EVEN a cursory look at America’s history of 250 years can leave the observer in awe. For 250 years, America has been a continuous constitutional democracy. For 130 years, it has been the world’s largest economy. For 81 years, it has been the most powerful force the world has seen. Since the late 19th century, it has led in global innovation, manufacturing and technology. Its universities are the envy of the world. How did the US achieve such remarkable success in its 250-year journey? To understand, let us turn to the basics.

Fifty-six delegates from 13 American colonies met in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, to sever links with the British Empire and sign the Declaration of Independence drafted mainly by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration introduced to the new country the sublime idea that “all men are created equal” and are endowed with the unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It asserted that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. These were revolutionary ideas for a time when empires, monarchies, colonists and dictatorships ruled much of the world, with practically no respect for the rights of the governed.

Eleven years later, in 1787, America’s founding fathers........

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