![]() Americanism: The world is a better place because of it. It was, and is, a miracle that it ever happened. “What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom ‘to’ and freedom ‘from’.” - Marilyn vos Savant As appears on the History Channel website: "From 1774 to 1789, the Continental Congress served as the government of the 13 American colonies and later the United States. The First Continental Congress, which was comprised of delegates from the colonies, met in 1774 in reaction to the Coercive Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government on the colonies in response to their resistance to new taxes. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened after the American Revolutionary War (1775-83) had already begun. In 1776, it took the momentous step of declaring America’s independence from Britain." "For over a year, the Continental Congress supervised a war against a country to which it proclaimed its loyalty. In fact, both the Congress and the people it represented were divided on the question of independence even after a year of open warfare against Great Britain. Early in 1776, a number of factors began to strengthen the call for separation. In his stirring pamphlet “Common Sense,” published in January of that year, the British immigrant Thomas Paine (1737-1809) laid out a convincing argument in favor of independence." "On June 7, Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee (1732-94) complied with his instructions. Congress postponed a final vote on the proposal until July 1, but appointed a committee to draft a provisional declaration of independence for use should the proposal pass." The History Channel continues: "The committee consisted of five men, including John Adams and Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) of Pennsylvania. But the declaration was primarily the work of one man, Thomas Jefferson, who penned an eloquent defense of the natural rights of all people, of which, he charged, Parliament and the king had tried to deprive the American nation." "The Continental Congress made several revisions to Jefferson’s draft, removing, among other things, an attack on the institution of slavery; but on July 4, 1776, Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence...Though the vote for actual independence took place on July 2nd, from then on the 4th became the day that was celebrated as the birth of American independence." The Continental Congress proved inadequate to deal with the problems the new nation confronted after the Revolutionary War. From that hellacious mess (immense debt and an unstable economy, combative and unorganized states, and insurrection) came a decision to restructure the planning documents of the Union. Starting with the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, two years later the Constitution of the United States of America was born in 1789. The United States of America committed its future survival to an idea that had never really been tested or successful in the history of the world. British royalty thought it was arrogant and preposterous! Since then, millions of Americans have given their lives to promote and protect that idea, that all humans were created as equals and have a God-given right to seek happiness and to organize their political affairs free from authoritarianism. It really is just an idea that has become known as Americanism, because no other country has ever been able to duplicate it. The DNA required to accomplish what we have established and managed to protect for 242 years is unique to our petri dish. There are those that have come to 'hate' Americanism, but they all have one thing in common: none of them have had to live under any other form of government. They emote from a place of ignorance. “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." - President Bill Clinton Happy Birthday America! |
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