Fox News Channel closed out June by beating two broadcast networks in weekday primetime viewers while also easily outpacing its cable news rivals. According to Nielsen data released this week, Fox News drew 2,628,000 weekday primetime viewers in June, compared with 2,419,000 for NBC and 2,049,000 for CBS. Fox News also led all of cable news for the second quarter of 2026, averaging 2.5 million primetime viewers and commanding nearly 60% of the cable news audience in both total day and primetime, ahead of CNN and MS NOW combined. Beating Broadcast TV Even though cable TV channels are available in far fewer homes than the broadcast giants, Fox News outdrew two networks that have dominated American television for decades. CBS posted its worst second quarter of the 21st century in primetime, drawing under 3.3 million viewers. “CBS Mornings” averaged 1.7 million viewers, the lowest in the program’s history. “CBS Evening News,” now anchored by Tony Dokoupil, drew 3.9 million viewers, its second-lowest second-quarter total this century. In June, both CBS and NBC recorded their lowest weekday primetime totals of the century in the 25-54 age demographic, with 261,000 and 396,000 viewers, respectively. Meanwhile, Fox News’ lineup kept humming. ‘The Five’ Finishes First “The Five” extended its run as the most-watched cable news program for the 19th straight quarter, drawing 3.6 million viewers. That’s more than CBS’ “NCIS: Origins,” CBS’ “CIA,” and ABC’s “Inside the NBA.” “Special Report with Bret Baier” beat the “CBS Evening News” outright in 18 major markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. “FOX & Friends” beat “CBS Mornings” in 23 markets. And then there’s late night, where Greg Gutfeld’s show beat every broadcast late-night program, including Stephen Colbert (whose “Late Show” ended in May), Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon. “Gutfeld!” averaged 2.8 million viewers in the 10 p.m. hour, more than any of the others. Cable TV Competition For the quarter overall, Fox News commanded nearly 60% of the cable news audience in both total day and primetime, easily beating CNN and MS NOW. According to the Nielsen data, Fox News averaged 1,575,000 total day viewers for the quarter, more than double CNN’s 500,000 and MS NOW’s 655,000. In primetime, Fox News drew 2,493,000 viewers, compared with 716,000 for CNN and 1,063,000 for MS NOW. Fox News also led both networks in the 25-54 demographic across total day and primetime for both the quarter and the month. Top-Performing Shows Fox News placed 13 of the top 15 shows in cable news by total viewers for the second quarter, according to Nielsen. “The Five” (5 p.m.): 3,575,000 viewers “Jesse Watters Primetime” (8 p.m.): 3,232,000 viewers “Gutfeld!” (11 p.m.): 2,837,000 viewers “Hannity” (9 p.m.): 2,799,000 viewers “Special Report with Bret Baier” (6 p.m.): 2,723,000 viewers Outside primetime, “The Ingraham Angle” averaged 2.6 million viewers at 7 p.m. for the quarter, and “Fox News @ Night” with Trace Gallagher averaged 1.5 million viewers at 11 p.m. During the day, “America’s Newsroom,” “The Faulkner Focus,” “Outnumbered,” “America Reports,” and “The Story with Martha MacCallum” each led their respective time slots. On weekends, “My View with Lara Trump” ranked as the most-watched primetime program on Saturdays with 1.4 million viewers, while “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo led all weekend programming with 1.9 million viewers.

