For nearly 250 years, Americans have marked the fourth of July as the birthday of the nation, and in July of 2026, we’ll celebrate 250 years. Colin Woodard argues that the Declaration of Independence is as relevant and vital as ever, and that its promise is essential to preserving the republic today.

Colin Woodard is a New York Times-bestselling historian and Polk Award-winning journalist. He is one of the most respected authorities on North American regionalism, the sociology of United States nationhood and how our colonial past shapes and explains the present. He has authored six books including the award-winning Wall Street Journal bestseller “American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.” Woodard is director of Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, an initiative studying where America has come from, how we ended up as we are and how we might shape our future.

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