Just another hot day in July...Except

This is the same post as yesterday, with the exception of a correction with a footnote.

Time has eroded the significant shot heard around the word when 56 men assembled on a July day to sign a document declaring independence. We tend to take that moment for granted, without much thought or care. Admit it, how many signers can you name? And if you say Lincoln, quit reading this and grab a history book.

For the rest of you, I came up with 5, I know, that’s pretty dreadful. If this were baseball I’d be hitting .089, that’s not even close to the Mendoza line.

Jefferson was a no brainer, he wrote the thing, as well as John Hancock because of his big signature. Then I had Ben Franklin, and the Adam’s boys, John and his crazy cousin Sam. After scratching my head to no avail, that was it, I couldn’t think of another name. Something tells me if just 5 guys got together to form a country they’d been thrown in Boston Harbor along with the tea.

My ignorance doesn’t alter the fact that 56 men developed a country and changed the world forever. History, some would say, is boring, filled with stories about white men who owned slaves. You hear this all the time especially from the left. They say the founders were hypocrites when they spoke about freedom. Some are even ashamed because they feel our founding fathers were prejudice morons who needed enlightenment. It’s funny, because they are the first ones to scream about “Constitutional Rights” when they feel some form of justice has been violated. I guess no one told them the Bill of Rights was written by a white guy.

Let me give you my take on just how enlightened these brilliant men were.

Slavery existed in America 200 years before our founders met on that July day. Until then, no real effort was made to abolish slavery. While nothing in government moves fast, the ball started rolling when great men were put in place to build this nation.

In 1774, Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush (both signers of the Declaration of Independence) founded America’s first antislavery society.

John Adams said, “My opinion against slavery has always been known. Never in my life did I own a slave.”

Charles Carroll (a signer of the Declaration of Independence) said, “Why keep alive the question of slavery? It is admitted by all to be a great evil.”

Luther Martin a Constitutional Convention Delegate said, "It ought to be considered that national crimes can only be and frequently are punished in this world by national punishments; and that the continuance of the slave trade, and thus giving it a national sanction and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him who is equally Lord of all and who views with equal eye the poor African slave and his American master."

John Jay, President of the Continental Congress said, "That men should pray and fight for their own freedom and yet keep others in slavery is certainly acting a very inconsistent as well as unjust and perhaps impious part."

I can go on and give you many more quotes on the founders thinking on slavery. My point is, America before the founders had little talk about freeing slaves. This is just speculation on my part. But these white men had to become free themselves before they could do anything about freeing slaves. Once the nation stood on its own and not under the thumb of King George, then and only then could they work on the minds of their own citizens.

You say, but Ron, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington owned slaves. Yes that’s a fact. Both men inherited slaves from their families. Washington was a mere eleven years old when his father died and suddenly this boy was a slave owner. Think about that. He was a child who had to take ownership of human beings. Add to the fact, that Virginia law prohibited an owner to free his slaves. You could trade or sell them, but not free them. This was the attitude of pre-United States. There’s no doubt Jefferson and Washington struggled with this, because it’s in their writings.

“I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it [slavery].”
-George Washington

"Do not mistake me. I am not advocating slavery. I am not justifying the wrongs we have committed on a foreign people... On the contrary, there is nothing I would not sacrifice to a practicable plan of abolishing every vestige of this moral and political depravity." -Thomas Jefferson

Regardless to what historical revisionist say, slavery was on the minds of our Founders. They knew laws had to be changed. Each state, though independent, needed a binding law to protect all men from tyranny. It was a tough political line to walk, the south as wrong as they were, felt they needed slaves. And if this country was ever going to free itself from England, the Continental Congress needed the south. You didn’t just walk into a room and say, “Alright boys, free your slaves and let’s go win a war.”

It took the first order of business. Once the war was over and a Constitution for the United States could be ratified, then a motion to free slaves could be brought forth. Once again the brilliance of these white men is shown by the way the Constitution was constructed. They knew a growing nation would need change from time to time, thus allowing amendments to be added to the existing laws. So in 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, was passed. In other words, no Constitution, no Thirteenth Amendment, that’s how foreword thinking these men were.

So let’s be clear, the newly formed government of 1776 didn’t support slavery, it was an existing problem that had to be dealt with. In fact, slavery had been part of this world since time began. And we, our nation, rid itself of that atrocity when this country was still in its infancy stage and not yet a world power. Consider on the whole, it was blinding speed compared to the rest of so-called civilized nations.

It’s hard to play the “What if” game. But say back in 1776 these men loved British rule and had no desire to become independent. Would we still be living under old world laws? (Slavery, monarchy) I can’t answer that, but this new world the Founders created shook the planet and with it democracy scattered to lands near and far. The Declaration of Independence was the bridge between old and new thought.

I’ve heard some say the United States needs to apologize for slavery and maybe give some sort of reparations to the ancestors of slaves. I hope I’ve made a case to forget that nonsense. *Slavery was never endorsed by the United States Government. (See footnote) If not for the United States, slavery might still exist.

If you still think we should pay reparations, think about this. Women have been treated unfairly in this country. Some might say akin to slavery, second class citizens to their hateful husbands. Women couldn’t vote until the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted, (white guys again.) So do we pay all women today because of the disenfranchised women of the past?

This nation has always strived to do the right thing. When evils were done in the name of the United States, like taking land from Native Americans, we made amends the best we could. Today American Indians throughout this country are paid monetarily for transgressions of the past.

Believe it or not, this is still the land of opportunity and the Constitution makes it possible. And the Declaration of Independence made the Constitution possible. This whole thing has its roots firmly dug into a hot July day in 1776.

I know there’s a Presidential candidate’s wife who thinks you can’t make it in America anymore. That thought is a slap in the face to those 56 men who attached their name to a declaration stating “All men are created equal.”

This week we celebrate the 232^nd anniversary of that document which changed the course of history and paved the way to set all men and women free.

Other than Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, John Adams and Sam Adams, here is a list of all signers. I couldn’t think of their names at the time, but they all deserve a place in history.

Thank ya boys; generations will forever be indebted for your service to our country.

George Read—Thomas McKean—Caesar Rodney—Benjamin Rush—James Smith—George Taylor—George Ross—James Wilson—Josiah Bartlett—Matthew Thornton—William Whipple—Stephen Hopkins—William Ellery—Lewis Morris—Francis Lewis—Philip Livingston—William Floyd—Button Gwinnett—George Walton—Lyman Hall—Richard Henry Lee—Carter Braxton—Thomas Nelson, Jr—George Wythe—Benjamin Harrison—Francis Lightfoot Lee—William Hooper—Joseph Hewes—John Penn—Edward Rutledge—Thomas Lynch, Jr—Arthur Middleton—Thomas Heyward, Jr—Abraham Clark—Francis Hopkinson—John Witherspoon—John Hart—Richard Stockton—Samuel Huntington—William Williams—Roger Sherman—Oliver Wolcott—Charles Carroll—Thomas Stone—Samuel Chase—William Paca

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

* This statement was wrong. My friend James pointed it out to me. Sometimes, in the heat of writing a blog, things fly off the fingers that should be checked before stated. My intent was that the Articles of Confederation didn't endorse or mention slavery. And the Declaration of Independence expedited the end to one man owning another, instead of prolonging it. To misstate facts brings ones credibility into question. This is an attempt to gain some of it back.

I’ll have more to say in the next post.