ERIKA KIRK: Charlie saw America’s future in the courage of young patriots

The people who launched the American experiment were remarkably young. Alexander Hamilton was just 21 years old when he dropped out of college to join the Continental Army, Betsy Ross was 24 when she sewed the stitches across the first American flag, James Monroe was 18 when he was wounded at the Battle of Trenton, and Thomas Jefferson was 33 when he penned the closing words of the Declaration of Independence, pledging "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" to the cause of American independence.