Most Americans think nothing of calling our nation’s birthday “the Fourth of July.” But I learned the hard way not to do that in my Army Reserve Officer Training Corps days in college. I’ll never forget the day Sgt. Thayer, a regular Army soldier, decided to randomly quiz our ROTC squad on American history while we were in formation. One of the questions was: “What American holiday do we celebrate in July?” “The Fourth of July, Sergeant.” Sgt. Thayer’s response? “GET ON THE GROUND! COUNT THEM OUT!” Then he called on another cadet. Same question, same answer, more push-ups.   This was repeated several times until one of the putatively better-educated members of the squad, whose family had an extended and extensive military past, finally answered: “Independence Day.” I guess I’d never really given it due thought until that day. I learned plenty from being a cadet, but the appropriate labeling of this historically significant event is one lesson I think all Americans should also learn as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Founding Fathers’ declaration of colonial independence from Great Britain. America was founded on a set of beliefs and convictions—what Thomas Jefferson described as self-evident truths (actually, Jefferson originally wrote “sacred and undeniable,” which was revised to the more secular “self-evident”) that were proclaimed in the 1776 Declaration of Independence and then protected by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. The declaration established the first modern country founded on principles of individual freedoms. It also led to the selection of America’s government leaders by the people, rather than through an inherited bloodline of kings and nobles. Why is the American holiday celebrating this reduced to its calendar date by seemingly everyone?  This kind of labeling debases the magnitude of what the day represents. Calling it “Independence Day” honors the foundational designation and the values of liberty and freedom that the holiday represents. Nobody refers to Christmas Day as the 25th of December; nobody greets you on New Year’s Day with “happy January first.” The same should go for recognizing the celebration of America’s independence Calling the holiday “Independence Day” connects the event directly to its historical significance. It’s become necessary because a shocking number of young people are clueless about what the “4th of July” represents—let alone the importance of the Committee of Five or the location of Valley Forge. They do not know who the Founding Fathers were or what they accomplished. According to the above-linked video, many can’t even spell the word “independence.” Public schools have failed to educate American students on the fundamentals of civics. Leftist universities tend to focus their far-left “anti-founder” lenses on America’s failures rather than its successes. Putting John Trumbull’s famous painting of the declaration of Independence signing on the back of the two-dollar bill apparently wasn’t enough. Perhaps a verbal grassroots renaissance by patriot readers of this article using the proper convention will at least audibly point countrymen in the right direction.  A Celebration of America Independence Day is unlike Memorial Day, which is a somber day to valorize those who died in wars to protect our liberties. Many Americans, unfortunately, see Memorial Day as nothing more than a long weekend for vacations, barbecues, and other leisurely indulgences. Even “on-brand” Democrat members of Congress lecturing Americans about liberty and freedom fail to comprehend the solemn meaning of Memorial Day.  Independence Day, on the other hand, is unquestionably a nonpartisan day that celebrates our heritage, our Founding Fathers, their principled example, and America’s declaration of freedom. “The Fourth of July” is just a date on the calendar. What happened on the Fourth of July in 1776 was the Continental Congress voting to adopt the written Declaration of Independence, but just “declaring” it wasn’t enough. The preceding and subsequent American Revolutionary War to actually make it part of history took more than eight years (April 19, 1775, to Sep. 3, 1783). Besides, there is historical disagreement over the exact date on which we should celebrate, illustrating that the date itself seems far less important than the actual celebration of American Independence. In fact, our second U.S. president, John Adams, was quoted as stating: “The Second [emphasis added] Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generation, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by Solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be Solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations, from one End of this continent to the other, from this Time forward, forever more.” President Adams also presciently warned us, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate [for] the government of any other.” One of those morals must be to teach its citizens about the excellence and successes of the American experiment and why our independence and freedoms are special and the envy of others.   Independence Day is a monumental occasion meant for celebration and festivities, but Americans should at least label the occasion by its proper name to invite reflection rather than just say a date.   The American dream was not born from “magic soil” and our freedoms did not emerge organically.  It was born out of the honor, courage, and sacrifices of our founding politicians, soldiers, and citizens.  America would not exist if it were not for God-fearing American patriots who sacrificed and lost everything they had, often dying penniless (including the noteworthy friend of George Washington, Haym Salomon) so that we may celebrate and have the freedoms we all enjoy today.  It is critical that we live up to the principles of America’s Founding Fathers. Don’t take freedom for granted.  Start by teaching yourself to call the day by its name: Independence Day.  You’ll remind yourself and others what the day represents.  And if you forget, drop and give yourself 20. 

