As we celebrate 250 years of America, the country needs to return to its founding principles now more than ever. Hillsdale College showed this in its first feature-length documentary, Revolutionary America, which walks viewers through the story of America’s inception. The documentary begins at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, explaining how the 13 colonies forged a distinct identity apart from Great Britain. Between 1763 and 1776, the British government implemented a series of humiliating taxes, prevented settlers from moving west, and limited the colonies’ economic growth for the sake of the monarchy.
The Founding Fathers saw the Revolution as their moral duty, Revolutionary America explains. Through the writings of Hamilton, Jefferson, and Revere, the documentary lays out why the early Americans believed the British government was infringing on their rights. Factors like economic suppression and a growing military presence forced the colonies to band together. As crisis loomed, municipalities rose up in the face of tyranny, forming local militias and committees to defend themselves against mounting suppression, especially after the Boston Massacre. Wealthy men of high social status, such as Robert Morris and George Washington, put their fortunes and reputations on the line to serve what they knew was a noble cause.
“There is an obsession within the founders and the framers with creating a kind of government that is in accord with nature and with nature’s God,” political commentator Michael Knowles said in the film.. “The precise goal of the revolution was to affect their safety and happiness.”
Revolutionary America contends that the American Revolution was not an accident. It was the hard-won result of a courageous, virtuous, and principled people fighting for liberty. It proposes that the Revolution and the Constitution are part of the American experiment, which always strives for excellence. Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry Arnn states in the final moments of the film that: “America is the most generous and beautiful political experience in human history. [The founders] set up a standard maximum for a periphery society, always to be striven for, always to be sought after, and never to be wholly attained. The Revolution continues.”
Although we have now passed the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Hillsdale’s documentary serves as a reminder of how important it is that Americans continue to celebrate their country. Modern America has a patriotism problem. The percentage of Americans who claim that they are “extremely proud” to be an American has sharply declined. The steep fall has quickened in recent years. In 2021, 43 percent of Americans claimed they were “extremely” proud of their country, while in 2026, only 33 percent are. For members of the Democratic party, that percentage is sickeningly low, sitting at a weak 14 percent.
The national drop in patriotism can be linked to a cultural disrespect for the American Revolution. For most of our nation’s history, the Founding Fathers and the men who fought in the Revolutionary War were regarded as heroes. Unfortunately, left-wing educational institutions have tried to destroy their legacy. Leftists dismiss heroic men like Washington and Jefferson as immoral slave owners while slamming our nation’s founding documents for not meeting modern diversity, equity, and inclusion standards. With works such as The 1619 Project and The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding, writers and intellectuals have attempted to undermine the founders’ historic achievements.
In addition, there has been a consolidated effort led by left-wing activists to separate American culture from its history. Democrats have tried to undermine the value of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution as a way to erode our faith in their principles. Far-left groups like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have made tearing down American traditions a core part of their mission. The DSA has stated as much in its own platform, advocating for removing the presidency, the Supreme Court, and the Senate.
Our constitutional order is under siege. Americans can navigate through the turbulent times that lie ahead by emulating the virtues of the Founding Fathers. Revolutionary America gives viewers a chance to learn about American exceptionalism from the men who fought, bled, and died so that our nation might exist.
Our country and its Revolution will only “continue,” as Dr. Arnn put it, if we remain students of history. In a letter to his son, John Adams once wrote: “You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen. This will ever be the sum total of the advice of your affectionate father.”
