Renewing the American Spirit
Patriot Week begins on 9/11 and ends on 9/17 (the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution (Constitution Day)) and renews America’s spirit by celebrating the First Principles, Founding Fathers and other Patriots, vital documents and speeches, and flags that make America the greatest nation in world history. Many of current holidays have become overly commercialized or have lost their deeper meaning. We need to invigorate our appreciation and understanding of America’s spirit. This blog is dedicated to keeping the spirit of Patriot Week - and America - alive all year long.....
"The power of parliament, derived from the people, to bind the people, was extended over those from whom it was never derived. It is asserted that a standing army may be constitutionally kept among us, without our consent. Those principles, dishonorable to those who adopted them, and destructive to those to whom they were applied, were nevertheless carried into execution by the foes of liberty and of mankind. . . . We refused to their parliaments an obedience, which our judgments disapproved of: We refused to their armies a submission, which spirits unaccustomed to slavery, could not brook." Congressional Address to the Assembly of Jamaica, July 25, 1775.
In today's age, we tend to forget that America gained its independence, in major part, because its people understood that the British Empire was asserting the authority to govern it without the consent of the people. As the Address to the Assembly of Jamaica explained, this went too far - it undermined the basic liberties of the people, and it was dishonorable. We refused to submit.
This basic First Principle, that of the Social Compact, is hardly understood today. Too often, we just assume that government action at all levels is done with our consent. This saps a basic foundation of liberty. Time to put the First Principle of the Social Compact to the test.
For more, visit www.PatriotWeek.org and www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com.
"In Britain, where the maxims of freedom were still known, but where luxury and dissipation had diminished the wonted reverence for them, the attack has been carried on in a more secret and indirect manner: Corruption has been employed to undermine them. The Americans are not enervated by effeminacy, like the inhabitants of India; nor debauched by luxury, like those of Great Britain: It was, therefore judged improper to assail them by bribery, or by undisguised force. Plausible systems were formed; specious pretenses were made: All the arts of sophistry were tried to shew that the British ministry had by law a right to enslave us. The first and best maxims of the constitution, venerable to Britons and Americans were perverted and profaned." Address to the Assembly of Jamaica, Delivered in general Congress, July 25, 1775.
As the Congress explained to the Jamaicans, the character of Americans are not so indolent as to slide into tyranny by cheap trinkets. Likewise, a show of force will only engender armed resistance. The sure path to our destruction is corruption - of our character and our Constitution. That is why we must be ever vigilant.
"shall the descendants of Britons tamely submit to [the wanton exercise of power]? No sirs! We never will; while we revere the memory of our gallant and virtuous ancestors, we never can surrender those glorious privileges for which they fought, bled, and conquered. Admit that your fleets could destroy our towns, and ravage our seacoasts; these are inconsiderable objects, things of no moment to men whose bosoms blow with the ardor of liberty." Richard Henry Lee (1775).
Lee had it 100% right. Where is that spirit of '76?
"With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the universe, we most devoutly implore his Divine goodness to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war." A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North America, July 5, 1775.
What eloquence, when is the last time some spoke like this in public? Our Founding Fathers had many things right, and many wrong, but one absolutely on spot was their confidence that the Creator would set things right.
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
“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 to 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.”
This Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most important document in modern history. Its principles are we define this nation, and what we should celebrate this holiday.
As you enjoy the holiday (extending over the weekend for many), remember the sacrifices of our Founding Fathers and other great patriots over the generations. Remember that it is up to us to preserve the sacred fire of liberty.
