The perseverance of American optimism at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall
Christopher Tremoglie
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Touring Independence Hall on July 4 is a favorite pastime of mine. Arguably one of the most important buildings in the history of Western civilization, Independence Hall is where the country began. It’s where the Founding Fathers debated and adopted the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution. Being born and raised in Philadelphia, and spending my high school years living a few blocks away from where the nation was founded, visiting there became a family ritual during the holiday.
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My favorite part of the tour is George Washington’s chair from the Constitutional Convention. It’s a relic that can be seen as a symbol of the path and evolution of the nation. The chair is an American Chippendale armchair that, at the top, features a half sun under a liberty pole with a Phrygian cap.
Legend has it that at the beginning of the convention, Founding Father and Philadelphia’s most famous son, Benjamin Franklin, was perplexed by the sun and pondered whether the sun was rising or setting, relating to the efforts of forming a new country after fighting a war for independence against Britain. After the ratification of the Constitution, Franklin memorably declared that it indeed was a rising sun, foreshadowing the rise to greatness of the United States.
“I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I … know that it is a rising … sun,” Franklin said.
Franklin said these immortal words in 1787, but they still apply in 2023. Nearly 250 years later, the country is again in great debate. A relentless onslaught of vicious left-wing sociopolitical attacks is threatening the moral fibers of the nation. During a time when the population is more educated than ever before, people are unaware of the impetus for the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.
The Declaration of Independence states, “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. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Yet, decadeslong indoctrination in the 20th century taught people to embrace ideas that run counter to the spirit of these words and embrace a reliance on big government. No longer do we celebrate the Founding Fathers’ spirit of individual liberty that was the core tenet of the nation’s pursuit of independence.
We must again ask ourselves if the American ideals that the founders fought for in the 18th century are rising or setting in the 21st. The peril of tyranny and suppression of freedom threatens the country’s ideals and liberties. And this time, the opponents are not redcoats from the United Kingdom but radical left-wing political activists in the government. The consequences of failure will be dire, and it’s a cost the world cannot afford. Ultimately, we must ensure that good will prevail. Like the patriots of 1776 and 1787, our society is at a crossroads.
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At a time when left-wing agitators preach about “protecting our democracy,” we must secure American idealism and never compromise the ideals on which the country was founded. The core tenets of individual liberty and freedom from government tyranny have prevailed, and we must make sure it always does.
That, and only that, is how we can maintain the optimism of Benjamin Franklin’s rising sun and the perseverance of the values that make our nation great.