To American revolutionaries, patriotism meant fair dealing with one another

  When modern Americans call themselves patriots, they are evoking a sentiment that is 250 years old.

  In September 1774, nearly two years before the Declaration of Independence, delegates from 12 of the 13 Colonies gathered for the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. They quickly hammered out a political, economic, and cultural program to unify the so-called “Patriot” movement against British rule.

Celebrating moral courage on Independence Day

  We call this patriotic holiday Independence Day, the Birthday of America, or simply the 4th of July. It celebrates a political act by 56 men who literally risked their lives and fortunes and pledged their sacred honor in issuing one of the greatest documents in human history: The Declaration of Independence.

The American founders didn’t believe your sacred freedom means you can do whatever you want – not even when it comes to vaccines and your own body

  President Joe Biden has mandated vaccines for a large part of the American workforce, a requirement that has prompted protest from those opposed to the measure.

  Meanwhile, a similar move in New York City to enforce vaccinations has resulted in more than a dozen businesses being fined for flouting the rules.

The Declaration of Independence wasn’t really complaining about King George, and 5 other surprising facts for July 4th

Editor’s note: Americans may think they know a lot about the Declaration of Independence, but many of those ideas are elitist and wrong, as historian Woody Holton explains.

  His forthcoming book “Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution” shows how independence and the Revolutionary War were influenced by women, Indigenous and enslaved people, religious dissenters, and other once-overlooked Americans.

  In celebration of the United States’ 245th birthday, Holton offers six surprising facts about the nation’s founding document – including that it failed to achieve its most immediate goal and that its meaning has changed from the founding to today.

Celebrating moral courage on Independence Day

  We call this patriotic holiday Independence Day, the Birthday of America, or simply the 4th of July. It celebrates a political act by 56 men who literally risked their lives and fortunes and pledged their sacred honor in issuing one of the greatest documents in human history: The Declaration of Independence.

Trump reminds us that America is a military nation

  President Trump is being criticized for surrounding himself with tanks, armored vehicles, flyovers, and generals and admirals during his Fourth of July celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. Critics say that it was unseemly for the president to be showing off the federal government’s military process on Independence Day. Some said it conjured up images of the Soviet Union when that communist regime would showcase its tanks and military hardware in parades in Moscow’s Red Square.

  But the fact is that America is a military nation. As Trump pointed out in his Independence Day address, the United States has the most powerful military in history, one that can pulverize any other nation on earth. His critics don’t have any problem with that. They just don’t want Trump to highlight it.

Trump’s perverse view of patriotism

  In an act of petty revenge against the Philadelphia Eagles, President Trump put on display the concept of patriotism that unfortunately has come to characterize America in the era of the national-security state — a concept that perverts the genuine meaning of patriotism on which America was founded and which characterized the nation throughout the 1800s.

  The controversy began when Trump scheduled a ceremony at the White House to celebrate the Super Bowl win by the Eagles. Most of the members of the team, however, decided to boycott the event, which, not surprisingly, caused Trump to go ballistic. Rather than continue with the ceremony with the ten players who were coming, Trump disinvited the entire team and decided to hold what he considered to be a “patriotic” event at the White House.

Gary Palmer: The Christmas that saved America

  Given the current condition of the American economy, there might be a temptation to view what Americans are spending this Christmas as the Christmas that saves the American economy… or at least keeps it from going deeper into recession. But regardless of what Americans spend this Christmas, you would have to look farther back to find the Christmas that saved America.

  By the end of November 1776, American independence was on life support. Gen. George Washington had just suffered a devastating defeat and lost the city of New York to the British. Not only was New York City entirely in British hands, Washington made a strategic blunder by not evacuating his forces from Fort Washington and Fort Lee, on the Hudson River.

Kathleen Schafer: America at 237: A guiding light or a dimming beacon?

  Having made two trips to Egypt since the Arab Spring to work with current and emerging political leaders, I closely follow its ever-changing political situation. In the past week, the protests that allowed the country to exercise its voice for democracy have turned into ugly battles between the right and left, between those aren’t feeling empowered and those seeking to maintain their newly acquired rule, and, sadly, those with a thirst for blood and innocent bystanders. Regardless of one's political persuasion, the devolution from democratic ideals to the desire to see only one side dictate is leading Egypt away from its original goals and toward a future in which the majority of Egyptians do not want to live.