HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA – YOU LOOK GREAT FOR 250
The following was copied (in part) from a Hillsdale College letter.
Dear Friend,
This week and always, we should celebrate our great country by remembering the people who built it. Our nation’s story began in the colonial period. The habits and practices established in the 1600s and early 1700s paved the way for the Revolution in 1776. The Betsy Ross Flag reminds us of the enduring principles of liberty upon which our nation was founded.
The truth is, too few citizens know the story of America’s founding. We should invite others to remember and learn about the founding principles of our nation. Today, you can claim your flag and support educational outreach efforts that reach and teach millions of Americans the truth about our history and our great heritage of liberty.
Hillsdale College is the only college in America that teaches anyone, who wants to learn, about the principles that made America so great and so free. To stand free and remain independent Hillsdale College does this work while refusing any government funding. Not one penny!
From the words of the Declaration of Independence, “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.”
You and I live in the greatest country in human history – The United States of America. On July 4, 2026, America will turn 250 years old. That’s a quarter-millennium of liberty and self-government. Both are worth celebrating. But recent events have led me to wonder: will young people mark this milestone with gratitude? Indifference? Or something worse?
When statues fell across American cities, it wasn’t just stone and bronze that hit the ground – it was a sign of the growing attempt to re-write history and strip away the informed patriotism needed to preserve liberty. For most of our his- tory, schoolchildren grew up learning and revering these ideas. You probably did too. Sadly, this is no longer always true. Too many of our schools instead teach that America should be denigrated, not celebrated, and that we should “evolve beyond” our founding principles.
This display of anti-Americanism probably upset you. It definitely upset me. And it has to stop. Together, you and other concerned citizens can confront the destructive ideology that leads to rioting and defaced statues with the truth about American history. If younger generations do not learn the truth, what will they know – or celebrate – when America turns 275 or 300?
The spirit of an adventurous people that created this great Nation, also created a settlement along the Greenbrier River. This settlement we call home was 27-years young at the birth of our nation. Patriotism can be renewed across the land by starting here in Marlinton and Pocahontas County.
Sam