Can America survive if the next generation meant to preserve it believes our best days are behind us? As the Daily Signal has worked on a special project for America’s 250th birthday, I’ve been fixating on this question and struggling to answer it. But we might soon know the answer.  A recent study from Pew Research found that just 4 in 10 Americans ages 18 to 29 believe America’s best years are ahead of it. Today is the Day! “Sacred Honor: The Declaration That Defines a Nation” premieres TONIGHT, July 2, at 8:30pm EThttps://t.co/AmnJt3i2l0Featuring Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson), Sen. Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee), Sen. Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt), Rep. Brandon Gill… pic.twitter.com/Efik3YQKRM— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) July 2, 2026 I’ve always wondered what Pew or Gallup or other polls would have found if they existed in America’s founding era. What would the colonists have said on July 4, 1776, if asked if their best days were still ahead?  It’s very possible poll results in 1776 would look very similar to 2026 if the Founding Fathers’ letters serve as any indication. “Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress, to subscribe what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants?” Benjamin Rush wrote in a July 1811 letter to John Adams.  The birth years of Continental Congress members if the United States Declaration of Independence had been signed in 2026. pic.twitter.com/BKcjerK6Jb— History Calendar (@historycalendar) June 30, 2026 Rush was just 30 years old when the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, the document’s principal author, was 33. Several signers of the Declaration were younger than both.  With scant cause for optimism beyond hope in God’s providence, they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in support of the Declaration and to one another. They picked up that quill and signed their own death warrants as the world’s greatest superpower prepared to invade.  Two hundred and fifty years later, America faces different yet very serious challenges. Our prosperity, liberties, and way of life are threatened from within and without.  We’re at an inflection point, but we don’t yet know if it is a peak or a valley. Our choices are social revival or socialist revolution. America’s Founding Fathers are not the only ones who prove the young are capable of immense political change. When they authored “The Communist Manifesto,” Karl Marx was 29 and Friedrich Engels was 27. Fidel Castro was 30 and Che Guevara was 27 when they led the Communist revolution in Cuba.  TRAILER: “Sacred Honor: The Declaration That Defines a Nation”PREMIERES JULY 2 ON THE DAILY SIGNAL’S YOUTUBE“Sacred Honor” takes the audience inside the years and months leading up to America’s independence and invites viewers to think like the great statesmen of our… pic.twitter.com/XzpOdNdCHt— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) June 29, 2026 My generation must choose the way of the statesman or the socialist. The way of the socialist is easy. It unleashes the passions, encourages violence, inflates the ego, and relentlessly pursues power.  The way of the statesman is hard. It places prudence over passion, politics over violence, sacrifice over selfishness, and sublimates its power to God.  Before we can act as statesmen, we must first learn how to think like them. The Daily Signal is out with a new documentary that encourages viewers to think, and inspires them to act, like America’s Founding Fathers.  “Sacred Honor: The Declaration That Defines a Nation” takes its audience inside one of the greatest political dramas in history that culminates in America’s Declaration of Independence. America’s independence was not inevitable. It is born out of a fierce contest of ideas, convictions, and interests between men whose actions would give rise to the greatest civilization the world has ever seen.  Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, Victor Davis Hanson, Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts, and many others help the Daily Signal tell this story of statesmanship.  For 250 years, the Declaration of Independence has given Americans a cause worth fighting for. Every generation, in its own time, has been called to make the Founders’ pledge in support of our Declaration of Independence.  Now it’s our turn. If we too pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to America, its best days may still yet be ahead. 

