When it comes to national holidays, Independence Day is at the top of the list.

It is about the birth of a nation. A bold proclamation, protest and philosophy that laid the strong foundation for our forefathers’ fight for independence and captured a spirit that resonates today — 249 years later.

This is a day to celebrate the freedoms and democracy we share.

It is also a day to pay recognition to those whose courageous vision led to this “experiment” that, in 1863 in his “Gettysburg Address,” President Abraham Lincoln called a “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

This national holiday is a welcomed summertime pause from the hustle and bustle of the work-a-day world, one that’s filled with red-, white- and blue-festooned Fourth of July parades, large and small, around Marin, community barbecues and pancake breakfasts, fireworks shows and, of course, the Marin County Fair, which will be in full swing at the Marin Center fairgrounds through Sunday.

Amid the fun and festivities, we should not lose sight of the reason we are celebrating — the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 by 56 men who shared a bold vision of a new nation, free from the monarchy. They signed their names at the bottom of that manifesto penned on fragile parchment, but establishing a resilient landmark for liberty and human rights. In doing so, they also risked their lives, wealth and standing, pledging “to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

It took another six years of war against the British before independence became a reality.

In those years, some of the signers were taken captive, hunted for treason by British troops or their homes looted or burned to the ground.

They had risked everything and many paid a dear price for independence and liberty.

It is an “experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people,” as George Washington, our first president, called it. Today, we — as Americans more than two centuries later — continue the toil to perfect it. Their vision endured a revolution, the Civil War and two world wars.

Even now, the balance of power that has been honed over more than 200 years continues to be tested. That thousands of voters, here and across the country, can hold public protests opposing the Trump administration’s actions and policies is an exercising of rights enabled by the vision of those signees.

Washington, in his first inaugural address, spoke of “the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government.” With courage, commitment and vision, he helped lay the cornerstone on which our country has been built.

In 1915, American lawyer Louis Brandeis, who would soon begin a 23-year career on the U.S. Supreme Court, defined those American ideals in an Independence Day address.

“They are the development of the individual for his own and the common good — the development of the individual through liberty and the attainment of the common good through democracy and social justice,” he said.

More than 60 years later, then-President Jimmy Carter, carrying on the tradition of the yearly presidential proclamation on the observance of Independence Day, called the holiday “a chance to remind ourselves of the heritage we share with each other and with the men of great spirit and wise vision who brought our nation into being …”

He wrote that “the work of freedom can never be finished.”

On this day, we celebrate the United States of America, the vision of those who bravely signed that parchment, from Boston merchant John Hancock to Virginia lawyer George Wythe, and those who joined and supported the fight for our right to be a free nation.

Amid the flag-waving, fireworks, fairs and festivities, this day and its deep meaning to us all are worthy of celebration and appreciation of our rights and responsibility in the privilege to continue to work on this noble “experiment.”