Our nation has always been a work in progress

“Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. ... As new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote these words to Virginian lawyer Samuel Kercheval in July of 1816. They articulate one of the best things about this country: we’re still a work in progress.

Since the country’s founding, many things have changed. We’ve gone back and made 33 Amendments — 27 haven’t been repealed — to the Constitution along with various laws and court decisions both at the state and federal level.

While July 4 is a time to celebrate the U.S. and what we stand for, it’s also a time to reflect on how far we’ve come as a nation.

Our 13th Amendment abolished slavery. The 15th and 19th grant the right to vote regardless of race or sex. The 17th establishes the election of U.S. senators by popular vote.

More recently, the 26th Amendment keeps those over the age of 18 from being denied the right to vote based on age.

We also have made mistakes. The 18th Amendment started the age of prohibition, which resulted in a black market for alcohol and an estimated 10,000 deaths from alcohol poisoning. After 14 years, we decided the damage outweighed the benefit of the legislation and repealed it with the 21st Amendment.

We, as a country, have changed our laws over the years to better reflect our morals and our beliefs. We will again as we continue to learn and situations change.

This willingness to grow and develop should serve as a point of pride for us and be remembered this holiday weekend.