This article is adapted from Maria Bartiromo’s segment on Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures.” Watch the video. In the history of the world, America has quickly ascended to become the number one global superpower, thanks in large part to capitalism and the rule of law and a Constitution that protects freedom and property. Together, it has driven innovation and prosperity, creating unprecedented wealth for hundreds of millions of Americans and lifting millions of others out of poverty, creating lifesaving innovations. The American dream that so many people enjoy on a daily basis and that millions across the world seek to be a part of has come at the ultimate price, with more than a million service members having lost their lives defending America’s values and freedoms during her 250-year history, a stark reminder as Americans celebrate freedom and economic prosperity this Fourth of July and enjoy those very freedoms and liberties every day. The Foundations of American Prosperity Wall Street 2026, animal spirits, capitalism and democracy on full display, 250 years after America’s founders signed the Declaration of Independence and Alexander Hamilton shaped a financial system. Capital markets in America are the deepest most liquid in the world, valued at more than $100 trillion, evidence that free enterprise, private property, and the rule of law can generate enormous prosperity, just as President Trump has long expected. When I asked President Trump what he specifically wanted America to look like in four years when he was done, he replied: “Well, I want a dynamic country, where the private enterprise carries the day, not the government. And I want a strong country militarily. We need that nowadays. You can see that probably better than ever before.” A government working for the people, not for a king, nor for Parliament, nor a ruling class, but the people. As the first line of the Constitution reads, “We the people” means a nation belongs to its citizens and its institutions are accountable to them. Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo speaks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on July 1, 2026. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) Jeff Sprecher is the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, where hundreds of billions of dollars change hands in U.S. stocks every day. He said: We’re excited about America 250 because George Washington was sworn in as our first president on Wall Street. I think many people don’t realize that our first capital was actually in New York. You had the birth of a democracy and a democratic republic, and then the birth of the U.S. capital markets, which today are the biggest and best in the world. Today, they are financing companies developing AI, lifesaving medicines, and an industrial revolution around intelligence, robotics, and infrastructure, as the build out of AI is expected to cost some $5.5 trillions by 2030. And while a very different time, the forces driving the AI revolution today are not much different to the forces that drove an Industrial Revolution more than 200 years ago, when investment was surging into railroads, bridges, and roads, with New York then the gateway to commerce and business for a young nation. While the delegates of America’s 13 colonies were adopting the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776, it was here in New York where Alexander Hamilton was building the financial system, which would become later the financial capital of the world. The Birth of America’s Capital Markets The birth of America’s economy started right here on Wall Street and the few surrounding blocks around the New York Stock Exchange. It was in 1792 that brokers gathered around a buttonwood tree to create an agreement which became the foundation of the New York Stock Exchange. And then right across the street at Federal Hall was where George Washington, our nation’s first president, took his first oath of office. Today, New York remains the center of American capital formation. The ships may have been replaced by data, technology, and global investment flows, but the story remains. Money and investment go where it is treated best. Bank of New York was the first to trade, founded by Hamilton in 1784, even before the Constitution was adopted. Robin Vince, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon, reflected on that legacy: We were there as a company right at the beginning, the birth of the nation, as you said, Alexander Hamilton, our founder, but he was also an architect of the financial system in the United States. We were actually the first stock to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. So we have seen this evolution of capital markets … making sure that we were helping the American dream to prosper in the United States. Evan Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Chubb, added: When we were created, it was really created for the purposes to begin with of insuring marine shipping for the United States in our own trade at that time. And, ironically, here we are on the 250th anniversary providing that important protection for the ships that are transiting now. Jim Vena, CEO of Union Pacific, noted the role railroads played in building the country. From a Union Pacific point of view, you think about back to 1862, when President Lincoln signed the Railway Act, the West was still not very well developed in people. So the railroads moving west actually started communities like Cheyenne, went all the way to Sacramento. So it helped people move. Before, there was no automobiles. People forget what it truly was in America after the Civil War and how people moved around. And the railroads were key. Now we’re still part of the fabric, but we compete against trucks. We compete against other modes of transportation. My Family’s American Dream My own family first arrived in America as early as 1897, when my mother’s grandfather and his brothers traveled