In late June and early July 1776, the Second Continental Congress framed, debated and adopted the Declaration of Independence. The document announced the creation of a new American republic and established its defining principles: a commitment to free trade, free immigration and internationalism.
As the United States celebrated its 249th birthday on July 4, the determination of President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon these founding principles has become starkly apparent. By doing so, they risk surrendering the key to America’s prosperity and geopolitical influence at a moment when the world has never appeared so unstable.
The Committee of Five — John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman — who drafted the Declaration of Independence condemned King George III for “cutting off our trade with all parts of the world.” Since George III’s accession in 1760, the British imperial government had erected tariffs and nontariff barriers on American trade with the French and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and South America, depriving Americans of a vital outlet for their products and access to hard currency.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.