I wasn’t born in Ukraine. I was born in the United States — the land of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Like many Americans, I grew up with fireworks on July 4th, patriotic songs, and history lessons about the Founding Fathers. I was told the American Revolution was the purest expression of freedom the world had ever seen.
But as I got older — and more honest — I realized something: the origin story of July 4th isn’t as noble, universal, or relevant as we pretend it is. The revolution of 1776 was a rebellion of colonies under British rule, yes. But it was also a movement led by elites — many of them slaveowners — under a government that looked nothing like what we have today.
What we now call “Independence Day” was the birth of a confederation that couldn’t even enforce its own laws, abolish slavery, or ensure basic civil rights. It wasn’t a democracy. It was a negotiation between states, riddled with contradictions.
That’s why, today, on July 4th — I celebrate Ukrainian independence instead.
Because Ukrainian freedom isn’t a myth frozen in the past. It’s a living, active resistance. It’s not theoretical. It’s happening now. And it deserves our recognition.
1. 1776 Was Not the Birth of Modern American Democracy
Here’s a fact rarely spoken in cookout conversations: the Declaration of Independence in 1776 didn’t create a democracy. It led to the Articles of Confederation — a loose pact between 13 states with no executive branch, no federal courts, and no power to tax. That government failed.
The Constitution we live under today wasn’t ratified until 1788. The Bill of Rights wasn’t adopted until 1791. Enslaved people were still considered three-fifths of a person. Women had no vote. Native nations were stripped and slaughtered. For most people, “freedom” was theoretical at best, and a lie at worst.
Compare that to Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1991 — voted on in a national referendum with over 90% support. No colonies. No kings. No property requirements. Just people, across every region, saying we will no longer be ruled by Moscow.
And they’ve had to defend that choice ever since.
2. Ukrainian Independence Is a Battle for Survival, Not Tax Cuts
The American Revolution was sparked in part by grievances like the Stamp Act and “taxation without representation.” In other words: property disputes, economic control, colonial autonomy. That’s not nothing — but it’s a far cry from genocide, forced language erasure, and nuclear threats.
Ukraine’s modern struggle is not about marginal tax rates. It’s about whether a sovereign nation — with its own language, culture, and people — has the right to exist without being erased by a fascist empire.
Since 2014, Russia has illegally occupied Crimea. In 2022, Putin launched a full-scale invasion. Ukrainian cities were bombed. Civilians executed. Women raped. Children abducted. Cultural landmarks destroyed. The goal wasn’t just land — it was annihilation.
When Ukrainians fight for independence, they’re not fighting over paperwork. They’re fighting for existence.
3. Freedom Is Not Something You Celebrate Once and Forget
American independence is often treated as a trophy: something earned, enshrined, and self-sustaining. But that’s not how liberty works.
Liberty rots when unmaintained. It fades when handed to charlatans. And in the U.S., too many people treat it like a birthright rather than a responsibility. They wave flags while electing strongmen. They honor troops while turning a blind eye to authoritarianism at home. They invoke 1776 while mocking democracies abroad — especially Ukraine’s.
Ukrainians don’t have that luxury. They know freedom is fragile. They live with air raids and trench warfare. Their independence is not ceremonial — it’s earned daily.
That kind of struggle reminds the world — and should remind Americans — that freedom without defense is delusion.
4. Ukraine Is the Spirit of 1776 — Without the Hypocrisy
If the core idea of July 4th is the right of people to govern themselves, then Ukraine is living that idea more faithfully today than the American colonists did in 1776.
They didn’t fight to preserve slavery. They didn’t write freedom for some and chains for others. They didn’t form a government that broke down in five years.
They fought — and still fight — for independence with clarity. Against overwhelming odds. Without colonial ambition. Without genocide. Without hypocrisy.
So when I light a firework on July 4th, it’s not for Washington or Jefferson. It’s for the people of Kharkiv, of Mariupol, of Lviv — people who have earned every inch of their freedom in blood, not myth.
Final Thought
I don’t need to erase American history. I just don’t need to mythologize it.
Ukrainian independence is not a symbol. It’s a frontline. It’s active. It’s urgent. It’s morally clear. And it deserves our attention more than powdered wigs and tea parties ever will.
So this July 4th, I choose to honor the nation still fighting for what America likes to claim it perfected.
And I stand with Ukraine — not because of where I was born, but because of what I believe.
Jack Lassen is a systems hardener, digital autonomy advocate, and defender of free nations in the age of cyberwar. He believes liberty is a verb.