Benjamin Franklin is reputed to have said, in reference to 13 separate American colonies then in rebellion against England, “If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang apart.” After the Revolutionary War, and following the conclusion of the endless debates that eventually lead to the formation of this nation’s political system, Franklin was asked by a young woman what sort of government the delegates had created for the citizens of the new United States. “A republic, madam,” he replied. “If you can keep it.”

“Keeping it” has been the mission of the people and government of the United States ever since, and for more than 225 years that mission has been achieved, if sometimes only narrowly. The rise and fall of banks, markets, and political parties; several major wars (civil and otherwise) and dozens of minor ones; the influx of immigrants from literally every other nation on earth; and the emerging and sometimes conflicting rights of various ethnicities, genders, generations, belief systems, and identities have stretched the national fabric to the breaking point time and again. To that point, but never beyond—at least not yet.

 …