Revolution Declared, Revolution Unfinished

The day was July 2nd, though it is not the day we celebrate. On that day, a document was sent forth to be read everywhere, writ by the hand of Thomas Jefferson, that said that the thirteen British colonies in North America were no longer colonies, but states, and that those states were -- of a necessity viscerally felt -- no longer beholden to the British Empire. In the moment of this document becoming public, all hope of reconciliation with the mother country was consigned to futility, and the states were left to gamble what little they had, that they could, in fact, create the very nation they claimed they would.

We sit with two hundred thirty-six years of hindsight before us, and a checkered, quirky, sometimes nonsensical history behind us. We are at the latest of a series of crossroads, whose origin can be traced to that hot Summer in 1776 and the decisions made by the founders of our nation. Men all, slave-owners some, intellectuals most, these founders put down the blueprint for a nation in the words scrawled across that parchment. It was only a promissory note for a nation, but at least the thought was now on paper and public. It was not a guarantee of anything, only a hope that a nation could be built upon more human and reasonable principles.

Of course, the blueprint was flawed from the start, because these Founding Fathers, though intellectual and progressive for their day, were unwilling to challenge the conventions of their world. They allowed slaves and slavery to be written into the fabric of the nation, which lent a hollow sound to the phrase "all men are created equal." And in that, too, was the further hypocrisy of claiming inalienable rights, then denying those self-same rights to women.

Many of the Founding Fathers knew it was flawed, but they chose expedience and the desire for union over correcting all the wrongs of human society at that time and building a nation cleanly from the start. The native tribes of North America were left out. Slaves remained slaves. Women remained bound to men. In this, the foundation of the United States was shaky, and that weakness would cause crumbling that led time and time again to conflict that was wholly unnecessary. Even with a civil war, the foundation could not be shored up enough to keep the nation from facing the occasional shaking to its core. To this day and even in this century, we hear the creaking of floors, wrench at stuck and  squealing doors, and note the slant and slope of the window frames which keep so many shut.

They knew, these men, that what they started in July of 1776 would not spring fully formed from the earth, nor would it be a perfect union. They felt, rightly or wrongly, that it was more important to get the nation built, get it standing, and that it would be left to future generations to improve upon their workmanship. They were not afflicted with such hubris as to think they had, at a stroke, done so easily what thousands of generations of humans before had not been able to manage. Their belief was that if American citizens were given freedom and liberty, and the tools to maintain them, they could immeasurably improve what was begun.

So we stand here on another July 4th, Independence Day, and we are split. Some among us believe in America that is perfect as she stands, and see every attempt to change her as an affront to the founding. Some see a nation rife with hypocrisy and feel that we are deluding ourselves in thinking we are free. Many just want to live a normal life, and not be drawn into every battle over the meaning of being an American. Whatever your belief, whatever you may think, it is important to know this: this day we celebrate, is the birth date of an idea, a concept, not a full-fledged utopia. The revolution that began with this bold declaration, far from being over with the battle of Yorktown and the passage of the Constitution, would go on. It would go on at every point where people decided that our nation was not quite right yet, where some small matter or large injustice required adjustment.

It goes on even now.

What this day should mean to us, is a re-dedication to the cause that so emboldened the Founding Fathers, the cause of Freedom, Liberty, and Justice For All. We should recognize that what was begun with the reading of those words, "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another..." has never truly ended, nor can it. Though the flags are in their cases, the canons silent, the muskets propped up in the chimney corner, and the uniforms packed away, the American Revolution rolls on. Every American who looks at their nation, appreciates all that it gives them in the way of law and liberty, but knows there is more work to be done, especially where such law and liberty are not equitably apportioned to every single one of us. It remains the work of the sons and daughters of the American Revolution, and all who have joined them from shores far and wide, to continue the fight, and never surrender.

