by Tyler O’Neil
A nonprofit organization is launching a new historical theme park to bring American history to life and to reveal some inspiring stories that counter the Left’s narrative that the nation’s promise does not apply to women and racial minorities.
“Youth today are in the middle of an educational firestorm,” Dennis Leavitt, chief executive officer of the nonprofit United We Pledge, told The Daily Signal. He said his organization, based in St. George, Utah, aims to “light a fire in youth that causes them to become better Americans” through the project, known as Liberty Village.
Liberty Village, a 32-acre campus set to open on July 4, 2026, will include life-size, functional replicas of historical buildings, reenactments of events from the Revolutionary War and the Founding, and actors portraying key historical figures from that era.
United We Pledge aims to highlight the virtues of the Founding, particularly the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, without papering over the United States’ sins, especially the centuries of race-based slavery. However, the project will highlight how America’s ideals spurred the country on to resolve evils such as slavery.
“We view the United States of America and the progress we made more like a dimmer switch than like a light switch,” Leavitt told The Daily Signal. “On July 4, 1776, it wasn’t like every ill in this world was suddenly made right, but—like a dimmer switch—the lights are coming on more and more brightly.”
Two houses in Liberty Village will address how America slowly grew into its ideals, countering the Left’s narrative that the United States is racist or sexist at its core. (United We Pledge is nonpartisan and encourages liberal schools and parents to bring children to Liberty Village. It only opposes narratives that attack or undercut America’s Founding values.)
Leavitt highlighted the home of Thones Kunders (1654-1729), an early settler of Pennsylvania who hosted the first meeting protesting slavery in the New World. In Kunders’ Germantown home in 1683, Francis Daniel Pastorius wrote a formal document condemning the importation, sale, and ownership of slaves.
“They wanted to abolish the evils of slavery and find solutions so that all men were equally endowed with opportunity,” the United We Pledge CEO said. “That fight started much earlier than we sometimes think.”
“America did not invent slavery, but America fashioned a government structure that could make the best and fastest headway at overcoming it so that all men and women could be equal,” Leavitt added.
Leavitt also drew attention to the home of Elizabeth Powel (1743-1830), a central figure in the Founding who illustrates that even before women had the right to vote, they could influence the United States.
“We choose to tell the Elizabeth Powel story because it shows how confident, capable, strong women can choose to make a difference, regardless of their circumstances,” the CEO said.
Leavitt noted that Powel “was an adviser to several early presidents of the United States. She was articulate, educated, and capable.” He noted that she “plays a great role in helping George Washington have the courage to run for a second term.”
Benjamin Franklin delivered his famous quote about the Constitutional Convention giving the United States “a republic, if you can keep it” to Powel.
Powel “made a difference even living in a nation where she didn’t have the ability to vote,” Leavitt said.
“We choose to replicate buildings where some great stories can be told in those buildings, and they become a proper setting for reenacting some of those core issues that are important, then and now,” Leavitt explained.
The CEO also noted that Liberty Village will include various methods of interacting with exhibits, to engage young minds: “We refer to what we do at Liberty Village as ‘edu-tainment.’ We use an 11-tiered teaching methodology, including things like technology and theater.”
Leavitt said that children will be able to use their different senses, a form of tactile learning to see how Americans lived in the days of the Founding. They’ll be able to taste foods from the era, watch a blacksmith work, see what Paul Revere would have seen on his horse, pull the handles of a printing press, and see actors playing historical figures, such as Thomas Jefferson or John Adams.
Liberty Village will also enable visitors to use their phones to engage with the history, and it will incorporate virtual reality.
St. George, Utah, provides a convenient location for Liberty Village, between Las Vegas and Zion National Park, Leavitt said.
In addition to Liberty Village, United We Pledge also provides free lessons for families to equip children to become good citizens, applying the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The organization also hosts major events to celebrate America’s values leading up to key holidays, such as July 4.
The nonprofit launched on July 4, 2022, becoming independent from its founding company, the nutritional supplement maker Balance of Nature.
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Tyler O’Neil is managing editor of The Daily Signal and the author of “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
Photo “Liberty Village” by Daily Signal.
