Independence Day 2020
I first wrote the blog post that follows this introduction in July 2018. I had no idea then how poignant it would be here in July 2020. The United States in July 2020 is, in many ways, facing dangers, the likes of which it has not seen since 1776. We are in serious trouble.
We have a pandemic that is killing the equivalent of a mid-sized city every three months, and it is getting worse. We have a president, who is a national embarrassment. He has done nothing to slow the spread of the deadly virus, and, in fact, has made it worse. He is a racist, misogynistic, greedy, abusive, tyrannical excuse of a man. Congressional leaders within his party mostly follow him blindly, echoing his lies and advancing his agenda of hate and division.
The ecology of our country and our planet are in a dire circumstance. The phrases “global warming” and “climate change” no longer fit. What we are facing is “climate destruction.” The time has now come that places that were once habitable can no longer sustain human life, and the area of these places is expanding. At the same time, our president, almost daily, issues executive orders permitting the expansion of carbon and other pollutants that will only accelerate climate destruction.
Just as in 1776, the real patriots of this country believe in an ideal. We believe in a place where we can build a just and vibrant nation. We believe that we can fight tyranny in all its ugly forms. We believe that in November 2020 we have the power to oust the tyrant and all of his minions. What makes Americans exceptional is that when things seem lost and hopeless, we find a way, through ingenuity, determination, sweat, and, if necessary blood, to find hope. We will beat this virus, we will beat climate destruction, we will beat racism, and, in November, we will beat the tyrant.
The following is from my July 2018 blog:
George Washington knew what it was like to have a difficult Independence Day. On 4 July 1776 the independence of the United States of America was not a foregone conclusion. In fact, it seemed likely that the efforts of the Continental Congress might be nothing more than an interesting footnote of history. Washington and his Continental Army were in New York. The British, under brothers General William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe (yes, nepotism was a British thing, too), had just landed a massive invasion force in New York and were entrenching for the purposes of subjugating their rebellious colonials. They outmanned and outgunned the Continental Army, and Washington’s situation seemed hopeless.
To make matters worse, the Americans had invaded Quebec the previous year with the intent of inciting the French population there to join them in a war of liberation. After nearly a century of war in Canada the French colonials had finally been abandoned by their king in 1763, and they had no stomach for challenging their new British masters. Between French Canadian ambivalence toward the American revolutionaries and British advance preparation led by Sir Guy Careleton, the American invasion had been a disaster. In July 1776 the American invading force was in full retreat and Carleton’s Redcoats were in hot pursuit.
General Washington faced the prospect that he could be attacked on two fronts, one from the brothers Howe and the other from Carleton. To make matters even worse, Americans, especially in the battle zones, were growing weary of the two year old rebellion. Washington wrote to President John Hancock (Hancock was President of the Continental Congress, and, by right, the real first President of the United States of America) on 4 July 1776, “The disaffection of the people about that place [Staten Island and vicinity] and others not far distant is exceedingly great, and unless it is checked and overawed, it may become more general and be very alarming. The arrival of the enemy will encourage it.”
The experiment of the United States appeared to be doomed before it could ever take hold, but appearances can sometimes be flawed. General Washington was fighting for something far greater than personal wealth and glory. He was fighting for that, too, but what had started as his ire at potentially losing his investments in the Ohio country, turned into a fight for something better.
Washington and the other founders of our republic had all the human frailties and flaws we all have. By our own standards today some might even seem to have been monsters. Some were greedy, racist, or misogynistic. Some were slave owners. Some were land speculators, and some were pirates.
Whatever their flaws may have been they shared a common goal. They knew their lives could be something better. To be objectively accurate life for English colonists in North America before the Revolution was not bad by global standards of the time. Some were traders, some farmers or plantation owners, some were carpenters, furniture makers, or coopers. Except for those in a form of bound labor (either outright slavery or indentured servitude) most colonials were free to travel. Most people spoke their minds freely, though disparaging the king or God was not advisable. They were generally prosperous and not oppressed, but they knew they could do better.
They had the audacity to dream of a country where people could freely disparage a king or a deity. They imagined a place where citizens, not subjects, could freely pursue their wildest dreams by the sweat of their brows and succeed or fail according to their own merits. They concocted a notion that, by their example, people around the world, who truly were oppressed, would rise up against their own tyrants.
