The delightful experience last week of delivering a series of lectures on the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence, in Massachusetts, including a session on the North Bridge, where the first shots were fired — “the shot heard ‘round the world” — in defense of Concord, in what was referred to as “The Cause,” deepened beyond measure my appreciation for the vision, ideals, ingenuity and courage of those who risked their lives to declare independence and create, eventually, a new nation. The aspirations of the colonists — the idea of America — have inspired generations to pursue what the Preamble of the Constitution states as our primary goal: “To create a more perfect Union.” The celebration of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding invites the citizenry’s exploration of the foundation stones of the revolution that changed the world.

Above all, the American Revolution was a constitutional revolution. It represented a radical, history-bending change in the relationship between government and the people, and triggered a legal earthquake that reconfigured, in seismic terms, the very nature and character of a constitution. The birth of American constitutionalism, in service to the cause of independence, changed the face of the world of law and political science, as it reconceptualized the location of sovereign power, the source and scope of the rights of mankind, the concept of representation, judicial review and, among other things, federalism. The ingenuity that defined this intellectual revolution introduced, out of necessity, a new vocabulary, as seen in the invention of the term, “executive power,” as the only acceptable usage for describing limited powers granted to a governor or an executive, in a the newly minted republic that despised and rejected, the repugnant “royal prerogative,” which characterized the monarchy that the founders burned to the ground.

These ideals of the American Revolution, embodied and trumpeted in the Declaration of Independence, formed some of the foundation stones of America as an “idea.” But they were not the only cornerstones. The most fundamental principles of the new nation were set forth in majestic prose that students across generations have recited and which has become what Walter Isaacson has rightly called “the greatest sentence ever written.”

The stirring words have been immortalized, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Abraham Lincoln called the Declaration the “sheet anchor of the Republic,” and expressed his admiration for Thomas Jefferson’s skill in weaving into a document, our first and most famous state paper, a lengthy statement of the colonists’ grievances against the crown, with words that charted the “American Creed.” That sentence, in Jefferson’s initial draft, was less inspiring: “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.” In the hands of Benjamin Franklin, an experienced editor and brilliant prose stylist, they were changed to “self-evident,” placing the assertion of their truth beyond doubt.

In a bold, defiant indictment, the Declaration accused King George III of violating, not only the colonists’ rights as Englishmen, but, more importantly, their unalienable, that is, their natural rights. The contention that all people are created equal and endowed by their creator with unalienable rights constituted an intellectual clash for the ages: natural rights versus natural law, the new world against the old world.

The principle that “all men are created equal,” a rallying cry for inclusion, provided the inspiration for the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which represents in text, history and structure the fulfillment of the Declaration’s most profound statement. And it presents a powerful challenge to governmental officials who would treat some as less equal than others. By what right, by what philosophy, is unequal treatment of equals justified? Certainly not by the terms of the Declaration. Those who would deny equal protection for all cannot, without an indulgence in hypocrisy, celebrate the Declaration of Independence.

At this juncture, when the Trump administration celebrates a false “blood and soil” narrative to nurture its brand of authoritarianism, rather than the idea and ideals, of America, and chooses cage fighting as its preferred national symbol, rather than commemorative celebrations of the Spirit of ’76, it is helpful to remember the militiamen who stood on the North Bridge and defeated the British Army and its monarchical pretensions. We stand on that bridge today.