Friends,
A quarter of a millennium ago on a hot July Thursday in Philadelphia, fifty-six men of means had good reason to believe they were signing away their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. They were rebelling against a superpower – their own cultural, legal, religious, and economic parent – without an ally, a constitution, a navy, a way to levy taxes, or even clear popular support. They appealed to God and signed.
Ever since, these people who would come to call themselves Americans have been busy building something of a paradox: a democratic republic with a federal system of government with three separate branches, a growing number of unique states and territories stretching beyond a continent, which enslaved one people and expelled another while proclaiming liberty and justice for all.
Their story – only just begun – is already one of pride and loss, immigration and integration, gunshots and moonshots, Jim Crow and Lady Liberty. Neither armies nor viruses nor assassins have kept their hands from toiling toward a more perfect Union. The world has watched Americans eradicate diseases, harness the atom, build the Internet, and liberate Europe – twice. The Moon only knows American boots, and soon Mars will, too.
The American story is your story. Whether you trace your lineage back to Abigail Adams or earned your citizenship yesterday, you are as much a denizen of this imperfect, revolutionary City on a Hill as your neighbor. And as such, you are something odd in the history of humanity: You are free.
That, my friends, is worth celebrating.
It is also worth celebrating that this freedom conveys an invitation to actively participate in your government. At Bridge Public Affairs, we regularly exercise this freedom by partnering with clients to deliver perspectives deep into government at prudent times with the appropriate officials for real results. We are honored to prove every day that the doors to legislatures and bureaucracies in America remain open to those who wish to participate.
So, on this hot July Saturday wherever you may be, we join you in celebrating the first 250 years of the American epic. When we all get back to work next week, we will be honored to help you write the next pages of her story.
Sincerely,
Bridge Public Affairs