparing, as they would in the Declaration of Independence, to present to a “candid world” the principles of a new nation. And yet the Resolves stand out as a refined version of widespread conversations that had been occurring in the colonies about political principles and was an intellectual precursor to the Declaration.
The Declaration itself encapsulates the principles most central to the American national character. It did not spring suddenly from the singular pen of Thomas Jefferson. As <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-5212" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jefferson himself wrote</a>, it was “an expression of the [A]merican mind,” and its “authority rests then on the harmonising sentiments of the day.” In voting to draft, finalize, and pass the Declaration, participants in various committees and associations, like the Committee of Five and the Continental Congress, had to come to an agreement. All told, the members of the conventions, committees, Congress, and the colonies achieved a consensus in “more than fifty separate instances at a minimum” as Dr. Danielle Allen demonstrates in &#8220;Our Declaration.&#8221;
Such a consensus was possible because, prior to the Declaration’s issuance, the American people had deliberated and united around a set of moral and political maxims. They did so in and through church pews, pulpits, and pamphlets. In a 1638 sermon, Reverend Thomas Hooker, who founded the colony of Connecticut, declared that “<a href="https://connecticuthistory.org/the-free-consent-of-the-people-thomas-hooker-and-the-fundamental-orders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the foundation of authority is laid, firstly, in the free consent of the people</a>.”
Religious institutions were gathering places for the 70-80 percent of colonists who attended service on a regular basis, according to &#8220;We Still Hold These Truths&#8221; by Dr. Matthew Spalding. Likewise, Thomas Paine’s &#8220;Common Sense,&#8221; published in the early months of 1776, sold approximately 500,000 copies when the population was just four million.
<h4><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a></h4>
Public documents were a means of disseminating and discussing the ideas America would be dedicated to upholding. The Suffolk Resolves made clear that the actions of the British were not mere violations of man-made laws. Reaching back to first principles, Americans contended that infringements on the right of representation and self-government were, “gross Infractions of those Rights to which we are justly entitled by the Laws of Nature, the British Constitution, and the Charter of the Province.” Violations by the British of the laws of nature were the ultimate grounds for separation.
Natural laws are not about the physical laws of the universe, like gravity, but the moral laws that human beings do not author and cannot themselves change. For example, murder is and has always been wrong, despite it occurring in all human societies, and it would remain immoral even if Congress passed a law to make it legal.
Human beings have inherent equal dignity, a principle that is interwoven through America’s documents leading up to the Revolution and is resoundingly affirmed in the Declaration of Independence. Nine of the early state constitutions contained expressions of human equality in some form, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Political-Theory-American-Founding-Conditions/dp/1316506037/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2H20U7BN7TC4J&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6qtc2rDHt-eUAnvUNOWGcHoydmfDDWYvpVCEfsosvd0EIwzTqv-kOfaQ2wvE-5-nivfxK_gCKiOydGmsvehF9Axk0jevsI92E_SVXYrSLJUYNZe3XhWYq_STdhR2rS39tf6XIAg2YjNKFwciDl3hhwOw1EZz9fff6X07sToEIl3o4L-5HKnbL19VO7vzSMmJwDDkHKzseLZQyv7OS9e7us9WCCeQH8xqMxjINBMzx6g.iz2h0xgI27hDriV1LLtgh5AlgL1thYUFaB6cToR16ug&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=the+political+theory+of+the+american+founding&amp;qid=1717520575&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=the+political+theory+of+the+american+founding%2Cstripbooks%2C100&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">founding scholar Dr. Thomas West</a> notes.
The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/virginia-declaration-of-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virginia Declaration of Rights</a>, adopted in June 1776, states that, “all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights.” And the Declaration of Independence memorialized this principle with the phrase, “all men are created equal.”
Men is a substitute for all human beings, regardless of sex or social status. As John Adams <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-10-02-0007-0007" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote, equality</a>:
<blockquote>&#8220;It really means little more than that We are all of the same Species: made by the same God: possessed of Minds and Bodies alike in Essence… All Men are Men and not Beasts…The Equality of Nature is a moral Equality only: an Equality of Rights and Obligations; nothing more.&#8221;</blockquote>
All species have their defining characteristics. Most essential to humanity is our capacity to reason and engage in self-government, not our physical features, like skin tone or size. Through reason, we can discern right from wrong rather than act on mere instinct. And human beings are capable of controlling their impulses, passions, and desires.
Such capacities mean it is unjust for people to rule over one another absent their consent. England had repeatedly violated those principles by dismissing elected colonial assemblies, rejecting colonial laws, and imposing their own without obtaining the consent of the colonists. Thousands of miles away, Parliament believed it could uphold the common good and represent Americans as subjects. But Americans had formed themselves into a new kind of people, united around the principles of human equality and consent of the governed, and the character of that people rebelled against being relegated to an inferior status.
Sustaining that character requires ongoing work. Each generation of Americans has to decide to recommit itself to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and it is remarkable that we have the opportunity to do so. We can choose to govern ourselves now, both as individuals and as a nation, if we maintain the principled consensus of our past.
While today marks the anniversary of the Suffolk Resolves, we are rapidly approaching an even more crucial anniversary: the 250th of the Declaration of Independence. Will we resolve on that day to continue in the work we began on July 4, 1776, or will we depart from the intellectual heritage that made possible our ongoing experiment in self-government?
* * *
Brenda Hafera is the Assistant Director and Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation&#8217;s Simon Center for American Studies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