The American revolutionaries of 1776 knew they were not perfect. They knew that the experiment they had started was only a beginning. They were confident that succeeding generations would improve the experiment. I think that those revolutionaries would look at the 240 years of accomplishment between July 1776 and July 2016 and be mostly pleased with what their descendents had done. So on this 4th of July I celebrate the accomplishments of those first 240 years, the abolition of slavery, the enfranchisement of women, the spread of democracy, and the freedom to love. May God bless the United States of America.
https://www.bluewatertales.com
We have a pandemic that is killing the equivalent of a mid-sized city every three months, and it is getting worse. We have a president, who is a national embarrassment. He has done nothing to slow the spread of the deadly virus, and, in fact, has made it worse. He is a racist, misogynistic, greedy, abusive, tyrannical excuse of a man. Congressional leaders within his party mostly follow him blindly, echoing his lies and advancing his agenda of hate and division.
The ecology of our country and our planet are in a dire circumstance. The phrases “global warming” and “climate change” no longer fit. What we are facing is “climate destruction.” The time has now come that places that were once habitable can no longer sustain human life, and the area of these places is expanding. At the same time, our president, almost daily, issues executive orders permitting the expansion of carbon and other pollutants that will only accelerate climate destruction.
Just as in 1776, the real patriots of this country believe in an ideal. We believe in a place where we can build a just and vibrant nation. We believe that we can fight tyranny in all its ugly forms. We believe that in November 2020 we have the power to oust the tyrant and all of his minions. What makes Americans exceptional is that when things seem lost and hopeless, we find a way, through ingenuity, determination, sweat, and, if necessary blood, to find hope. We will beat this virus, we will beat climate destruction, we will beat racism, and, in November, we will beat the tyrant.
The following is from my July 2018 blog:
George Washington knew what it was like to have a difficult Independence Day. On 4 July 1776 the independence of the United States of America was not a foregone conclusion. In fact, it seemed likely that the efforts of the Continental Congress might be nothing more than an interesting footnote of history. Washington and his Continental Army were in New York. The British, under brothers General William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe (yes, nepotism was a British thing, too), had just landed a massive invasion force in New York and were entrenching for the purposes of subjugating their rebellious colonials. They outmanned and outgunned the Continental Army, and Washington’s situation seemed hopeless.
To make matters worse, the Americans had invaded Quebec the previous year with the intent of inciting the French population there to join them in a war of liberation. After nearly a century of war in Canada the French colonials had finally been abandoned by their king in 1763, and they had no stomach for challenging their new British masters. Between French Canadian ambivalence toward the American revolutionaries and British advance preparation led by Sir Guy Careleton, the American invasion had been a disaster. In July 1776 the American invading force was in full retreat and Carleton’s Redcoats were in hot pursuit.
General Washington faced the prospect that he could be attacked on two fronts, one from the brothers Howe and the other from Carleton. To make matters even worse, Americans, especially in the battle zones, were growing weary of the two year old rebellion. Washington wrote to President John Hancock (Hancock was President of the Continental Congress, and, by right, the real first President of the United States of America) on 4 July 1776, “The disaffection of the people about that place [Staten Island and vicinity] and others not far distant is exceedingly great, and unless it is checked and overawed, it may become more general and be very alarming. The arrival of the enemy will encourage it.”
The experiment of the United States appeared to be doomed before it could ever take hold, but appearances can sometimes be flawed. General Washington was fighting for something far greater than personal wealth and glory. He was fighting for that, too, but what had started as his ire at potentially losing his investments in the Ohio country, turned into a fight for something better.
Washington and the other founders of our republic had all the human frailties and flaws we all have. By our own standards today some might even seem to have been monsters. Some were greedy, racist, or misogynistic. Some were slave owners. Some were land speculators, and some were pirates.
Whatever their flaws may have been they shared a common goal. They knew their lives could be something better. To be objectively accurate life for English colonists in North America before the Revolution was not bad by global standards of the time. Some were traders, some farmers or plantation owners, some were carpenters, furniture makers, or coopers. Except for those in a form of bound labor (either outright slavery or indentured servitude) most colonials were free to travel. Most people spoke their minds freely, though disparaging the king or God was not advisable. They were generally prosperous and not oppressed, but they knew they could do better.
They had the audacity to dream of a country where people could freely disparage a king or a deity. They imagined a place where citizens, not subjects, could freely pursue their wildest dreams by the sweat of their brows and succeed or fail according to their own merits. They concocted a notion that, by their example, people around the world, who truly were oppressed, would rise up against their own tyrants.
The American revolutionaries of 1776 knew they were not perfect. They knew that the experiment they had started was only a beginning. They were confident that succeeding generations would improve the experiment. I think that those revolutionaries would look at the 240 years of accomplishment between July 1776 and July 2016 and be mostly pleased with what their descendents had done. So on this 4th of July I celebrate the accomplishments of those first 240 years, the abolition of slavery, the enfranchisement of women, the spread of democracy, and the freedom to love. May God bless the United States of America.
https://www.bluewatertales.com
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