Two points.
Recently, I was at a dinner party in which the conversation turned to the state of our country. Several people commented that Europe seems to better understand the world because their countries are older and wiser about things. For one of the few times in my life, I did not say anything, but I thought: (a) when does a country start being a country—in our case, I believe it was when we adopted our Constitution on September 17, 1787. In contrast, the French Revolution did not proclaim France (probably considered by many around the table as one of the oldest and wises of countries) a republic until September 1792 and since that date, France has rewritten its constitution four times (1793, 1795, 1946 and 1958). Our constitution is the second oldest constitution in the world; and, (b) if the most advanced society the world has ever seen cannot become wise in over 200 years, then I question the definition of “wise.”
My second point regards the great wonder of how the foundation for our country was laid on July 4, 1776. On the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I think Calvin Coolidge summed up why the formation of our country was so different than any other country when he said:
“It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history. Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance. This is especially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence. Three very definite propositions were set out in its preamble regarding the nature of mankind and therefore of government. These were the doctrine that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of the just powers of government must be derived from the consent of the governed.
“If no one is to be accounted as born into a superior station, if there is to be no ruling class, and if all possess rights which can neither be bartered away nor taken from them by any earthly power, it follows as a matter of course that the practical authority of the Government has to rest on the consent of the governed. While these principles were not altogether new in political action, and were very far from new in political speculation, they had never been assembled before and declared in such a combination. But remarkable as this may be, it is not the chief distinction of the Declaration of Independence. . . .
“It was the fact that our Declaration of Independence containing these immortal truths was the political action of a duly authorized and constituted representative public body in its sovereign capacity, supported by the force of general opinion and by the armies of Washington already in the field, which makes it the most important civil document in the world.”
I think that no other country in the world has been formed with these principles as its foundation.
Happy Birthday, America.
Recently, I was at a dinner party in which the conversation turned to the state of our country. Several people commented that Europe seems to better understand the world because their countries are older and wiser about things. For one of the few times in my life, I did not say anything, but I thought: (a) when does a country start being a country—in our case, I believe it was when we adopted our Constitution on September 17, 1787. In contrast, the French Revolution did not proclaim France (probably considered by many around the table as one of the oldest and wises of countries) a republic until September 1792 and since that date, France has rewritten its constitution four times (1793, 1795, 1946 and 1958). Our constitution is the second oldest constitution in the world; and, (b) if the most advanced society the world has ever seen cannot become wise in over 200 years, then I question the definition of “wise.”
My second point regards the great wonder of how the foundation for our country was laid on July 4, 1776. On the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I think Calvin Coolidge summed up why the formation of our country was so different than any other country when he said:
“It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history. Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance. This is especially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence. Three very definite propositions were set out in its preamble regarding the nature of mankind and therefore of government. These were the doctrine that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of the just powers of government must be derived from the consent of the governed.
“If no one is to be accounted as born into a superior station, if there is to be no ruling class, and if all possess rights which can neither be bartered away nor taken from them by any earthly power, it follows as a matter of course that the practical authority of the Government has to rest on the consent of the governed. While these principles were not altogether new in political action, and were very far from new in political speculation, they had never been assembled before and declared in such a combination. But remarkable as this may be, it is not the chief distinction of the Declaration of Independence. . . .
“It was the fact that our Declaration of Independence containing these immortal truths was the political action of a duly authorized and constituted representative public body in its sovereign capacity, supported by the force of general opinion and by the armies of Washington already in the field, which makes it the most important civil document in the world.”
I think that no other country in the world has been formed with these principles as its foundation.
Happy Birthday, America.
Calvin Coolidge? Who quotes Calvin Coolidge?
ReplyDeleteTaylor
Don't need the lecture. Like the photo.
ReplyDeleteBarb
I go to your blog for photo information. I like the photo of the capitol but you give no information about it.
ReplyDeleteRalph
Such a important day. Hear Ye Year Ye, I stand at the table, raise my glass of wine, drink and throw it into the fireplace. (Great Picture!)
ReplyDeleteI like the comments. I like the pix.
ReplyDeleteTurner
Very different look at the Capitol.
ReplyDeleteAnne