to America from Agrigento, Sicily, searching for opportunities to work. They bought a house in Brooklyn, which became the home my mother was raised in, in the 1930s. My father’s father, Carmine Bartiromo, arrived from Naples a few years later in 1906. He had $13 in his pocket, but over time he was able to work hard and build a business, a restaurant, which he named after the famous ship the Rex, which transported Italians to America in the 1930s. My father took over the Rex Manor when he was old enough and eventually gave me my first job as the coat check girl at the Rex Manor, where I charged 50 cents a coat, truly the American dream for my family. More than 200 years after the founding of this great nation, I began to live my own American dream, working hard to achieve success as a journalist and then becoming the first reporter, the first person to broadcast live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1995. I was so honored to help democratize information for investors by reporting here every morning from the floor of the exchange. Alexander Hamilton’s vision of strong markets and strong credit was the foundation of the New York Stock Exchange and America’s economy. And it is at the center of the debate about America’s economy even today, 250 years later. The Information Revolution The pioneering move to broadcast from the New York Stock Exchange helped me further a career with a front-row seat to the ever-changing global economy, from the individual investor revolution, the birth of dot-com, followed by the dot-com boom and the dot-com bust, a housing boom and a housing bust, and a global financial crisis, followed by the birth of AI. Along the way, I interviewed presidents, international heads of state, leading CEOs, and political honchos, while moderating presidential primary debates. Sprecher told me: Well, first of all, it means a lot to be here with you. It used to be a business where it was men in suits and it was completely unapproachable and people didn’t understand it. And, as a result of you going down there and breaking open the walls, now everybody understands capital formation, and you can literally open an account in your living room or your kitchen overnight and start trading. And so thank you for that. My job landed me on magazine covers and major movie cameos and prime-time talk shows and became part of pop culture in America. I even got noticed by a major punk rocker, Joey Ramone and The Ramones, who wrote a song about me called “Maria Bartiromo” during the Go-go ’90s dot-com era. Service, Sacrifice, and Sept. 11 Before my family set out to work, they served this great nation in the military. I come from a long list of generations of men who served in the military, from my grandfather Carmine serving in World War I to his four sons, who all served in the U.S. Army with distinction from World War II to the Korean conflict. Freedom is not free. For 2.5 centuries, America’s security, economic power, and global influence have all depended on generations of servicepeople, the men and women who have stood on the front lines to protect and defend America’s freedom and liberty. Calverton National Cemetery is the largest national cemetery and the busiest when it comes to those veterans who have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Hundreds of thousands of veterans’ remains are here resting in eternity after serving this great nation. My grandfather Carmine directed all four sons to fight for the freedom the founders envisioned. His oldest son, my Uncle Pasquale Bartiromo, lost his life in battle as a member of Merrill’s Marauders during World War II. Pasquale signed up for one of the most dangerous missions of the war. He went behind enemy lines in Burma. He was blown up and we never saw his remains. He received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. I personally experienced my own faceoff with war when I witnessed firsthand from the corner of Wall Street and Broadway the second plane crash into the second tower of the Twin Towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 terrorists hijacked planes to attack America in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, killing 3,000 people, as I was broadcasting from the New York Stock Exchange. But perhaps my proudest moment was a week later, when the markets reopened after the carnage on Sept. 17, 2001, as I watched from the trading floor the steadfast officials ringing the opening bell to restart trading after a tragedy, standing with NYSE Chairman Dick Grasso was the Fire Department of New York, the NYPD, New York senators and congressmen, and all first responders, who, like all of us, were shell-shocked at what had just happened. Grasso announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, our heroes will now open the marketplace, the green button.” We lost our friends and family in the attack. We were mourning, we were down, but we knew we were not out and we would rise again. And we did. The Challenges of the Next 250 Years But 250 years later, the battles keep on coming, with this young nation now facing off against adversaries who have been at it a lot longer, China still trying to overtake America as the number one superpower, Russia and Iran sowing chaos across the world. The biggest battle of all may still be coming from within, as the country now finds herself defending the very capitalist system that brought the country such enormous success, with new ideas emerging about socialism from new socialist leaders who are becoming the new face of the Democrat Party. After 250 years of freedom and liberty, the future of America’s stage is being set for a fight between America’s values of freedom, capitalism, and the power of we the people versus government becoming the ultimate allocator of resources, with everyone getting an equal share handout. This new socialism dynamic may dictate the free world’s next 250 years and beyond, as we the people will decide what comes next.

