the united states

digg this

Finding myself well beyond the mid-point of my life, I am often disgusted to have to recover from what I should have learned at a much earlier age. Recently, I've immersed myself in reading about the early days of our nation. It is a tale of such drama, and global importance, that our failure to properly introduce American youth to it borders on a criminal omission.

Our Independence Day celebrations, while appropriate, are poorly understood. We celebrate the birth of our nation, the war to achieve that birth, and a few of the key individuals who made it all happen. What we Americans do not learn, despite 12 years of forced education, are the lessons to be gained by studying the context of that period, the alternatives that might have been chosen instead, and the amazing details that might have changed the outcome completely.

Our history is far from perfect; one can assail almost any part of it and damn the participants, their motives, many of their actions, and, most easily of all, what they might have done but didn't. To do so, though, requires blindly overlooking the immense and positive effect that period had on everything that followed.

That a few British colonies, thumbing their noses at the mightiest nation on earth, could even agree to declare themselves free and independent should be, to our current emasculated citizens, simply astounding. These were not "persecuted" citizens... their complaints against the King would seem piddly now, but a remarkable idea began to take hold... the idea that there is a better relationship between a people and its government. The idea was radical... that the PEOPLE would rule... not a king, nor a dictator, nor an aristocracy, nor an emperor, but... somehow... the citizens might govern themselves.

The act of declaring independence from Britain was radical enough, but these upstart colonists were, at the same time, trying to upset the historical standard of "ruler over subjects". These colonies, each quite unique, independent of each other, and often in contention among themselves, organized themselves into a loose confederation of delegates, and somehow agreed on the most astounding declaration humans had ever seen: The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

Notice that "united" is not capitalized; this was NOT a nation made up of 13 states declaring itself separated from Great Britain, but a group of still-separate colonies unanimous only in declaring their independence.

WHY? What idea could have united these disparate colonies? The cultural differences between them... between the New Englanders and the Southerners, between the gentrified city-dwellers and the rough-and-tumble frontier folks, as examples, were so great that they would complicate every attempt at working together. Yet, the representatives of these colonies WOULD unite, around this remarkable idea:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

They went on to list specific grievances against the King, but that succinct paragraph above turned the world on its ear, declaring that the only appropriate relationship between government and the people is that...

All men are created equal
That men have unalienable rights
The people establish government to secure their rights
Governments derive their power from the consent of the people
The people have the right to alter or abolish government when necessary

The colonies might have seceded from their native nation without that astonishing declaration that all previous government/citizen relationships were upside down. They did not expect their words to convince King George to simply allow them to go on their merry way as an independent confederation of ex-colonies. Why should he? Britain had created those colonies at considerable expense and was receiving significant benefit from them in trade. To have simply assented might give other colonies the same idea. The 56 colony delegates who signed the declaration knew clearly that their action would be considered treasonous. They were putting their lives, reputations, and properties on the line.

The "self-evident truths" section took the declaration to a completely different level. The colonists believed that their colonial successes were due to their own effort, and they had indeed overcome many hardships in their "new world". They could also see a great opportunity... access to expand into a grand "wilderness" area. Selfishly, they wanted what they thought they had earned... a common feeling among colonists around the world.

These folks, though, seriously considered their future, should they, by some miracle, succeed in gaining independence. They considered what sort of nation, or confederation, would best succeed in this barely-begun land. As colonists, largely left to succeed or fail on their own, they had a powerful entrepreneurial spirit... a streak of pride and independence from being pioneers in a new land. They resented being controlled, taxed, and used by Britain, without having anything to say about it. Even if they had been represented in the British Parliament, it would have had little effect during a time when communication between the colonies and Britain could take months. This land was developing at a pace too fast for governance from afar. The colonists were also aware that the nations of Europe were continually battling each other, and wanted independence from those conflicts as well.

All these factors had led these settlers to THINK BIG... to boldly consider how best to govern themselves should their independence succeed, and they laid the groundwork, in no uncertain terms, for a whole new sort of nation... at least some of them did. Sympathies were divided; many colonists were quite happy being British subjects. After all, they always had been, and for many, the relationship had been pleasant and profitable. Britain was powerful, organized, and had a long, splendid history... to many colonists, the idea of revolting against king and country seemed disloyal, shameful and even traitorous. Loyalists to the King, labeled Tories by the revolutionaries, were not insignificant in either number or power. John Adams estimated that, after the Declaration, about a third of the people were Loyalists, another third neutral, and a third for the revolution... not exactly a unified front with which to be taking on the most powerful nation on earth. In the jargon of current society, it would be fair to say that these folks "really had some big ones".

This digest version of the American Revolution will continue here, with "The Line in the Sand"