Echoes of 1776: Minnesota Renews Its Commitment to the Declaration’s Timeless Truths

On Wednesday July 8^th at 5:00 PM, at the State Capitol, Minnesotans joined groups around the country to read the Declaration of Independence to mark the exact time 250 years ago, Colonel John Nixon read the Declaration aloud for the first time to a public gathering in Philadelphia.

Hosted by the Governor’s Committee for Minnesota America 250 in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society, the public reading featured 32 readers—including Minnesota political leaders, students, and teachers—proclaiming the document’s revolutionary words. The Minnesota State Band provided live patriotic music, creating a fitting tribute to the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Founded by a group of patriots in Hawaii, the idea for the commemoration quickly grew to more than 1000 sites across all 50 states and beyond under the “Sharing the Spirit of America” initiative. It offered citizens a chance to reflect on the radical proposition that the people should be in charge of the government, not the other way around.

In Minnesota, we are blessed to have the most beautiful Capitol in the nation, and within this building legislators, the Governor and the Supreme Court imperfectly carry forward the promise of the greatest of our founding documents, the Declaration.

The ceremony was a fitting tribute to the 250^th birthday of our young country and the many sacrifices made to keep it going, all beginning with those original signers 250 years ago, when Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and 53 others pledged: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”