Ask Not, What Your Country Can Do For You

But ask what you, can do for your country:

• Remember always, that no matter how disagreeable it might be, others have the right to say what they will, worship as they will, and live their lives as they will. This nation is founded on the liberty of the individual.
• The idea behind our nation, is that many come together to form one. Many people form one State; many States form one nation. Despite our differences, and the differences between our States, we are one Nation, indivisible.
• The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Everything we do must ensure the health, prosperity, and safety of all Americans.
• In times of crisis, it is important that we band together, and help each other. Even the smallest gift or gesture can mean the world to someone who needs our help.
• We are all equal. Any person who lives under the mantel of "Citizen of the United States of America," deserves the same rights, privileges, and liberty as any other, no matter what we may think. To think less is to denigrate what those who fought in The Revolutionary War were trying to accomplish.
• Know our history. Know that we have not always acted honorably, nor decently, but have striven always to advance, to do better, to make up for our missteps. Our nation and its system are not perfect, but each day gives us a new opportunity to right wrongs and work on improving ourselves and our country.
• Remember that you have responsibilities. The Founding Fathers took a giant leap of faith in handing the governance of the entire nation over to its citizens and their elected representatives, but they thought, deep down, that as serious people, we could handle the challenges. It is important to participate in our democracy. It is important to be engaged in the civil responsibilities that come with citizenship. The system does not operate properly if we remain aloof and unconcerned.
• Patriotism is not an uncritical adherence to the word and letter of law, or to what has come before. It is doing those things which advance the nation and improve its stature amongst the nations of the world. There is nothing wrong with patriotism, if it is tempered by compassion, concern, and cooperation.

To all you who are Citizens of the United States, and to those who live here who hope to someday know that honor, I bid you a glorious, peaceful, and safe Independence Day.

Freedom Sought, Freedom Lost, Freedom Won

It was a continent of rolling plains, jutting, snow-capped peaks, surging rivers, thick forests, and lush vegetation, filled with an immense variety of animals large and small. The native tribes of North America could roam it at will, moving whenever conditions called for it, or to avoid encroaching on another tribe. The land was so expansive, so vast, it would be hard to imagine it filled with people over any number of generations. The tribes roamed free, living off the land, content to take only what they needed.

Then the others came. Those of pale faces and bodies covered in strange clothing and speaking an alien tongue. They came in great ships, like giant birds with their sails unfurled. The natives did not know it, but these newcomers were also looking for freedom, freedom from repression and persecution. They intended to start new lives, to live as they wanted, worship as they wanted, and work hard as their God intended. To look at this new land, they would be forgiven for thinking there was no one there -- no cities or ports were evident, no signs they would recognize as portending human habitation.

The new inhabitants and the old inhabitants of North America would become locked in a struggle for the land, with settlers demanding more and more, and the tribes willing to concede less and less. Though many tried to be honorable, the greedy and land-hungry won out, and drove the tribes back, staking their claims to the land they had "found."

Thus it would be, and as the influence of English, Dutch, French, and Spanish settlers grew, the power of the tribes would wane, as they stripped of land, land they never claimed to own, but land they had lived on, planted on, and hunted on, for as far back as their most distant ancestors. Their freedom was slowly being curtailed, so that the settlers' freedom could grow.

And yet, the settlers were soon chafing under the rule of powers across the ocean, back from the lands they had abandoned, the countries that had not wanted them or would not help them. The vise-like grip of England slowly squeezed the Colonies, using them as a source funds for wars against France, and denying them any representation in Parliament. Slowly, inexorably, intolerably, the constant pressure was enough to ignite revolution, and thus it was that we, today, live in the country we do. From independence to the modern day, we have spread to fill a continent, even as we pushed the native tribes into smaller and smaller spaces. Our freedom was the direct result of the loss of freedom of others.

So, think of The Declaration of Independence not as a beginning but a continuation, of the constant and restless impulse to be the people we are, to do the things we want to do, while living in harmony with others who share the impulse. The creation of America was a next act in the drama of the slow erosion of the British Empire and the ascendancy of a new nation, which would then have to fight itself over the true meaning of the freedom proclaimed in that original declaration, and which continues to try and clarify, reshape, and redefine freedom for all time. Though muskets and rifles and cannons are long silent, the revolution continues, in the long, slow, hard march toward true equality for all citizens of the United States.