Today is Independence Day. As Jen reminds us, it’s a good day to remember some of the things that made this place great — why so many from around the world still want to come here.

Today is the 229th anniversary of the day we declared our independence. We declared that the business of America is not business, royalty, or inequality. The business of America is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Emma Lazarus writes:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”