Celebrating the Spirit of Freedom and Unity

As we gather to celebrate the 4th of July, I am reminded of this day's profound significance in our nation's history. It is not merely a day of festivity but a commemoration of the ideals that define us as a nation—freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Today, I have the honor of delivering a speech in Richmond, Virginia, reflecting on these very principles and their enduring impact on our journey as a country.

In this week's newsletter, I am sharing the full text of my 4th of July speech, where I delve into the importance of understanding our history, recognizing the unsung heroes who shaped our nation, and recommitting ourselves to the ideals that continue to inspire movements for human dignity and liberty worldwide.

I invite you to read and reflect on the words that have defined our nation and to join me in celebrating the spirit of freedom that unites us all. Let's honor our past, engage in the present, and inspire future generations to uphold the values that make America extraordinary.

I wish you all a meaningful and joyous Independence Day!

Warm regards, Carly

FREEDOM.

It is an intoxicating, contagious idea. It is our precious legacy. It is the defining principle of our nation.

The freedom to speak our minds. The freedom to worship as we choose, or not at all. The freedom to take risks, make our own mistakes, succeed beyond our wildest dreams, or fail and try again. The freedom to find our own way.

Have you ever wondered why we celebrate the 4th of July?

The day the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 was not the beginning of a brutal and risky revolutionary war against a much wealthier and better-equipped enemy. Nor was it the end of a conflict whose outcome was always in doubt, until the British finally surrendered in Yorktown in October 1781.

July 4 was not the beginning of a protracted, divisive political process to form a new nation. It was not the end of the fraught, emotional debates necessary to define a new system of government. The Constitution of the United States was not signed until September 1787, and not ratified until nine months later.

“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.”

These words are why we celebrate July 4. We have a right to freedom. We must consent to the power of others to govern. These words were radical at the time and took great courage to write, even though they then applied only to white male property owners. Nevertheless, once these words were declared, they changed the world forever. They remain the highest aspiration of our nation. These words are a clarion call.

Virginia has always been the crucible of our nation. Here, indigenous peoples first saw white men arrive in tall ships, and the first colonists settled. The first ships carrying the enslaved also landed here. The first representative government met here. The intercolonial movement toward independence began here in Virginia.

From the very beginning, Virginia led the way. The revolutionary army was commanded by General Washington, a Virginian. The Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution were written by George Mason, Thomas Je?erson, and James Madison, all Virginians. Here in Virginia, from slave rebellions to abolition movements right through to the Civil War, from the imprisonment of su?ragettes, from voting rights to civil rights movements and into the present day, Virginia has always been a crucible for great ideas, great debates, great conflicts and eventually, great reconciliation and progress.

Virginia’s history is America’s story. Why should we care about history?

Whenever our families gather for a special occasion, we inevitably tell stories of our families’ past. We tell the stories of those who came before us. Why? Because we realize at our core that unless we know who and where we come from, we do not know who we are. For those of you who’ve had family stories that weren’t shared because we were ashamed or afraid or indi?erent, we all eventually learn that a family cannot heal until everyone’s story is told. What is true for a family, is true for a community, and is true for our nation.

History is never just in the past. It influences our present and impacts our future. When history is told completely and accurately, then history is a mirror into which we look to see ourselves more clearly.

Our nation is not founded on the basis of territory or ethnicity or religion. We are the only nation on the face of the planet and throughout all of human history founded instead on ideals, guiding principles, and a system of government.

When we do not tell Virginia’s history and America’s story, we do not know who we are or where we come from. We do not know what binds us together. We do not know why we are a nation.

We must never confuse nostalgia with history. We were not united at the time of the revolution. We were divided over religion, politics, economics, slavery, ethnicity, status and class, and bitterly divided as well about whether the fight for independence was heroic or treasonous. The truth is we have always been a fractious, restless nation.

There were then, as there are now, as many hypocrites as heroes.

To see this clearly does not diminish the reality that Virginia’s history, the story of America, the words of our founding documents, and our system of government have inspired every movement for human dignity, sovereignty, equality, and liberty everywhere, ever since.

We tend to look at history as a great sweep of events led by famous people. But we have the benefit of hindsight. At the time great movements begin, the outcome is anything but clear. Success comes when many people whose names we do not know make a choice. Despite the risks and uncertainties, the fears and the sacrifices, countless unsung heroes choose to commit. When many choose to act, the world changes. Revolutions are won.

America came to be a nation because so many - men and women, free and enslaved, native and immigrant, rich and poor - answered the clarion call of freedom and self-evident truths.

Robert Mursh was a Pamunkey Indian. He enlisted as a common soldier in 1776. Captured in 1780 and held as a prisoner of war for fourteen months, he promptly re- enlisted when he was released in a prisoner exchange and fought until the war was over.

The arrival of the colonists and their subsequent defeat of the British were a disaster in so many ways for indigenous peoples. Yet, Robert fought and sacrificed for an idea.

Anna Maria Lane camouflaged her sex and fought alongside her husband in General Washington’s army. She was our first known female veteran. Countless women followed their men as they fought the British and countless others kept homes and businesses and families going.

Edmund Dickinson was an accomplished artisan, making fine cabinetry for Thomas Je?erson and Patrick Henry. Nevertheless, he left his thriving business and served in the 1st Virginia Regiment from 1776 until he was killed in action in 1778.

Richard Spinner was a black man born into slavery. He enlisted and fought for three years. James Armistead, enslaved by General Washington, became an accomplished spy, securing invaluable information about British troop movements. The Dunmore Proclamations o?ered black men the opportunity to earn their freedom in exchange for fighting with the British. And yet Richard Spinner and James Armistead, along with many others, fought for the idea of freedom and a new nation.

Thomas Nelson, whose health prohibited him from serving in the army, bankrolled it instead, raising prodigious amounts of money and spending much of his own. He never recovered financially.

These stories of Virginians you’ve probably never heard of are the story of America. People choose to act.

In America, citizens are sovereign. Not kings, or presidents or governments. Citizens. We have rights and freedoms, but citizenship requires us to be committed, not passive. It is we as citizens who must choose to act . . . in order to form a more perfect union.

As Virginia led the movement towards independence, let us once again lead the semiquincentennial movement.

Let us lead as we educate ourselves about who we are and where we come from. Let us lead as we engage with one another, learn each others’ stories, and see ourselves more clearly. Let us lead as we renew our commitment to citizenship.

Let us celebrate every kind of hero and every community so there is no doubt we are all created equal, no doubt every one of us is endowed with certain unalienable rights, and no doubt each of us deserves the freedom to find our own way.

The drums that opened our program this evening remind us: E Pluribus Unum. Out of Many One. Let the clarion call of July 4th inspire us all to do our part to form a more perfect union. Let us choose to act. Let us prove that Out of Many One is still possible in our great nation.

Thank you for being here and thank you for joining the semiquincentennial movement.