We tend to think of them as a monolithic force. “The Founding Fathers” we say, “would have wanted this.” We say that “they” would have been opposed to that. With fire in our eyes, we declare that “they” must be rolling over in their graves.

In the United States, we speak of them so often that it has become a sort of shorthand for a particular worldview. One might call it American conservatism, or conversely, classical liberalism. One could call it libertarian, or republican, or democratic. Like so many terms in the modern political discourse – thought police, social justice, neoliberalism, even capitalism ‒ we use the Founding Fathers to signify many different things depending on our aim. All at once, the phrase means everything and nothing. This imprecision of language, whether applied to this or other terms, is understandable. It’s easier to use buzz words that evoke “the kind of thing we’re getting at” than to state precisely the political or philosophical argument we’re trying to make.

But the Founding Fathers of the United States were a varied and diverse group. Yes, they all agreed that political representation, rule by the people, and certain protections for rights were worthwhile goals. But they differed widely on the finer points. One only needs a passing familiarity with the Federalist Papers to understand just how deep these differences went. This essay in the Wall Street Journal relates an even steamier take on their many disagreements after the war. My aim here is not only to correct a bit of historical misconception. We can learn a lot from the Founders’ animosity. After all, tolerance and compromise are central values of the classical liberal school of thought. In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill reminds us that it is:

Not the violent conflict between parts of the truth, but the quiet suppression of half of it, is the formidable evil: there is always hope when people are forced to listen to both sides; it is when they attend only to one that errors harden into prejudices, and truth itself ceases to have the effect of truth, by being exaggerated into falsehood.

The Founding Fathers were correct to allow for “violent conflict between parts of the truth” within their political movement. Indeed, it was a shared belief in the importance of such tolerance that animated the founders’ strivings and eventual success. Allowing individuals to define and then seek their own idea of the good life is, after all, the whole project of classical liberalism.

So, as we honor the American founders on this Fourth of July, and remember the great personal risk they took by signing their names to the Declaration of Independence, we must remember that they came together not as loyal slaves to dogma or to a shared utopian vision, but as individuals. They came with diverse political beliefs and life experiences. They came with violent disagreements about what the nation they sought to form would look like. The fact that they came together at all, is nothing short of miraculous. But it’s a miracle we’re all familiar with because we see it every day when we talk, trade, and otherwise interact with people whose personal beliefs we find to be repugnant.

We should work to embody this principle within our movement as well. The founders knew in 1776 that, without a commitment to tolerate and understand each other, they would never survive the wrath of Great Britain. The same is true today. If we concern ourselves with the differences between us, with in-fighting and with litmus tests, we will never attain the freedom we seek. From supporting the efforts of fellow classical liberals on issues that aren’t your top priority, to speaking up against group think and dogmatism that may make dissenters feel unwelcome in your student group, there are many ways to fight division within our ranks. But the number one thing you can do is simply view others with charity and openness. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Know that, while individual libertarians have disagreements about everything under the sun, we’re all working towards the same goal. And know that if we present a divided face to the outside world, we will fail in that mission.

As Benjamin Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Happy Fourth!