MIKE PENCE: The next generation needs faith in God and confidence in the American ideal

Two hundred and fifty years ago, fifty-six men gathered in Philadelphia and pledged to one another "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor."

They were merchants and farmers, lawyers and physicians. They could not know whether the cause of independence would triumph or fail. Some would lose everything. But they knew with unshakable certainty that liberty was worth any sacrifice.

This Independence Day, as America celebrates its 250th birthday, we rightly honor their undaunted courage.