According to the text published at Monticello, "The principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence promised to lead America—and other nations on the globe—into a new era of freedom.

It would inspire all peoples living under the burden of oppression and ignorance to open their eyes to the rights of mankind, to overturn the power of tyrants, and to declare the triumph of equality over inequality.

This spirit was personified by the beliefs and actions of that almost mythical group known as the Founding Fathers, and is perhaps best exemplified by Thomas Jefferson.

'"[4] According to the New York Times, in a review of What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States: Jefferson's core conviction was that what might be called "the spirit of '76" had repudiated all energetic expressions of government power, most especially power exercised from faraway places, which included London, Philadelphia or Washington.

Ultimately, if Americans are to restore constitutionally limited government instituted to guarantee their personal liberty, then they must revive the Spirit of '76.

[10] In 1843, the historian Mellen Chamberlain wrote that the spirit of '76 was embodied by Levi Preston, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War.

"[14] L. Lloyd MacDonald wrote that "in 1776, a small group of thoughtful but defiant men gave new meaning to the definition of independence.

"[17] Diggins also wrote that Abraham Lincoln "took the Declaration, which Jefferson regarded as a scientific document, interpreted it as a sacred text, and in the process of doing so he sacralized the whole meaning of the Spirit of '76."

Further, "It was Lincoln's deepest conviction that the ideological significance of the American Revolution expressed itself in the Declaration and that the Spirit of '76 endowed America with its meaning and purpose in human history.

"[19] The Spirit of '76, along with Custer's Last Stand and the Battle of the Alamo, has been noted as representing "moral and spiritual meaning that can motivate individuals and societies.

"[20] In a 2001 book titled Harmonizing Sentiments: The Declaration of Independence and the Jeffersonian Idea of Self-Government, Hans L. Eicholz wrote... "The spirit of '76 has been lost—and with it so much else.

[23] Ron Grossman, writing for the Chicago Tribune in 2001, opined that the spirit of '76 is often lost in the fanfare over the Fourth of July, noting that "historians and descendants of the first American citizens wonder if modern celebrations--from food fests and rock concerts to fishing tournaments and car rallies--are missing the point.