Today, prominent voices are asserting, with a straight face, that America’s birth and life have been nothing but a celebration of slavery and racism. Today, violent mobs are indiscriminately tearing down statues of the Founding Fathers — and just about any other statue, for that matter, indiscriminately.
This is why it has never been more important than it is now to celebrate the miracle of the nation’s founding.
This isn’t to say that the founders were perfect or that there weren’t dark chapters in our history. But those aspects, which shouldn’t be hidden, should not make us shy away from honoring the great events set in motion by the Declaration of Independence 244 years ago this weekend.
Many take for granted the founding of the United States. But in truth, there was nothing inevitable about victory in the Revolution, let alone an orderly government emerging afterward and enduring into its third century. At the time of the Revolution, the idea of hereditary rule had endured for thousands of years. Republican governments were rare indeed, as were precedents for their success.
There were many opportunities for events to spiral out of control and descend into an orgy of violence and murder. The American Revolution could have become the French Revolution, with its 16,000 guillotined in nine months, according to historian William Doyle.
But America was blessed with a unique mix of leaders whose significant talents complemented each other well. They had the courage to defy their king, to make war against the most powerful country in the world, and to undertake a radical experiment in self-government. Yet despite their boldness, they were also prudent about creating safeguards so that freedom didn’t rapidly descend into mob rule.
In George Washington, America found a skilled general and a leader of unmatched integrity. He could have become king, but after winning the Revolutionary War, he submitted to congressional authority. He later accepted the limits placed upon presidential power by the Constitution and then voluntarily gave up power after serving two four-year terms. This set the stage for centuries of peaceful transitions of power.
In Thomas Jefferson, America had a modern philosopher — a complicated man, yet one capable of making a moral case for self-government. His words in the Declaration of Independence methodically made the case for splitting from England based on the king’s “history of repeated injuries and usurpations.” His simple yet beautiful phrase — “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” — has inspired those seeking freedom throughout the world ever since.
In Alexander Hamilton, America had somebody who saw the nation’s unlimited economic potential, understanding the role that a central government could play in making America great.
James Madison, whose notes on the Constitutional Convention are central to our understanding of what the founders were debating at the time, played a key role in mediating compromises without which the nation may have never survived.
Benjamin Franklin was in many ways the original American. A scientist, inventor, journalist, humorist, and diplomat, he epitomized the self-made ingenuity and lack of pretense that has made this nation so successful.
For all of their innovation and radical ideas, the founders knew that representative government could not exist in a state of mob violence or constant scheming and reprisals between political rivals. They also showed the flexibility required to accept compromises necessary for the survival of the union.
Washington, who had led a revolution over taxation without representation, found himself quelling an insurrection against the whiskey tax, passed by Congress and signed into law. It was important to set an early example that the U.S. was a nation of laws and not of mob rule.
President John Adams targeted Jefferson’s supporters with the Alien and Sedition Acts, in which Adams used the prospect of a potential war with France as an excuse to crack down on domestic criticism. This so incensed Hamilton that he backed Jefferson, his fierce rival, in the 1800 election as the lesser of two evils.
After Jefferson won, he could have pursued a violent campaign of revenge against his defeated rivals, triggering a cycle that could have torn the young country apart. He was, it should be noted, a defender of the French Revolution. But Jefferson did not pursue a similar witch hunt against his political enemies. He allowed Adams’s acts to expire and did not escalate. He also was president when the Supreme Court asserted the power of judicial review in the landmark Marbury v. Madison case, a concept at which he bristled in private letters. But Jefferson did not decapitate or pack the court. Even the founding father who was the most populist, in many ways the most radical, still recognized the importance of restraint and order once in power.
July 4 would be a good day for the violent mobs to disband — to take a break from tearing down statues of our founding fathers, and instead to learn some lessons from them.
