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FIRST ON FOX: As America celebrates 250 years of its independence this year, three conservative Supreme Court justices warn that preserving the nation’s founding freedoms for future generations depends on Americans understanding their history, embracing civic education and actively participating in their system of government.
Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett each implored Americans to become familiar with their system of government and the history behind it to ensure the nation’s heritage is preserved.
Although the three conservative justices were united in their call for civic education, they each approached the subject differently in a series of interviews filmed by the Federalist Society and obtained by Fox News Digital. The videos come ahead of the Federalist Society’s 2026 National Lawyers Convention this week, which highlights “250 Years of American Exceptionalism.”
Gorsuch, for example, had a distinctly religious tone.
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Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch discuss America’s 250th birthday. (Federalist Society)
“I think it’s very easy to take for granted the rights guaranteed in our Constitution and the ideals expressed in the Declaration,” he said. “They are, to us, much like the air we breathe and the water a fish can swim in. They seem natural to us, but they weren’t in 1776. The ideas in the Declaration of Independence that we are all created equal, that each of us has God-given rights – they don’t come from government, they come from God.”
Gorsuch, who was appointed to the Court by President Donald Trump in 2017 following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, then described the importance of the landmark study to preserving the American way of life.
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Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy attend President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS)
“Our country is a blessing from God, we owe him great thanks and we bear a great responsibility,” he continued. “The reason our Constitution and Declaration have survived is because people choose them again in every generation. You have to know its history. You have to know what you are preserving. Daniel Webster said it took us 6,000 years to generate a system of government like this. Don’t expect it to happen easily or again.”
Kavanaugh, similarly, emphasized the importance of education.
“I think our education system is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that over the next 250 years we preserve this republic and improve it. So teaching American history, teaching the values of this country, the history of this country, why this country exists, how this country has been preserved, how this country has been improved over time, for example, through our constitutional amendment process and otherwise,” said the judge, appointed to the bench following a confirmation process tumultuous in 2018.
“And I think we should all constantly strive to provide civic education, not just for our young people, but for all of us, and that we are constantly learning and participating in our system of government,” he continued.
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United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, from left, United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan, United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett during a State of the Union address in the Chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, Tuesday, February 24, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Federalist Society filmed its interviews ahead of its National Lawyers Convention, which will bring together minds from the conservative legal movement to discuss issues deemed urgent.
Although she was not interviewed by the Federalist Society, Justice Sonia Sotomayor shared her thoughts on America’s 250th birthday during an event at the Mount Vernon Library in Washington, striking a slightly more somber tone than her conservative colleagues.
During her speech, which focused primarily on civic engagement, Sotomayor argued that the United States is currently in a difficult situation and that it would take “hard work” to return to “balance.”
“There are certain norms that we may have lost forever,” she said. “But I don’t think we’ll fail as a democracy. But I think we’re going to have a hard time understanding what that means.”
Barrett, meanwhile, focused on the Declaration of Independence and how she believes it should inspire civic participation today.
“We are not passive observers of the American project. We participate in it. It is our project,” she said. “I might suggest that people look at the last line of the Declaration of Independence. It ends with a mutual pledge in which the signers of the document mutually pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the success of the American project. And they kept that promise. Some lost their fortunes, their property to the loyalists…and they pledged with their honor not to deviate from the commitments they had made in signing the Declaration of Independence.
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“That’s surely the kind of commitment that’s needed to keep this going,” Barrett said.
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