Every year, we celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, family barbecues, and parades. It’s a day of national pride celebrating the formation of our county. Though many of us can recite the rights identified in the Declaration of Independence of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, we sometimes take for granted how the document shaped the future of the land and people that would become the United States.

When 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, they weren’t just objecting to taxes on tea or sugar. Under British rule, the Crown had absolute authority over the colonists. Colonial governments could be dissolved at will. Property could be seized arbitrarily. Businesses could be shut down for any reason, or no reason at all. There was no freedom of speech. Publishing an anti-British article could get you arrested, even executed. All of these issues were addressed in a single document that would officially launch a revolution.

In The Conscience of the Constitution, legal scholar Tim Sandefur writes, “The Declaration is not merely a historical artifact; it is the nation’s foundational legal and philosophical document.” It’s not just where we came from, it should always be regarded as the source of our nation’s first principles. It is the first law of the land.

That foundation begins with the words that changed the world: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Those ideas are more than just a poetic stanza declaring freedom from tyranny. They are the engine behind everything America has become. They gave us the guiding framework for a Constitution that limits government power and safeguards individual liberty. They paved the way for generations of entrepreneurs, risk-takers, and small business owners to thrive, unencumbered by state control, censorship, or arbitrary confiscation.

Small businesses make up 99% of all U.S. firms and create two-thirds of new jobs. They bring innovation, character, and community investment. They take risks, create opportunity, and help towns like Lodi thrive. But liberty isn’t self-sustaining. Protecting it takes vigilance. It takes organization. And it takes investment.

At the Lodi Chamber of Commerce, we don’t take those ideas for granted. Every single day, we fight to protect the rights of the business community. We know that our freedom of speech, our private property rights, and the ability to pursue our dreams are the foundation of the world's most prosperous economy. Therefore, we fight against governmental overreach. We advocate for fair regulations. We educate policymakers. We create coalitions in order to ensure your voice is heard in City Hall, in Sacramento, and beyond.

Take time this Fourth of July to remember what we’re really celebrating. Not just a moment in history, but a movement. And if you believe in that movement, if you believe that America’s strength lies in its free people and the businesses they build, then I invite you to defend it alongside us. Join the Chamber. Support our mission. Help us protect those rights to which we are all endowed, not just on the Fourth of July, but every day of the year.

Happy Independence Day to All!