Today marks the 249th anniversary of our nation’s courageous separation from Great Britain. But did you know they have the Fourth of July in England, too?

It just doesn’t come with fireworks, hot dogs or patriotic birthday parties.

That’s why I make a point of calling it Independence Day, not “the Fourth of July.” It’s a uniquely American celebration of liberty, self-government and the revolutionary idea that human beings are, and of right ought to be, free to think, free to act and free to choose.

Yet these days, our nation’s founding is under siege — dismissed in classrooms, distorted by politicians and derided by many in the media. The American Revolution is too often portrayed as a tool of oppression, not as a triumph of freedom.

As the Brits might say: poppycock.

No single document has done more to advance the cause of liberty than the Declaration of Independence. It’s not just a breakup letter with a king, or a manifesto of political beliefs. It’s the most reasoned, eloquent case for self-government the world has yet known — a moral and intellectual touchstone for a free society.

Penned primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration opens with a bold assertion: Sometimes a people must break away from their government — but when they do, they owe the world a candid and clear explanation.

Then comes one of the most iconic lines in history: “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.”

In one elegant sentence, Jefferson affirms a truth so obvious, its proof is contained within the statement itself: our rights don’t come from government. They are the natural, unalienable, God-given birthright of all human beings.

Government’s sole purpose is “to secure these rights” — and expressly with consent of the governed.

But when a government casts aside that purpose and becomes “destructive of these ends,” the people have both a right and a duty to change it. Here, the Declaration offers a sober reflection that shouldn’t be taken lightly but reached only after a “long train of abuses and usurpations.”

That, Jefferson argues, is precisely where the colonies now find themselves. “The history of the present King of Great Britain,” he writes, “is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations” undertaken with one goal: “absolute tyranny over these states.”

And Jefferson has the receipts: 27 detailed grievances against the King, each one reinforcing the case for revolution.

Finally, the Declaration thunderous crescendo reaches the inevitable conclusion. Appealing to God, and in the name of the people of the colonies, the signers “solemnly publish and declare” that the colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.”

No more allegiance to the Crown. No more political bonds with England. From now on, they will do “all acts and things which independent states may of right do.”

At that defining moment, the Founders knew exactly what they were doing — and they didn’t flinch.

By pledging to each other “our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor,” they put everything on the line — their reputations, their property, even their lives and families.

All for a radical commitment to liberty and individual rights.

The principles articulated in the Declaration are, as Frederick Douglass later put it, “saving principles.” The document itself, he said, is “the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny.”

Born into slavery in 1818, Douglass endured its cruelties firsthand before escaping in 1838 — eventually becoming one of America’s most powerful voices for justice and freedom.

In his searing 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, Douglass condemned slavery’s inherent moral abomination — blasting America’s “shocking and bloody” practices from personal experience and with righteous indignation.

“The conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed,” he thundered, “and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.”

Yet even as Douglass denounced America’s darkest sins, he defended its founding ideals with the passion of a true patriot.

He didn’t reject the Declaration; he called out the failure to live up to it. He didn’t vilify the Founders, even for owning slaves; he hailed them as “statesmen, patriots and heroes.” He didn’t dismiss the Constitution; he praised it as “a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT,” grounded in principles “entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.”

“Stand by those principles,” he urged, “be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.”

Thirteen years before slavery finally ended, Douglass recognized a vital truth: America’s founding ideals weren’t the problem. Failing to live by them was.

That’s the brilliance of America’s founding documents: They give future generations — even a former slave — the moral and philosophical tools to demand justice and hold the nation to its own word.

The question is, are we bold enough to follow in the footsteps of both Thomas Jefferson and Frederick Douglass?

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.