Doug Brinkley on America at 250: History tells us hoping for unity is not futile

Two hundred and fifty years after the Founders put their lives on the line and their signatures on the Declaration of Independence, it’s easy to forget how close it came to not happening at all.

On the battlefield, American patriots were spilling their blood for the cause of freedom. The thirteen Northern and Southern colonies were divided on the question of slavery, and the public was split on whether to seek independence in the first place. But on July 2, 1776, as the mighty British army sailed into New York Harbor, the delegates in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall voted yea. It was done. Freedom was ours.

But it wasn’t quite so simple. The freedom we won from the British, we would long withhold from women and Black people. That freedom was also denied Native Americans, whose land our forebears took by force and coercion. And external attacks have tested our national resolve.

But our freedom is tested most grievously when we turn on ourselves. A bitter civil war cleaved our nation in two, as did the struggle for civil rights a century later. It may seem like cold comfort in our fiercely-polarized times, but take it from me: we have survived worse. Much worse.

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, may we allow ourselves to hope against hope that our divided nation can find unity. May we pause to thank the Founders, imperfect men who gave us not just the gift of freedom, but the responsibility to preserve it. 

And may we practice those American virtues of tolerance, compromise and perseverance, in the hope of mending the American tapestry wherever it is frayed.

Some days that hope can seem futile. History tells us it is not.

     
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Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Jennifer Falk. 

Join CBS for “The Great American Block Party 250,” a primetime special on Saturday, July 4, hosted by CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil and Entertainment Tonight’s Nischelle Turner, featuring live musical performances, celebrations around the country, and the largest fireworks show in history in the skies over the nation’s capital. Tune in July 4 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and stream it on Paramount+ and CBS News 24/7.