America Has Always Been a Dangerous Idea

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Last month there was a spate of protests across America united by a two-word slogan: No Kings. This was the rallying cry of the Democrats against the bold prerogatives assumed by President Donald Trump, echoing the Tea Party, the popular movement that emerged in 2009 to hold President Barack Obama to account.

In fact, whether it’s the Black Panthers, the Daughters of the American Revolution, or Arthur Schlesinger Jr. warning about The Imperial Presidency, Americans of all creeds and passions tend to voice their protest of the government in the language of the Declaration of Independence, even in 2025. This is understandable; it’s a remarkable document that marks the official birth of America.

Most national origin stories are about a great man—sometimes with divine authority—who creates a new country in a specific land for a particular bloodline. One’s nationality was determined by blood and soil, and people lived according to the whims of their rulers. America, on the other hand, was founded on an idea. And what an idea it was.

What the founders said in the Declaration was that the government does not derive its power from the heavens or the sword, but from the consent of the people it governs. And the people have a God-given right to dissolve the government when it violates their God-given rights.

And this idea has resonated throughout the last two and a half centuries. It has served at home as a promissory note, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. And it has inspired revolutions and uprisings all over the world. It is what makes America exceptional. The Declaration of Independence, the idea of America, in this sense is much larger than the charter of our nation.