john-adams-our-second-president

Why John Adams Called September 17 One Of ‘The Happiest Days’ Of His Life

Why John Adams Called September 17 One Of 'The Happiest Days' Of His Life

American Revolution

Great Britain

John Adams

Massachusetts

Opinion

Some July 4th traditions endure better than others. We’ll always have fireworks, parades, and family picnics, it seems. But there was also a time when presidents offered eloquent speeches on America’s birthday — ones aimed at fostering unity and gratitude. And who can deny we could use more of that in such fractious times?
Sure, few of us would clamor for another presidential speech. But in an age where we’re losing a sense of who we are and the significance of our heritage, it’s a tradition worth renewing, especially with our 250th anniversary on the horizon.
<a href="https://www.vindicatingthefounders.com/library/electric-cord-speech.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Both Abraham Lincoln</a> and <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-celebration-the-150th-anniversary-the-declaration-independence-philadelphia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Calvin Coolidge delivered</a> particularly notable July 4th speeches. In his opening, Coolidge noted that, “It is to pay our tribute of reverence and respect to those who participated in such a mighty event that we annually observe the fourth day of July.” The event, of course, was the birth of a new nation.
It’s all too easy to forget the remarkableness of the deeds done, the selflessness of the risks taken, and the magnitude of the accomplishments of our Founding Fathers. General George Washington defeated the most formidable military in the world. The Constitution was the “miracle of Philadelphia,” and remains the oldest written constitution in existence. Such undertakings were assumed for the benefit of not only those first Americans, but their posterity.
The issuance of the Declaration of Independence was still more noteworthy. As Coolidge explained, “It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history.” The Declaration put forth the revolutionary idea that no human being is born to rule over others absent their consent. That idea makes each American the fortunate inheritor of a unique trust: a nation committed to self-government.
<div id="attachment_759175" style="width: 748px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-759175" class="size-large wp-image-759175" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-104560161-738x576.jpg" alt="Grace Coolidge (1879-1957), First Lady of the United States, United States President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), the wife of Coolidge's friend Frank Stearns, and C. Bascom Slemp (1870-1943), Secretary to the President, sitting in their box at the sixth game of the World Series in Washington, D.C., USA, circa 1925. Coolidge and Slemp are pictured waving their hats, cheering on their team, from the box, draped in a United States flag. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)" width="738" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-104560161-738x576.jpg 738w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-104560161-300x234.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-104560161-768x599.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-104560161.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 738px) 100vw, 738px" />FPG/Getty Images</div>
That trust establishes a connective chain of gratitude and obligation for the American people today. The Founding generation launched the experiment. The current generation has the task of continuing it by governing themselves, assuming their duties and respecting the rights of others, in equal measure. Without an appreciation of their heritage, we can’t expect them to remain galvanized to maintain a life of freedom for their children.
Such reflections serve to inspire, just as they humble. Contemporary Americans are the posterity, but not the singular source, of America’s material blessings. From the Founding to Lincoln’s time, America had grown in size, population, and wealth. It was the “iron men” who fought for the principles of America, who enabled the “degree of prosperity that we now enjoy.” The Founders established a commercial republic, respectful of property rights and disdainful of class distinctions, that unleashed American ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and mobility.
