Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch brings ‘Heroes of 1776’ to Philadelphia
In Saturday’s discussion, Gorsuch said the ideals enshrined in the Declaration have served as a touchstone for change during the abolition of slavery, the suffrage movement and the Civil Rights Movement.
“I think Frederick Douglass is right. Hold fast to the Declaration in everything you do, always,” he said, referring to a sentiment attributed to Douglass’ 1852 address “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
“And in order to do that, I think you need to arm yourself with a lot of information, and we need to know our history better than we do,” he continued.
The book’s release comes at a time when the conservative-majority Supreme Court is refuting accusations of political bias in the wake of a ruling limiting the Voting Rights Act.
On Saturday, Gorsuch spoke to the importance of “the separation of powers,” and having “neutral, independent judges decide cases and controversies.”
“I think it’s kind of disheartening how few people know that we have three branches of government and can name the three branches of government,” Gorsuch said. “And then how few people know why those branches are the way they are, but to me … that was the brilliance of the design.”.
On Saturday, Gorsuch acknowledged present-day political polarization in the United States. He said John Adams’ and Thomas Jefferson’s complicated relationship demonstrates that partisan politics is not a new phenomenon.
“Adams believed in a strong central government, [and] Jefferson … a weak one,” he said. “They wrote terrible things about each other in newspapers, terrible things. I mean, if you think …. today’s political discourse has its troubles, and I’m not saying it doesn’t, go read what Adams had written about Jefferson.”
Adams’ and Jefferson’s reconciliation and work together on the Declaration shows that “for all that divided them — and there are things that divide us — more united them than separated them,” Gorsuch said.
‘The Declaration served a purpose’
Dominic Orlando came down from New York City with his wife and two daughters to hear Gorsuch speak.
He appreciated the “small anecdotal stories” about the American Revolution shared in the book and the discussion.
“The words have meaning,” he said, “and I feel that we lose a lot of that meaning with some of the things that go on today, and that if we would remember that the Declaration served a purpose and the Constitution, as written, served a purpose, we would do so much better.”
Peter Ghidu, 10, of Glenside, said the event was “cool,” and he liked learning about “unknown stories from the Revolution.”
He said he’s currently learning about the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution in school, and he thinks the most important parts of the nation’s founding documents are “the rights they had … that everyone has these unalienable rights that couldn’t be taken away.”
Saturday’s “Civic Story Hour” is one of a slew of activities and events the National Constitution Center has planned to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“We want families to discover that history is not simply something that happened long ago to other people,” said Vince Stango, interim president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, during his introductory remarks at Saturday’s event.
“The people and events we study are part of our shared American story,” he added. “They help us understand the principles that shaped our nation, inform the world we live in today and remind us that each generation has a role to play in writing the chapters that follow.”
The National Constitution Center will be open free of charge on the Fourth of July in celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.