A Few Thoughts About Our Independence

Today, July 4, 2011, marks the 235^th year of America's existence as an independent republic. Consider that last word, for a moment: "republic." We are a relatively new nation, as these things go, but we are the world's oldest republic.

On the other hand, that document we put forth exactly 235 years ago did not forge the republic; it merely proclaimed that we were no longer part of a monarchy. It would take the Constitution to make our nation what it is today.

As I consider the events around the Declaration of Independence, I ask myself, was it necessary and, perhaps more important, was it desirable? Let us stop and consider.

As we all know, the Declaration of Independence also served as a de facto declaration of war, since King George and his ministers were not likely just to say, "Well, all right, then," and let it go at that. And very, very, very few wars, declared or otherwise, are necessary. They come about as a result of human greed, folly and vanity. Had the British been wiser colonizers, and had many of the colonists been less greedy and self-centered, the American colonies may have continued to be possessions of the British crown for many years to follow.

The core basis of the American Revolution was the concept of "no taxation without representation," and, to be sure, that is a just and righteous notion, if ever there was one. Unfortunately, it would have been quite impractical to admit colonial representatives into the House of Commons, and the British Crown did have a very significant need for revenue from the American colonies.

We think of the Cold War as the first of its kind in our history, but, in fact, the American colonies lived most of their pre-revolutionary lives in a cold war, and the enemy was not Great Britain. As we had our flare-ups in Korea and Viet Nam, recently, the Americans of the 18^th Century had a number of them, the biggest of which was what we termed The French and Indian War.

Now, we did not suddenly start shooting at the Indians because they were "colored" and not subject to our orders and the French because they talked funny. Those two ethnicities, and the Spanish as well, had been constant threats to the British colonists from the first days of settlement. The colonists in America were not strong enough at the time to fend off all the potential encroachments that threatened them. To protect them, though it was assuredly in their own self-interest, the British kept a substantial number of troops in the colonies during times of tension. These troops were not Peace Corps volunteers. They had to be paid and, in any case, had to be fed and sheltered too.

It was for that reason, namely the cost of protecting its colonial investment and, just incidentally, the colonists themselves, that the British Crown rightfully figured the people living in those colonies should pony up some of the cash that the mother country was paying for their protection.

What followed were a number of taxes that the colonists found to be, on the whole, outrageous. While there was still time for discussion, the colonists' official position, as expressed by Benjamin Franklin in his negotiations with Parliament, was, in effect, "Tell us how much money you need, and we will provide it, but let us raise it our own way." Again, that was the official position, as endorsed by the Continental Congress. A good number of colonial merchants did not want to pay any tax at all. Now, where have we heard that idea recently?

The British response to that idea (Franklin's, not the no-tax crowd) was something like, "How dare they?" As a result of neither side willing to invest sufficient time in listening to the other, the situation got so acrimonious that shooting had commenced well before July 4, 1776.

Was independence a good thing? On the whole, it was, but not in all cases. In peace, of course it was, but in the wars that followed the American Revolution, perhaps it was not.

Let us look at some of the wars that would plague both Britain and America in the years to follow, starting with the Napoleonic Wars. Keep in mind that America, as a nation, did not favor Bonaparte's conquest of Europe and, generally viewed the French emperor as a dangerous man, yet we ended up helping his cause immensely, due to our greed and England's stupidity.

The American greed came about with the Louisiana Purchase, which, let us be clear, was a good thing for America. Unfortunately, it put fifteen million dollars, which was then an immense sum of money, into Napoleon's treasury, which he could (and did) spend lavishly on shot, shell and mercenaries, a great deal of which got directed at people who wore red coats. If we were still a series of British colonies, those territories would have undoubtedly been wrested from French control at the end of a war which the home country could have won a lot sooner and easier,

The worse damage to the British war effort came from the colossal stupidity, borne of hubris, of, first the British navy, then the British government.

Even without the fictitious Horatio Hornblower, the British navy fought valiantly and successfully against Bonaparte and his allies throughout the Napoleonic Wars. But that success came at a price, paid in men and ships. To keep up with the incessant demands of their navy's mission, the government had to resort to impressment, which is the naval equivalent of the draft, except theirs was a lot more ruthless and aggressive.

Many pressed sailors considered their life in the British navy to be a living hell and tried to desert. They soon found that a safe place to desert to was the American navy, which was then at peace. Once the Brits got wind of this trend, they took up the notion that they had every right to board any American ship they cared to and ferret out whatever British deserters had made their way onto the crew.

Stop and consider what an outrage this is, regardless of the circumstances. Just imagine if Nixon and LBJ had supposed it was their right to send troops into Canada to drag our draft dodgers back to the States during the Viet Nam War. Absolutely unthinkable, right?

Again, negotiation and discussion failed to carry the day, and we found ourselves actively fighting on Boney's side, even if it was to defend a thoroughly righteous principal.

Next, look at our own Civil War. Were we still colonies of the British Crown, there would have been no slavery issue to ignite that terrible conflict. In general, the British were hostile to slavery, although they permitted it in the American colonies (And not just in the south, by the way. New York did not abolish slavery until 1820.). They, and not the American politicians, would have decided where slavery could and could not exist.

Finally, let us look at what was then known as The Great War, but what we now know to be World War I. We were late to enter it, which was good for us, but bad for Great Britain. On the other hand, while British generalship was still in a state of gross ineptitude, throughout the early part of that war, Australians, New Zealanders, Indians and Canadians, all of whose nations had a semi-colonial attachment to Great Britain, were slaughtered in windrows. Still, with the weight of an American army on the scene from the start, the war might have ended in a German defeat before the horrific battles of 1916 and 1917.

Today, Great Britain and the United States are the closest of allies, but it has been a long and bloody trail to get there.

Now, let us turn briefly to peacetime. Here, it was of the utmost importance that we broke free from the British Crown. The Industrial Revolution, which far surpassed the American Revolution is scope and importance, was just beginning, and the British had determined that they alone, not their colonies, were going to be the benefactors. American industry would have been suppressed for decades, to the extent that we may never have become a first-rate economic power.

To be sure, many Americans would exploit the Industrial Revolution ruthlessly and shamelessly in the coming century, but, however it was done, that phenomenon had to be exploited if we were ever to arrive at our present-day prosperity.

These are just a few thoughts, broad and generalized as they are, I have on this day of our independence. Happy Independence Day to one and all.

Sources

American Heritage online

Wikipedia