BY HILARIO DELEON, CHAIR, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
I’ve been doing Civil War reenacting since I was 14 years old. Spending that much time not just studying our history but also inhabiting it changes how you think about America.
World powers don’t often endure for 250 years, but I don’t think this nation is about to crumble at all. And that’s because of the American system our founders created.
I always go back to the Civil War. By all historical rights, we shouldn’t be here. That conflict should have destroyed the United States. It was brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, state against state. Yet from our darkest hour, somehow we pulled through. We freed millions of people, endured the difficult years of Reconstruction and continued moving forward as one nation.
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Whether it’s due to war, natural disasters or national tragedies, Americans have a way of coming together when it matters most. In our hardest moments, we tend to see the best in one another. We may have different backgrounds, beliefs and walks of life, but we rally around a shared history and a shared identity.
For a long time, people called America an experiment. Maybe it was one in 1776. Maybe it still was during the Civil War. But after everything this country has endured, it’s not an experiment anymore. It’s a foundation, and as we celebrate 250 years, it’s worth remembering that the United States has been tested before. And it’s why I believe the best is yet to come.
