While we’re celebrating the 4th of July, acknowledging the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pa., let us not forget Virginia’s role in the war for independence.

Self-loathing Americans — and there are plenty of them; the percentage of Americans who are “proud” to be American” has hit a new low — criticize the United States for having failed to transform itself instantaneously from a world mired in feudalism, monarchy and coerced servitude into a polity, unknown previously in all of human history, that embodied 21st-century American values and institutions (which they don’t think are so great either).

But count me among those who are proud of our history. For all of our mistakes, we have changed the world for the better. And I take pride in the contributions that early Virginians — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry, George Mason, and many more — made toward the formation of the country. They articulated ideals that served as the lodestar for social and political change over 250 years and, in the process, inspired millions across the globe.

God knows, America isn’t perfect. The challenge to create a more perfect union is a never-ending work in progress. Occasionally, I despair that we’ll lose what previous generations sacrificed to bequeath to us. But there’s nowhere I’d rather live. — JAB