Texans, hide your kids—or else they’ll be forced to hear that “love is patient, love is kind.” Yes, the radicals on the Texas State Board of Education have decided that public school students in the Lone Star State should become just a little familiar with the work that arguably influenced American history and Western literature more than any other. How dare they. On Friday, the state education board approved a new list of mandated readings for students. The list, which was passed with a 9-5 vote and included classic works as well as the Bible, will start to be implemented in 2030. “We’re going to stop watering down American history. We’re going to teach the truth. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation, and Texas is a Christian state,” said board member Brandon Hall, a Republican and a pastor, according to CNN. Two-thirds of Texans are Christian, and about 6% practice other religions, including Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, according to Pew Research Center. Besides the oh-so-controversial 13th Chapter of First Corinthians, students will also be expected to read the Beatitudes, Psalm 23, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, two chapters from Exodus, and several chapters from the Book of Job, according to a draft circulated before the vote. Fourth graders will have to wrestle with Luke 14:7-11, where Jesus recommends people not start by sitting in the highest-status seat. (Perhaps the school cafeteria social scenes will never be the same.) Sixth graders, in an era where adolescent mental health seems more fragile than ever, will have to cope with Matthew 6:25-34, which pushes the radical message that God will take care of people and worrying is unnecessary. Yet, of course, there is still outrage from the expected quarters. “A mandatory public school reading list should never function as a Bible lesson,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a statement. “Texas is telling millions of children that one religion deserves the government’s seal of approval, while everyone else is an afterthought.” Never mind, apparently, that American history is dominated by figures highly influenced by Christianity, from the Founding Fathers to Martin Luther King Jr. You simply can’t understand our nation’s history without some grasp of Christianity—but you can grasp our nation’s history without an understanding of Islam or atheism or Hinduism. Gaylor’s view is also an outlier in Texas. A 2024 Texas Public Policy Foundation poll found that 64% of Texans approved of putting religious stories into the public school curriculum. Of course, reading the Bible doesn’t mean that public school students have to assent to Christianity. In high school, when I was homeschooled and using a Catholic Great Books program, I read portions of the Quran. I was reading to try to understand where Muslims came from and how this book had shaped their history, not because I believed the Quran. Atheists, Muslims, Hindus, etc., can do the same when it comes to reading the Bible in Texas. Ultimately, reading the Bible will help give Texas students a deeper understanding of the ideas that form the foundation of our culture. As Julie Pickren, a Republican on the education board, told The Texas Tribune, the readings will give “important insight into the moral and philosophical traditions that have shaped Western civilization.” A draft of the readings included classics such as William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl,” and C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” “A classical approach to education, one that emphasizes the careful study of primary historical documents, plays a vital role in developing strong critical thinking skills in students,” Pickren added. “When students engage directly with original writings, speeches, sermons, and foundational texts, they can evaluate ideas and develop a deeper understanding of the principles that have shaped the USA and Texas.” Preach it. In the TikTok era, where students are far more likely to spend hours watching inane reels than poring over a tome that changed the course of history, it’s critical that students be forced in school to actually engage with ideas. And by ideas, I don’t mean some emotional rant in a 30-second video, but a reasoned argument that has resonated for decades or centuries or millennia. Students should read the Bible—and the Founding Fathers, and Shakespeare, and Plato, and so many of the thinkers that profoundly affected the course of Western civilization. Some young Americans may still decide to reject the values of their ancestors. But at least it will be done after actually having some understanding of those values and ideas’ origins, not just seeing a few social media posts talking up socialism or atheism and arguing against straw men. Thankfully, Texas isn’t the only state to realize students need to engage more deeply with the works that influenced America. “Utah students will be required to analyze specific Bible passages referenced or ‘alluded to’ in U.S. historical documents,” in the future, thanks to legislation passed earlier this year, reported The Salt Lake Tribune. “Oftentimes, where Texas goes, other states will follow, right? So, this is a pretty substantial move that I could imagine other states picking up and moving forward with as a possibility,” Antero Garcia, a Stanford University professor and the president of the National Council of Teachers of English, told ABC News. Hopefully, more states and districts will follow—and provide future voters with a better understanding of the history of the country they live in.