Both Lincoln and Coolidge believed such enterprise could ultimately be traced to the Declaration of Independence. It is the principle of human equality that eliminates fixed social status and gives individuals the right to eat the bread that their own hands earn, <a href="https://mason.gmu.edu/~zschrag/hist120spring05/lincoln_ottawa.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as Lincoln explained</a>.
In turn, Coolidge contended that, “The things of the spirit come first.” He warned that, unless Americans cling to the Declaration, “all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren scepter in our grasp.” Material pursuits, when not bound by eternal and immutable principles, become destructive. Self-reliance degrades to autonomy, greed, and consumerism. Profound abundance, absent the transcendent and sacrificial, ushers in a crisis of purpose and meaning. Coolidge’s words portend our time.
Fortunately, Coolidge also provided a path forward. Examinations of the past serve to underscore the unifying work that went into the Declaration and offer hope for renewed consensus. The Declaration was not an exegesis of privileged, select statesmen but “the result of the seasoned and deliberate thought of the dominant portion of the people of the Colonies.”
For example, the principle of equality was present in nine of the early state constitutions, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Political-Theory-American-Founding-Conditions/dp/1316506037/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2H20U7BN7TC4J&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6qtc2rDHt-eUAnvUNOWGcHoydmfDDWYvpVCEfsosvd0EIwzTqv-kOfaQ2wvE-5-nivfxK_gCKiOydGmsvehF9Axk0jevsI92E_SVXYrSLJUYNZe3XhWYq_STdhR2rS39tf6XIAg2YjNKFwciDl3hhwOw1EZz9fff6X07sToEIl3o4L-5HKnbL19VO7vzSMmJwDDkHKzseLZQyv7OS9e7us9WCCeQH8xqMxjINBMzx6g.iz2h0xgI27hDriV1LLtgh5AlgL1thYUFaB6cToR16ug&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=the+political+theory+of+the+american+founding&amp;qid=1717520575&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=the+political+theory+of+the+american+founding%2Cstripbooks%2C100&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Founding scholar Dr. Thomas West</a>. Ideas about inherent natural rights and equality were put forth in the Virginia Declaration of Rights, penned by George Mason, prior to the Declaration of Independence. The recognition that “all men are created equal” was made accessible by the Judeo-Christian tenet that all are equal in the eyes of God. And influential religious leaders like Rev. Thomas Hooker preached to the approximately <a href="https://www.amazon.com/STILL-HOLD-THESE-TRUTHS-Rediscovering/dp/1935191926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">70-80% of colonial Americans</a> who attended church that, <a href="https://connecticuthistory.org/the-free-consent-of-the-people-thomas-hooker-and-the-fundamental-orders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“The foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people.”</a>
Both Coolidge and Lincoln believed American unity resides in the Declaration. For his part, Lincoln believed that the principle “all men are created equal” establishes a common moral sentiment. It is the right of every American to “claim it as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration.” For so we are.
That is the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.
It is fidelity to a set of principles, rather than exclusive religions or ethnicities, that defines Americans.
Matching Lincoln, Coolidge <a href="https://coolidgefoundation.org/events/virtual-event-inspiration-of-the-declaration/#:~:text=In%20the%20speech%2C%20titled%20%E2%80%9CThe,created%20equal%2C%20that%20is%20final." target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> that:
<blockquote>About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful … If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.</blockquote>
Americans can find contentment, solitude, and pride in the resilient principles of the Declaration of Independence and the connectivity they offer.
In Fourth of Julys gone by, Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge delivered two speeches worthy of Americans’ lasting consideration. Who will be the next statesman to do so? It may be some time, as such genius is difficult to match. Yet perhaps it is not so essential that presidents today echo their masterful words. What matters most is that we Americans believe them ourselves.
* * *
Brenda M. Hafera is the Assistant Director and Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation&#8217;s Simon Center for American Studies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

