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Opening a small business means taking a risk. William Glass knew that when he set out to open The Brewing Projekt in Wisconsin. A Marine veteran and father of three, Will invested about $500,000 to secure a location, hire employees, and buy equipment. He was betting on an idea and his ability to turn that […]

America’s 250th anniversary is a chance to remember what made the American experiment possible, and to decide how we will carry it forward. Over the past six months, Americans across the country have joined us to celebrate our founding principles in action. Each month brought a new theme, a new challenge, and a new way […]

Freedom isn’t just a gift to enjoy. It’s a responsibility to carry forward. That’s what the founders understood. The Declaration was written in extraordinary circumstances. It says it’s the people’s “right” and “their duty” to resist a government engaged in a long pattern of abuse and to secure freedom for the future. Nearly 250 years […]

“To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.” Nine words that turned the usual relationship between people and government on its head. And it’s a principle that’s at the heart of the American experiment. People are born with certain rights. Government exists to protect them. The Declaration of Independence placed the individual first and […]

For generations, America has been regarded as the Land of Opportunity. Our Declaration of Independence recognizes our rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” While the Declaration doesn’t guarantee a good life, those rights give people the freedom to shape their own destiny. They create space to innovate, build, and work hard to […]

The Declaration of Independence is famous for declaring our rights. It’s just as remarkable for what it teaches us about using them. Before declaring independence, the Founders wrote that “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” They had already decided to […]

Most people think of the Declaration of Independence only as the document that announced America’s independence. It did that, but it also did something else just as important. It started a history-changing conversation that we’re still having today. The Declaration is an argument meant to be read, discussed, and remembered. The founders explained why leaving […]

It’s easy to look at the challenges America is facing and ask whether Washington is doing enough. But as America approaches its 250th anniversary, there’s another question worth asking: Are we doing our job as citizens? Are we doing our part to live up to the revolutionary idea of self-government that our founders wrote into […]

“We hold these truths to be self-evident …” You probably know the rest of this sentence by heart. Generations of Americans have read, repeated, and reflected on those words since the founders penned them in the summer of 1776. Few documents have changed the course of history as much as the Declaration of Independence. But […]