It was not an easy time; taxes were high, and going higher; wars had to be fought and paid for. The draft, known then as conscription, was taking valuable sons and sending them off to battle in foreign lands. Resources needed for trade were being seized by the government. Trees having a diameter of more than 11 inches were declared property of the Crown, crippling the ship-building industry. A general unrest was falling on the population; it was stirred up by meetings in taverns and public squares as news traveled of new atrocities and crimes against the population.
It was an historical time. The colonies revolted against the oppression of the crown rule (Great Britain).
The 56 delegates of 13 colonies meet and discussed/argued/agreed upon a version of declaration of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson, which contained, in his words, no original ideas.
“Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion.” ( "TO HENRY LEE — Thomas Jefferson The Works, vol. 12 (Correspondence and Papers 1816–1826; 1905)". The Online Library of Liberty. May 8, 1825. Retrieved July 3rd, 2014.
Let us be clear on the subject, this was not a one day decision. The men who signed this document, and many others, had long discourses via mail as to what they thought. Thankfully for us, they did decide to declare Independence from the Crown.
It was a time of great sentiment, of minds colliding and concluding, a time, not of fireworks and parades, but of national importance and great consequences. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were judged to be traitors to the Crown, and subject to hanging if caught.
Scholars disagree as to the date each of the 56 signed the document, but they all agree on one item: This piece of paper was the basis of many declarations, in many countries, in years to follow.
Today is July 4, 2014; 238 years since the Declaration of Independence was put to Congress. As a nation, we have had our trials, our difficulties, our tribulations. As a nation, we have overcome all of the challenges set before us. As a nation, we have much to do, internally and internationally. But, we can achieve our goals, working together, as a people united by a Declaration of Independence.
Enjoy your holiday! Light fireworks, have picnics, go to the beaches and the lakes and the forests. Watch demolition derbies, parades, rodeos, and listen to political speeches. Eat ice cream, hot dogs, and burgers. Kiss your children, grandchildren, and spouses. (Regarding political speeches, a man once said: “a political speech is like a Texas longhorn: a point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between.” I think it was Lyndon Johnson.)
Me? I am hosting family for a smoked baby back rib dinner. Enjoy! And give thanks to the 56 men who met to form a union; however imperfect, it is the union we now enjoy.
Excellent article Robert. Happy 4th of July to you and your family. Ribs and family sound like a perfect day!
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that Jefferson said that about the declaration. He also referred to the United States of America once in the declaration, and I'm sure you could present probably hundreds of sites claiming the declaration "established the United States," as if to say the United State of today, but I submit sir that the history tells us a different story.
ReplyDeleteAt the time Jefferson wrote the declaration his "United States" consisted of 13 bickering colonies with only one thing in common, the desire to break away from the crown, which often wasn't enough to get them to agree on anything, like funding the army, due to petty rivalries between them. The colonies were still colonies, not states, and no where near "united" when Jefferson sat down to write the Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson concluded, what was basically a "rehash" of the "Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms" which was written almost a year before to the day, after adding some 28 grievances against the crown amounting to for its day, what was a gutsy "dirty letter to King George III," with, "That these United Colonies are, and of Right, ought to be free and Independent States; ... that, as FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES ... and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do." His Declaration of Independence wasn't intending to establish the "United States of America," but rather the colonies as "Independent States."
I submit the "Articles of Confederation" as support of that contention. The Articles of Confederation, written by Josiah Bartlett and John Dickinson, created a very weak national government that didn't have a chief executive, what we call a president, or a national court system, but did provide for a national congress with virtually no authority at all, resulting in all the power of governance being placed in the hands of Jefferson's 13 "Independent States" state's governors. The Articles of Confederation, the first attempt to establish self governance after the revolution were based, as Article II makes rather obvious, "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled." on the concept historians agree crippled Davis' Confederate States of America," that being "state's rights" as the concept is known today. Even by today's "state's rights" standards, the Articles of Confederation were "state's rights on steroids!"
History teaches us that the Articles of Confederation were a completely flawed and totally unworkable means of governance as everyone who met one very and hot humid summer in Philadelphia behind locked doors and closed windows with the shades drawn agreed. That is why those guys didn't attempt to "revise" the Articles of Confederation as chartered to do, but tossed them out and started all over. Their efforts resulted in the Constitution of the United States that created a strong central government, "This Constitution,..shall be the supreme Law of the Land;" which dictated what little power Jefferson's once "Independent States" would have in the secular, representative republic established by the constitution of the "United States of America." The "United States of America," as we know it doesn't consist of the "Independent States" of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, but the "united states" established by the secular constitution of this secular, representative, republic ratified 13 years after the Declaration of Independence with its "Independent States" was signed.
All that said ... One day while I was in the Navy and we were in Bahrain, I think it was, and because I was the ship's "duty driver," I was assigned to drive a high ranking British officer back to his office after he'd had lunch with our captain. Just to make conversation he leaned forward in the back seat and asked me if I knew it was the 4th of July, and was I planning on celebrating "the 195th year of unsuppressed rebellion" with a grin on his face (it was 1971). I laughed and said that given we were surrounded by the British Navy, any celebrating I might engage in would of necessity be rather subdued due to those circumstances, and he laughed. I've used his remark, "... years of unsuppressed rebellion," to describe the 4th of July ever since.
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