American Flags in Foreground with the White House in the Background

Claiming Our July 4th Birthright

4th of July

Abraham Lincoln

Calvin Coolidge

Presidency

Readers Pass

<blockquote>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.</blockquote>
Those words, from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, which the Continental Congress formally announced 248 years ago tomorrow, were written by men of courage. The founding fathers knew if they were to establish a government of their own, a system where the people had the power, it would take a fight. Not just any fight, a battle against the most powerful monarchy in the world. In which losing, not only meant death, it meant being labeled a traitor for the remainder of history.
Did the founders create a perfect system? Of course not. Not every person was equal, or free, or counted as a full person. Brother fought against brother 90 years later to help right those wrongs. Yet, through it all, we&#8217;ve marched forward as a country, always willing to be self-critical, and using the guiding principles our founding fathers laid out, tweaking where necessary, to create the freest, most spectacular nation the world has seen.
America is still not perfect now. But her imperfection is being used as the excuse to abolish her existence completely. That would be devastating, not just for us as citizens, but for the world. So in honor of our independence, let us highlight some of the ways we have veered astray from the path that led us to be the country we are today.
The border which makes up our nation is being ignored. If you read The Federalist Papers, especially Federalist No. 2 by John Jay, you&#8217;ll learn that one of the most important ideas advanced by the founding fathers is the idea that America keeps a cohesive, national identity. This was part of their argument to convince states to ratify the new U.S. Constitution. Over the last two and half centuries, America has become a multicultural melting pot, where different people of many races and religions can come together and achieve miraculous ends. That only works, however, when we agree that our American identity is stronger than that which divides us.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1400-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show with guest host David Cone</a></h4>
Increasingly, that is not the case. No care whatsoever is being paid to the type of individuals entering and remaining in our country. Now understand, I don’t blame anyone, ever, for having a desire to become American. That’s what’s supposed to happen when you’re the best. People vote with their feet, right? Well, when you leave your home country to come here, that’s the sincerest form of flattery. All of our ancestors did that at some point. But a nation cannot exist when the border that makes said nation what it is, gets ignored with impunity. Add a welfare state on top of it all and this becomes unsustainable. To paraphrase Milton Friedman, you can have open borders or a welfare state, but you can&#8217;t have both.
Consider now our national debt — well over $30 trillion. You might as well replace trillion with a made up word, what’s the difference? James Madison, the fourth president and one of the authors of the Constitution, <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-13-02-0106" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once said</a>, &#8220;public debt is a public curse, and in a republican government a greater curse than any.”
Think now about our system of taxation. The mantra that carries us into Independence Day and echoes through the skies as if it were shouted yesterday, &#8220;No taxation without representation.&#8221; And that was over a 2% tax on a breakfast beverage. What do we have now? We’re taxed when we receive money, when we spend money, when we invest money, when we die with money. I leave a house every morning that is taxed, in a car that is taxed, fueled by gas that is taxed, to go to a company that is taxed, where I get a paycheck that is taxed, on the state level, then on the federal level, all the while playing this withholding game, where the IRS knows how much I owe but makes me guess, then if I’m wrong they can put me in jail. And none of that addresses the biggest tax of all, inflation, which is skyrocketing because the bureaucracy in Washington won’t turn off the printing presses, just to send those dollars, which should be used to better the lives of Americans, overseas. That’s what we put up with. Our great-grandfathers told King George to come get some if he wants a levy on tea, and we’re left with pennies for every buck we make.
How? Inch by inch. None of this happened over night. 248 years is a long time. The first American income tax wasn’t signed into law until 1861, then, more famously, we had the 16th Amendment passed by Congress in 1909 and ratified in 1913.
I could go on and on about the ways we&#8217;ve diverged from what the founders wanted: Our military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned about; Sex trafficking on an industrial scale; abortion on an industrial scale; Godlessness at every turn.
Yes, it’s true our founding fathers had differing points of view on religion, Thomas Jefferson particularly, but, to solidify my point, hear these words of John Adams after the official resolution of congress was adopted:
<blockquote>I am apt to believe that [Independence Day] will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty.</blockquote>
I doubt he could fathom what our children now see on a daily basis.
Here&#8217;s a clip from a &#8220;Pride Parade&#8221; in Los Angeles. And to be clear, this is one of the most sanitized clips I could find. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Gay Pride" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V0cTjuRGK1M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
What kind of society tolerates this? Well, as of now, ours does. Every corporation and local government, with very few exceptions, supports this.
Despite all of these existential threats, heavy as they may hang on our hearts, we must never lose hope. We have marched together through much worse. But it does take work. We can not do the bare minimum, we can not turn a blind eye to the perils of our nation, and just expect that Star-Spangled Banner to wave in perpetuity.
So here are my suggestions for how to right the ship, so that America can celebrate another birthday, 248 years from now.
First: Vote. Vote for better leaders. The vast majority of our ancestors had no say in the people who ruled them. We do, yet roughly a third of Americans don’t let their voice be heard. We can complain ad nauseam about a two-party system, or that all politicians are the same, but we can change that. Inform yourself, read, and don&#8217;t just read about current candidates and policies. Read about American history. Read the Federalist Papers, the Constitution, understand what it took for us to have what we have.
Second: Prioritize family. The nuclear family. Form stable relationships. Get married and have kids. I will never understand how we arrived at a place in society where having a family is considered &#8220;white patriarchal supremacy,&#8221; or whatever leftists phrase is being used today, but I do understand that the goal of such phrases is to destroy this country, because those who state it understand how essential the family is for America.
Third: We must incentivize actions of good and deter those of bad. Yes, this seems overly-general, but I think about it every day. We have turned, upside down, every notion of what is good, and just, and beautiful. We have ignored, even sanctioned, misconduct to the point it is commonplace. There is a reason major cities across this nation are too unsafe to live in right now. That’s a byproduct of criminals not being punished for crimes. I&#8217;m not saying we need to bring back drawing and quartering, I’m just saying … we may need to bring back drawing and quartering. I have little doubt it would be effective.
We also must remember the purpose of education. The goal is not to write A+ on every kid&#8217;s paper, it’s not to spare feelings when a child is suited for something different than his peers. The purpose is not to fill college classrooms to max capacity, or to print as many diplomas as possible. It’s not to indoctrinate children with confusion to appease the sexual fetishes of misguided adults. If we’re to indoctrinate, let us do so with the words of Thomas Paine and Thomas Sowell. The lone purpose of education is to pass down the most essential knowledge, so that future generations may carry this country forward.
Lastly, especially in the age of social media, we must cherish our local communities, not merely live in them. Get outside, touch grass, help a neighbor, shop local. Live in such a way, that if the luxuries provided by the global establishment were to vanish today, you wouldn’t miss a beat. You would still be a leader, those closest to you can depend on.
This Fourth of July, as you celebrate with friends and family, remember the words of Will Durant, &#8220;A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.&#8221;

