Today is Independence Day, July 4th, 2024. Given the day is serious as well as celebratory, I thought to provide a primer. A simple primer as a reminder of what this holiday has meant in the past – and what it could mean in the future.
The first American Revolution was fought by American colonists against the Kingdom of Great Britain. Their original struggle was for greater autonomy within the British political system. But when they realized they could not get the freedoms they wanted, the colonists rebelled against the system itself. The leaders of the American Revolution rebelled against the leader of Great Britain, the King of England, George III.
Independence Day commemorates ratification of the Declaration of Independence. It commemorates the triumph of the leaders of the first American Revolution against the leader of Great Britian, a ragtag victory that ended in the establishment of the United States of America on July 4, 1776.
George Washington was the greatest leader of the Revolutionary War period. He was a military hero, commander in chief of the Continental Army that fought for and won independence. And he was a political hero, first as president of the Continental Congress which hammered out and finally ratified the Constitution. Second as first president of the United States, a post to which he was twice unanimously elected by the Electoral College.
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States. It was ratified in 1788, but it is not frozen in time. It has since had 27 amendments, the first 10 known as the Bill of Rights. The Constitution remains as it originally was: an object of contention not only among political leaders but intellectual ones, in the law first and foremost, who interpret it differently, sometimes radically differently.
The Heritage Foundation is a contemporary, activist conservative think tank. It has played a leading role in the American conservative movement since the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Moreover, it has taken on greatly increased importance in recent years, during what became in time Donald Trump’s third campaign for the White House.
Spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation is Project 2025, an extraordinarily ambitious plan to reshape the federal government. Among its most important goals is to consolidate power in the hands of the executive, at the expense of the other two branches of government. If Trump wins the November election, Project 2025 will be the blueprint for his second term. Critics are not happy. They assert the Project would undermine the rule of law, the separation of powers, and even the separation of church and state. Republicans though are making no secret of their intentions.
“The Second American Revolution” is a phrase recently used by Kevin Roberts. Roberts is president of the Heritage Foundation. He used the word “revolution” to state his intention with crystalline clarity. Specifically, to transform Project 2025 from theory to practice – which is to say to to transform American government. Said Roberts: “We are in the process of the Second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
While the idea of a second American Revolution is anathema to some Americans, many others are attracted to it. Attracted to a conception of leadership in America that was just bolstered by the Supreme Court, whose recent rulings are completely in keeping with Project 2025. To make the American presidency far more “imperial” than it has ever been before.
But, hey, not to worry. If the First American Revolution eventually resulted in a federal holiday, the Second American Revolution is bound to as well. Just think of it as a trade-off – you give us an autocracy and we’ll give you another day off!