Our State of the Union on this day July 4th, 2020. Throughout the text book we read about “enlightenment”. From the Buddhist challenges in and around 486 B.C.E. and numerous Chinese rebellions, to the Western World and the Columbus voyages, have all experienced “enlightenment”. Most recently for our young Country it was the Atlantic revolution where the idea of liberty and equality were most prominent and our founding fathers were enlightened.
As is well documented, the founding fathers were disillusioned with the Government and how poorly represented they were by the Kingdom of Great Brittan. It was because of the above that the citizens rebelled and said enough. They declared independence from the Great Brittan and were specifically upset with King George III. They were upset because the British levied additional taxes on the Colonies, “…seeking new revenue from its landowners.” as the text describes on page 702. The actions of taxation without representation caused the launch of the North American revolution.
“As the Englishman John Locke (1632–1704) had argued, the “social contract” between ruler and ruled should last only as long as it served the people well.” This way of thinking emboldened the Colonies to take matters into their own hands. One can also make the conclusion that the Atlantic revolutions further motivated the Colonies to organize against the established rule and establish their own democratic revolutions.
The Colonies made the bold statement to declare independence from Great Brittan with the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 approximately one year after the war between the Colonies and Great Brittan had began. The Colonists were especially upset with King George III, so much that they wrote about his total disregard for this segment of English people inside the Declaration of Independence.
Everything in chapter 16 seems to be a repeat of what is happening in the current state of the nation. People are upset that they are not well represented. People do not feel safe, as is written in the Declaration of Independence. People understand, even though men were created equal, men do not have equal rights and they are fed up. The Nation has seen this in all of the recent protest and calls for justice. People of this nation are still struggling with the similar issues as they were 244 years ago. They still are rebelling against a “King George III” who would not listen to their outcry. King George III was cruel and only cared about using the colonies for his own good. Very similar to the current United States President abusing his power and using immigration as a tool for political gains.
One of the passages in the Declaration of Independence states, “… He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither and raising the conditions to new Appropriations of Land...” The passage is similar to the current president’s way of thinking.
One can only wonder if we are experiencing the beginning of a modern revolution where people are tired of not being heard, not feeling safe, not being represented, and feeling oppressed by it’s “leader.”
The nation currently celebrates its independence on July 4th even though the United States of America was not recognized as independent from Great Brittan until September 3, 1783. One can only wonder if we are seeing the makings of a new revolt and new Declaration of Independence. Will this nation celebrate a new day where all men and women are seeing as created equal and will finally have proper representation.
References:
Robert W. Strayer, Eric W. Nelson - Ways of the World_ A Brief Global History with Sources, Combined Volume (2015, Bedford_St. Martin’s) - libgen.lc.pdf
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