The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.

July 4th is a bipartisan treasured national holiday celebrating the end of British colonial rule and our independence. America is based on a revolutionary principle: “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 … .”The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, wasn’t perfect. Enslavement of Blacks continued; women, workers, Native Americans and other non-whites were rightless, but over time America became a more democratic nation.

Today, America’s uniqueness and evolving expansion of constitutional rights is overshadowed by plutocracy and Trump’s narcissistic vanity. Trump explained his inconclusive truce with Iran: “The one president I did not want to be was the late, great Herbert Hoover.” Trump explained that the stock market soared on the possibility of peace. Accordingly, Trump argues his truce would take the stock market higher and help all Americans.

Trump’s analysis is flawed: “The richest 1 percent of Americans held nearly half of the country’s stock market wealth at the end of 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Board. The bottom half of Americans own about 1 percent of stock market wealth” (Washington Post). Moreover, income inequality shows little change (Census Bureau). The Iran War’s inflation made matters much worse for the middle-working classes, including farmers.

Then there’s Trump’s Versailles Palace-like White House ballroom under construction. The $600 million ballroom is being paid for by wealthy donors with “business before (the) administration” and taxpayers (Washington Post). Meanwhile, a plan for the “Independence Arch” near Arlington Cemetery moves forward. Trump says it will honor him. Equally horrendous, Trump has expropriated the July 4 th celebration on the National Mall. It will be a “Trump Rally”, a sacrilegious travesty. Enough. There is a better way to celebrate Independence Day. Wisconsin has shown the way.

Many Wisconsinites have been on the forefront of honoring the Declaration of Independence by extending rights to all and establishing a more perfect union: Lloyd Barbee, first Black elected to the Wisconsin Assembly, fought for civil rights for Blacks and ending sexual orientation discrimination; Vel Phillips, first Black to be elected to the Milwaukee Common Council and later as Wisconsin’s Secretary of State, stood up for civil rights as did Father James Groppi and Howard Fuller. Midge Miller, elected to the Wisconsin Assembly, stood up for women’s rights. And, Teamster Bob Amsden led on worker rights, including pensions.

Moreover, there have been heroes in Wisconsin’s congressional delegation: Democratic Representative Bob Kastenmeier broke with LBJ and supported an integrated pro-civil rights Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic Convention and led the way in passing historic civil rights legislation; GOP Representative Jim Sensenbrenner courageously and consistently supported extension of the Voting Rights Act as did GOP Representative Tom Petri; and Democratic Senators Gaylord Nelson and Tammy Baldwin, outspoken advocates for comprehensive civil rights for all Americans.

Independence Day is for all of us. The great state of Wisconsin has much to teach Trump about July 4th.

Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.