Americans are losing love for their country. The education system is taking our young in a different direction by dismissing our nation’s past and introducing ideologies contradicting our founding principles. Much of our culture seems determined to treat America’s 250th birthday with condemnation rather than celebration.
Yet, in this age of pessimism toward our nation’s past, Matthew Spalding offered a new invitation: to fall in love with America again—by rediscovering the story and principles of the Declaration of Independence.
The Hillsdale College professor introduced his new book, “The Making of the American Mind: The Story of Our Declaration of Independence,” this week at the Washington, D.C., campus of Hillsdale College.
Spalding’s introductory speech highlighted the beauty of the declaration, its founding truths, the role of prudence, and the use of theology.
America is beautiful not only because of its land, but because of its story, he explained. “We have this wonderful document, like a symphony; has different tones, different speeds, moments. It all comes together.”
Spalding underscored that the declaration invokes prudence as a governing standard. He argued that this principle is the document’s hinge point, the mechanism that allows leaders to navigate between reality and abstract truth. He noted, “Politics requires us sometimes to make compromises. To do things that are imperfect, because we’re imperfect.”
Spalding emphasizes the fact that “God appears five times in the declaration … notice how those references to God become more personal and intimate as God proceeds? Such that by the end, this creator, God, now sees into our hearts.”
History, he shared, has pointed back to the references to God in the decades following the declaration. The uprising and resistance of America’s Founding Fathers against the British reminds us of our defensiveness and freedom we have in our Creator. Abraham Lincoln’s first speech in Chicago reminds the audience to remember our Creator.
Our country’s independence story is a testament about our patriotism. It is “what makes America exceptional.”
Capturing the Imagination of Students
After his speech, Spalding answered audience questions. One asked, “What is your advice for teaching middle school students how to fall in love with America again?”
Spalding responded: “We often are too academic. We like to talk about parties and principles … and sometimes we forget what captures the imagination … capture the imagination, then you can do it. And what’s so exciting about the American Revolution, which is a wonderful story, is what happened.”
In an earlier interview with The Daily Signal, Spalding explained his passion for teaching the next generation, saying his ultimate goal is to “help them fall in love with their country again.”
He added that understanding American history can help young people address the challenges they face. They “are looking for something that’s strong and sacrificial and manly. Our founding tells that story. And it’s that American spirit that then creates these great heroes and will hopefully inspire and create other great Americans in the future going forward.”