There’s a sullen national mood ahead of America’s 250th birthday that doesn’t meet the magnificence of the moment. A Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that 38 percent of Americans believe that America will not exist as a single country 250 years from now, and 64 percent agree with a statement that American democracy is in danger of failure. Only 30 percent would consider America the greatest country in the world.

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A doubt in both the goodness and staying power of America and its institutions prevails now, but neglects historical fact: Each significant anniversary in American history arrived with its own doubts about the country’s future, oftentimes in far graver or more unpredictable circumstances.

Independence on July 4 was borne out of a great contest with the world’s preeminent superpower. Intrepid men had done the unthinkable, and emancipated their little colony from the greatest empire in the world in defense of the natural rights of man. But a short-lived celebration gave way to the enormous task of building a republic from scratch, and the eleven years of writing, invention, and negotiation that led to the system of political institutions enshrined in the Constitution were bitter, fraught with infighting and disagreement. 

Talk about uncertainty. For this time, America had no law of the land and no regime in which to anchor itself, and every reason to doubt that the vision of government for and by the people would be realized.

But a small pamphlet by Thomas........

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