IN 1807， fornler President John Adams argued that a complete<br >history of the American Revolution could not be written until<br >the history of change in each state was known， because the prin-<br >ciples of the Revoluti()n w:ere as various as the states that went<br >through it Two hundred ..~ ，，s<br > ~ ，，..，.，，. after the Declaration oI: Indepen<br >dence， the American nation has spread over a continent and<br >beyond. The states have grown in number lrom thirteen to fitty.<br >And democratic principles have been interpreted differently in<br >every one of them.<br > We therefore invite you to consider that the history of your<br >state may have more to do with the bicentennial review ot the<br >American Revolution than does the story of Bunker Hill or<br > 1~<br >Valley Forge. The Revolution has continued as Americans ex-<br >tended liberty and democracy over a vast territory. John Adams<br >was right: the states are part of that story， and the story is in-<br >complete without an acc~unt of their diversity.<br > The Declaration o1: Independence stressed life， liberty， and<br >the pursuit of happiness: accordingly， it shattered the notion of<br >holding new territories in the subordinate status of colonies. The<br >Northwest Ordinarlce ~f 1787 set forth a procedure tk~r new<br >states to enter the Union on an equal t ~~otino with the old The<br >Federal Constitution shortly confirmed this novel means of<br >building a nation out of equal states. The step-by-step process<br >through which territories have achieved self-government and na-<br >tional representation is among the most important of the Found-<br >ing Fathers" legacies.<br > The method of state-making reconciled the ancient conllic!<br >between liberty and empire， resulting in what Thomas Jefferson<br >called an empire for liberty. The system has worked and re-<br >mains unaltered， despite er~ormous changes that have taken<br >