Even on the 4th of July, appreciation for the genius of America’s Founding Fathers has dwindled in the face of leftist efforts to minimize them, as traditional patriotic values wane with each passing year.
Only 38% of Americans say patriotism is “very important” to them, per a 2023 Wall Street Journal/NORC survey — down from 70% in 1998.
By many metrics, traditional American values have become dramatically less important to our fellow citizens than before.
We see it in the loss of national pride and the denigration of our history, in fading attendance at houses of worship, in a drop in military recruitment and even in the decline of our national birth rate.
Even among those whose patriotic feelings remain high, their outward expression has been subdued or even silenced by self-censorship.
In the age of cancel culture, many Americans simply don’t want to risk friendships, relationships or even careers by saying something others might deem “offensive” — not even something that would have been considered innocuously patriotic just a few years ago.
Surely if our Founding Fathers could advise us today, they would encourage us to swallow our silence and speak out boldly in defense of traditional values.
One man, most especially.
I know the Founding Fathers well after delving into their lives to write a history of the signers of the Declaration of Independence — a book that warned of the left’s attempts to cancel Independence Day, the flag and the patriots who founded America.
One of the lesser-known Founders leaps out as an inspiration for our time, a patriot Thomas Jefferson named as “truly the Man of the Revolution”: Samuel Adams.
Adams, one of the first heroes of the American Revolution, chose not to be silenced by the “cancel culture” of his time — one that was dramatically more dangerous and tyrannical than the one we may battle today.
While the soldiers of the Continental Army and various militias led the American colonists to victory against the British Crown, the voice of Samuel Adams sparked the revolution in the first place.
Adams, who served in the Continental Congress, was one of the earliest champions of “individual liberties” — rights he believed were given by God and had to be defended at all costs.
In the years leading up to 1776, Adams was a one-man public-relations machine against the tyranny of the Crown.
Not only was he relentless in writing and publishing letters in every newspaper in and around Boston, he cleverly created various pseudonyms to sign his nonstop barrage, giving the impression to the colonists — and the British military — that the opposition movement was growing and fervent.
Later, he formed the Sons of Liberty, an underground group of colonists whose covert anti-British actions were a permanent thorn in the side of the Crown.
Therein lies the lesson: One man or one woman can make a difference.
One man or one woman can reverse the tide of tyranny and oppression.
One man or one woman can spread the word.
This Independence Day, choose to be silenced no more if your instinct is to speak out in defense of patriotism, our military, faith and community.
Peacefully and lawfully defend your values and the future rights of your children.
Follow the example of Samuel Adams: Find your voice and inspire others to follow.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of “The 56: Liberty lessons from those who risked all to sign the Declaration of Independence.”