By Marie Tasy
On the Fourth of July, our nation will mark 250 years since our Founders declared America’s independence and affirmed the self-evident truths upon which our nation was built.
New Jersey was instrumental in helping to secure it.
While the document was adopted in Philadelphia, the principles it proclaimed were defended and preserved on the rivers, mountains, and battlefields of New Jersey. It is not well known but more Revolutionary War battles and military engagements—nearly 600! — were fought here than in any other state.
From the icy waters of the Delaware River to the fields of Monmouth and the strategic heights of the Watchung Mountains, New Jersey earned its place in history as the “Crossroads of the American Revolution.”
In the months after July 4, 1776, General George Washington crossed the Delaware and led his troops to victory at Trenton, breathing new life into a cause many believed was lost. Days later, American forces prevailed at Princeton.
From encampments in the Watchung Mountains, Washington used New Jersey’s terrain to protect the Continental Army. At Monmouth, American soldiers proved they could stand and fight one of the world’s most powerful armies on equal footing.
The soldiers who fought across New Jersey were defending the truths set forth in the Declaration of Independence: “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.”
The order of those rights are deliberate and unmistakable. The Founders understood that every other right depends upon life itself. Without life, there can be no liberty and no pursuit of happiness.
The signers did not merely express their beliefs. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in defense of those principles. At least 25,000 Americans lost their lives to secure those rights.
The Declaration of Independence was more than a justification for separating from Great Britain. It was a statement about the nature of human rights themselves. The Founders flatly rejected the claim that rights were granted by government. They argued that rights are inherent to every human person because they are “endowed by our Creator” and that government’s first duty is to secure them.
That principle distinguished the American experiment from much of the world.
If rights come from government, they can be redefined, restricted, or withdrawn whenever political winds change. But when rights are recognized as coming from our Creator and affirmed as self-evident truths upon which government is established, they exist independent of public opinion, election results, or legislative majorities.
For 250 years, Americans have debated how best to apply those principles. Yet the central question remains unchanged: Do we recognize the equal dignity and value of every human life, or do we allow some lives to depend upon the judgment, convenience, or power of others?
The Declaration says unequivocally that the right to life belongs to every member of the human family. A child in the womb is no less endowed by our Creator than any other person.
Yet in New Jersey today, countless precious babies waiting to be born are denied the very first right identified in our nation’s founding document. That reality stands in stark tension with the principles Americans will celebrate as they commemorate 250 years of independence.
Looking honestly at our state today, it is painfully clear that New Jersey’s laws do not reflect the Founders’ understanding of the unalienable right to life. That reality should give us pause as we commemorate the anniversary of a document that placed life first among our fundamental rights.
The good news is that New Jersey’s history teaches us that renewal is possible. The American cause appeared hopeless in the winter of 1776. The Continental Army was exhausted, outnumbered, and retreating. Yet it was in New Jersey, at one of the darkest moments of the Revolution, that the tide began to turn.
As America approaches its 250th birthday, New Jersey’s Revolutionary legacy should inspire more than historical pride. It should remind us that the future is not determined by our challenges but by our willingness to meet them.
The patriots who crossed our rivers, marched across our fields, and suffered terrible hardships in pursuit of independence did not know how their struggle would end. They simply believed that certain truths were worth defending and certain rights worth preserving.
New Jersey has always been a battleground. In 1776, the fight was to establish that rights belong to every person by virtue of their humanity, not by permission of the powerful. That fight is not over.
The most vulnerable among us are still denied the truth New Jersey once helped secure. For those who cannot fight for themselves, we will continue the fight.