Quill and inkwell on top of Declaration of Independence

Independence Day Special — How America Can Win Again

Federalist Papers

Matt Walsh

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virginia</a> college has continued to erase <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/american-revolution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Revolutionary War</a>-era figures from campus to be &#8220;more inclusive,&#8221; including a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Virginia Peninsula Community College <a href="https://www.vpcc.edu/news/2023/08/Griffin,%20Wythe%20Halls%20to%20be%20Ranamed%20Kecoughtan%20Hall.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> this week that it would change the names of two halls, one named for Founding Father George Wythe and the other for Dr. Corbin Griffin, who served as a surgeon for Virginia Patriot soldiers.  
“Virginia Peninsula Community College is renaming Griffin and Wythe halls, which are connected and function as one building, to Kecoughtan Hall. The name is a tribute to the Kecoughtan tribe, the early settlers of the land where VPCC’s Hampton campus is located,” VPCC announced on its website.
According to school official Steven Felker, the process of changing over the signs will be “gradual.” The school had formed a naming task force and gathered feedback from faculty, student government, and others on the proposed changes. 
Wythe, who lived from 1726-1806, had a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Wythe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">storied career</a> in Virginia. As a law professor, he taught luminaries like Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, and John Marshall. In the years leading up to America’s war for independence, he served as a delegate to the Virginia House of Burgess, where he openly opposed the Stamp Act. During the war, he was a member of the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. He later attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and was influential in pioneering the field of constitutional law. 
Like many Founding Fathers, Wythe had a complicated relationship with slavery. Although he owned slaves, he was <a href="https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/explore/nation-builders/george-wythe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recognized</a> as an early proponent of abolition and worked throughout his life to free them. As a judge in Virginia, he <a href="https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=9604" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled in favor</a> of freeing slaves during an internal family dispute over the will of a Quaker landowner. 
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Less is known about Griffin, but historians know that he was a surgeon for Virginia’s revolutionary soldiers and <a href="https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=80985" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent time</a> on a British prison ship outside Yorktown. He <a href="https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/3770" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> also a Virginia state senator. 
VPCC was previously named Thomas Nelson Community College. Nelson was another Revolutionary War hero and signer of the Declaration of Independence. His name <a href="https://www.vpcc.edu/renaming/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was removed</a> so the college could be more “welcoming, inclusive, and representative of our unique region,” according to school president Towuanna Porter Brannon. 
Nelson <a href="https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/N000044" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was a member</a> of the first Continental Congress in 1776 and 1779, led Virginian forces against the British from 1777 to 1781, and was governor of Virginia.

John Trumbull’s painting, Declaration of Independence, depicting the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress. The painting can be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill. The original hangs in the

Virginia College Removes Names Of Revolutionary War-Era Figures To Be ‘More Inclusive’

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