Welcome to the Daily Article podcast. Today is Thursday, July 4th, 2024. I'm Josh Miller

with Denison Forum, filling in as the narrator for today's article written by Dr. Jim Denison.

Today marks the 248th anniversary of the day America's Declaration of Independence

was adopted by the Second Continental Congress. At the time, Great Britain's King George

the Third ruled an empire on which the sun never sets. Its vast wealth was strengthened by trade

and protected by a powerful navy and a professional army,

making it a global power of the first order.

By contrast, the colonists' army had little equipment or formal training.

Here are some facts comparing then to now. In 1776,

our infant nation was composed of 13 colonies with about 2.5 million people. Today, we are 50 states

and 14 territories, with a population of more than 330 million.

Our economy has grown to over 27 trillion.

Our child mortality rate has fallen from over 45% to under 1%.

Our citizens live over 35 years longer on average.

Our scientific achievements have delivered the light bulb,

modern flight, the internet, air conditioning, movies, the polio vaccine,

and the list goes on.

More than 2.7 million miles of power lines electrify the country. We have paved more

than 4 million miles of roads, and we have been responsible for more than 800 human visits to space,

the most of any country. But these facts illustrate rather than explain the uniqueness that is our nation.

For that, we turn today to reflections by two of our greatest presidents, whose insights

inspire us today and guide us into our future. Between his election as president on November

...