{"id":3637,"date":"2026-07-03T10:38:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3637"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:38:44","slug":"taves-july-4-isnt-our-only-birthday-surviving-another-250-years-requires-we-celebrate-the-other-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3637","title":{"rendered":"Taves: July 4 isn’t our only birthday. Surviving another 250 years requires we celebrate the other, too."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dear America,<\/p>\n

Hope you\u2019re enjoying the backyard barbecues, fireworks (or drone shows) and the star-spangled swag.<\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes July 3, 2026: Tom Cruise, not everything will go to a plan<\/a><\/p>\n

At the risk of raining on a few thousand parades, here\u2019s a civics lesson you won\u2019t hear on cable TV or your favorite manfluencer\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n

America has two birthdays. One we celebrate with fanfare; the other \u2014 Constitution Day \u2014 passes us by every year effectively forgotten.<\/p>\n

What a pity.<\/p>\n

On July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain and asserted that its 13 colonies were now free, independent states.<\/p>\n

And on September 17, 1787, 39 delegates signed the final draft of the Constitution, replacing a failed confederacy with a strong central government capable of delivering on the dreams of liberty stoked 11 years prior.<\/p>\n

July 4 promised freedoms; September 17 delivered them \u2014 ironically by limiting some.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The Declaration of Independence is worthy of the attention it gets. Flawed to be sure, but the document, mostly written by Thomas Jefferson, has inspired freedom movements the world over. There are few moments in history that have helped ignite the flames of freedom more than July 4. That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

But July 4 is only half the story of how America was born. For 250 years, we\u2019ve been celebrating throwing off the yoke of authority, but we\u2019ve spent too little time celebrating the creation of authority worthy of a free people.<\/p>\n

We throw parades celebrating freedom while forgetting the conditions that made it possible.<\/p>\n

If the United States seeks to survive long enough to celebrate the Declaration\u2019s 500th\u00a0anniversary, it needs to understand how the Spirit of \u201987 saved the Spirit of \u201976 from itself.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Jump in the time machine<\/h4>\n

When the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration on the 4th, one priority united the 13 rebel colonies: escaping British rule. Finding common ground beyond that proved harder.<\/p>\n

The government the early Founders built reflected a desire for independence not only from a distant crown but also from one another. Drafted in 1777 and ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation created a decentralized government powerless to enforce its own rules. States were sovereign de jure<\/em> in nearly every way and de facto<\/em> in nearly every other.<\/p>\n

States\u2019 rights ruled \u2014 and ran amok.<\/p>\n

The government could not reliably raise revenue, regulate interstate commerce or compel states to meet national obligations.<\/p>\n

July 4 birthed independence but also a dysfunctional confederacy.<\/p>\n

The Founders knew it.<\/p>\n

After Washington\u2019s officers nearly revolted because the central government could not compel states to pay them, he warned that America was becoming \u201c13 independent sovereignties, eternally counteracting each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Asking Eric: My husband is the DARVO king, and it might end our marriage<\/a><\/p>\n

Less than two years later, Daniel Shays led indebted farmers in an armed revolt against Massachusetts. The enemy was no longer monarchy. It was authority anywhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In April 1787, James Madison\u2019s\u00a0\u201cVices of the Political System of the United States\u201d\u00a0offered a brutal indictment of this states-rights-run republic. States ignored national obligations, inflated currencies, shirked debts, erected trade barriers and destabilized commerce.<\/p>\n

Independence had been won. Nationhood had not.<\/p>\n

Second founding<\/h4>\n

Sensing the republic unraveling, Washington, Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay engineered what historian Joseph Ellis calls America\u2019s \u201cSecond American Revolution.\u201d (Ellis\u2019 2015 book, \u201cThe Quartet,\u201d directly inspired this column.)<\/p>\n

Those four men\u2019s campaign led to the Constitutional Convention, whose leaders aimed to birth a new America, not resuscitate a dying system. They proposed a national government vastly more powerful and, crucially, more representative. The House would legislate by majority vote, while national laws would govern citizens directly.<\/p>\n

The Constitution moved America toward majority rule, though nowhere near far enough. The Senate, Electoral College and other compromises enabled the few to overrule the many in ways that still cripple national action. Yet compared with the Articles, the Constitution represented a giant leap toward majority rule.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 17, the day the Constitution was signed, Washington wrote: \u201cIt is obviously impracticable in the Federal government of these States to secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each and yet provide for the interest and safety of all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington added: \u201cIndividuals entering into society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

That does not sound like a man worshipping at the altar of states\u2019 rights or Ayn Rand-style individualism. That right there is the Founder of Founders making the case for promoting the greatest good for the greatest number. Washington is telling us: Protecting freedom sometimes requires individuals and states to surrender some of it so everyone else may enjoy more.<\/p>\n

Lesson not learned<\/h4>\n

Our constant political fights revolve around whether the liberties of a few can be sacrificed to provide liberties for the many. These are problems we can\u2019t grow our way out of. We\u2019re paralyzed by whether a carbon-belching fossil fuel company\u2019s right to pollute should outweigh the rest of the country\u2019s right to clean air and a stable climate. Paralyzed by whether the rights of a gun owner on the terrorist watch should outweigh the rights of a community to be safe from getting shot dead at a school or a church or a concert. Paralyzed by whether the rights of a billionaire monopolist to private property should outweigh the rights of consumers and workers to competitive markets. The list goes on and on. Fill in the blanks yourself.<\/p>\n

A nation cannot function when every state, company, faction and individual demands freedom from every obligation. That was the Articles of Confederation\u2019s operating system. It crashed.<\/p>\n

July 4 taught Americans how to reject illegitimate authority. Sept. 17 can teach us how to create legitimate authority \u2014\u00a0and use it for the common good.<\/p>\n

America does not need a new origin story. It needs the complete one.<\/p>\n

Max Taves is the editorial page editor of Bay Area News Group. He can be reached at mtaves@bayareanewsgroup.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Harriette Cole: Is this a stupid reason for turning down a job?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If the U.S. wants to live long enough to see its 500th anniversary, it needs to understand how the Spirit of ’87 saved the Spirit of ’76 from itself<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nTaves: July 4 isn’t our only birthday. 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