History of The World Part II

The Colonies unite and revolt.  On April 19, 1775, General Gage ordered Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to march to Lexington and Concord and seize all of the weapons and ammunition from the colonists.  No one really knows who fired the first shot.  It was, however, known as the "Shot heard around the world."

The Colonist's and the British (with the help of the Hessian mercenaries) waged war for eight years until the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783.

On July 4, 1776, Two men signed the Declaration of Independence - John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Between  August 2, 1776 and January 22, 1777 fifty four other patriots signed this document.

How the Colonists won the war is a bit of a mystery since except for a few skirmishes at the beginning of the war, the American army lost almost every battle.  I attended a lecture about thirty years ago, where the lecturer postulated that the war was won due to a unique and clever marketing campaign.  He hypothesized that the newspapers in the south ran full page advertisements stating that if any British soldier could prove that he had deserted the British army that he would be given forty acres of land.  He, the soldier, would then be a land owner fighting for his home instead of an invading force trying to crush a revolution.  Of course, I've never seen any of those ads, so I can neither confirm nor deny that these events ever happened or that the advertisements are in fact real.

That, however, begs the question.  Why would a soldier desert the army in a foreign land and become a land owner? Good question!  The inheritance rights in England (From the Magna Carta) belonged to the first born male child.  Hence, if you were less than first, you were expected to make your own way in this world.  One of those ways was to become a soldier and serve the crown.  So, when given the chance to become a land owner like his older brother and build his own estate and fortune, why not?  Just saying.  That sounds like a viable answer to me. Although in the end it really doesn't matter, we WON!!

The Continental Congress struggled for years to come up with a viable document describing what our government should look like.  Some wanted a strong central government.  Others were afraid of the power of a strong central and wanted a weak central government with the individual states having the real power. Still others wanted the power to lie with the individual so that the government couldn't force issues down their throats - like taxation.

While Thomas Jefferson served as the American envoy to France, he was enlightened by the Baron de Montesquieu, who postulated a tri-head of state government.  Each head or branch of government would be separate yet equal.  He postulated that with a single head of state like the governments of the past 5,000 years, it would be easy for a dictator to rise and the people would be no better off than their ancestors.  With a two or bi-head government, it would take collusion, but still doable.  With a three head form of government, however, there could be checks and balances which would make it dang near impossible for a dictatorship to evolve. So, after eleven years of debate and argument, the greatest term paper even researched was written, the colonists under the genius of Franklin, formulated our Constitution.

So, now you have it.  But, what does that mean to us?  Well, first off let me set a few principles into play. According to T.J. in another famous paper, "...all men are created equal...."  And, man was created by God. Also, all men are sovereign.

Hence, we commence a new era in history with a new government - an experiment if you will - the likes of which has never before been tried.  Although, such a government or rather a bi-head form of government was posed by the Greeks and actually used by the Romans.  The new America was structured as follows: God is at the top.  He is numero uno; the big cheese; the alpha and omega.  He created man.  So, if you want to draw a diagram, start with a circle and put God in the middle of the circle.  Draw a line down and make another circle.  Place man in  the middle of that circle.  Draw another line down from the man circle; draw another circle and put the Constitution in that circle.  Draw a line down from the Constitution and place government in that circle.  Now, draw a vertical line downward, and draw a horizontal line at the bottom of that line and draw three vertical parallel lines downward from there and place executive, legislative and judicial under each of those lines.  So, now, from the diagram, you should be able to discern that God created man; man created the Constitution; the Constitution created the government and the government is formed up or three separate but equal branches. And, they call this form of government a Federal Constitutional REPUBLIC!!!!!  Notice, if you will, that democracy, socialism, communism or government entitlement programs are not mentioned anywhere in that term paper.

I would like to point out that only two percent of the American people supported the revolution and the break from England.  Most of the populace were content with the status quo.  Let's not rock the boat. England is our parent.  Like teenagers come of age, when threatened by an overbearing parent, the youngster stands up, bows his neck, clenches his fists and says, "Enough!  I'm not going to take this abuse any more."  The parent then makes the threat, "As long as you live under my roof and I provide for you, you will do as I say."  To which the young adult counters, "Fine, I'm out of here.  I'm joining the army and going to Vietnam to get shot at."  Or, as in this case, they picked up weapons and fought tooth and nail for their freedom and the freedom of those other sheep who didn't want to fight; but who also reaped the rewards and benefits of those that the few, that the brave won for them.

Next time we'll start dissecting the Constitution and learn what that means to you.

Until then, I am Eldee Charles Spratt, The American Patriot (TAP).