The Washington Examiner notes that America's 250th anniversary is upon us, and calls it an opportunity to renew our commitment to civic education. I can think of no better use of a birthday than honest self-examination — and no worse use than mere pageantry.

I spent my life printing pamphlets, establishing libraries, founding academies, and carrying the post — all in the conviction that a citizen who does not understand how her government works is not truly free, but merely comfortable. Comfort and liberty are not the same thing. The first can be provided by a benevolent master; the second requires the effort of the person who holds it.

The Examiner is right that generations of the public have worked to preserve what the founders set in motion. But preservation is not passive. A fire kept burning requires fresh fuel. That fuel, in a republic, is an educated and attentive citizenry. When the schools neglect history, when the press is distrusted, when young people cannot name the three branches of government, the fire dims — not all at once, but steadily, in the way a poorly tended hearth goes cold.

I will confess a personal stake here. Early in my life I failed, in the most serious way a man can fail, to apply to all people the principles of liberty I professed to hold. In my later years I tried to make amends, and petitioned against the slave trade from whatever platform I had. That correction was possible only because the Republic's ideals were written down, publicly argued, and kept alive in the minds of citizens who could hold me and others to account. Civic education is what makes accountability possible. Without it, there is no standard against which to measure the gap between what we say and what we do.

The practical counsel I would offer is simple. Do not wait for the school board or the legislature to act. Read the founding documents yourself — they are short, plain, and freely available. Discuss them with your neighbors. Attend one public meeting this year that you have never attended before. The Republic is not a monument to visit; it is a habit to practice. A nation grows in civic health the same way a tradesman grows in credit: by small, consistent deposits, compounded over time.