Nevertheless, the United States of America is still here.
“I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.”
— George Washington
It is time to celebrate the birth of a great nation. A nation founded on the principles of equality and justice for all. Throughout its history this country, situated in the northern hemisphere of the planet earth nestled between the great Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, has been held together by the evolving intellect of its inhabitants. It has been a rough ride. The intellectual evolution has been fraught with wars, racial injustice, gender injustice, environmental injustice and… well… just name your particular injustice of interest.
The founders of the United States of America were quite prescient in their consideration of what they were creating. Democracy wasn’t new; it had been around since about the fifth or sixth century depending on who you ask. The founders of the American experiment knew they were not re-inventing this revolutionary form of governing; they were refining it and refine they did.
The nation known as the United States of America was birthed on July 4th ,1776. The founders proceeded to fashion what this government would look like; what would be the engines that would propel this young country forward. Eleven years after a tumultuous birth the U.S. Constitution was drafted, defining the structure and powers of the U.S. Congress, which is to say, the House of Representatives and the Senate. It would have certainly been interesting to be privy to conversations at kitchen tables, pubs, and porches across the various states of this newfound Union. Would the differing ideals of religious and political sectarianism be respected if not accepted in the ebb and flow of human interaction? Nope, not a chance. What this fledgling country needed was a grand arbiter, a person or better yet a group of people who would have the final word. Thus, on March 4, 1789, Congress convened for the first time and as one of their first orders of business created a Supreme Court. The first Supreme Court had six Justices.
To quote the great Robert Hunter, “what a long strange trip it’s been”. Two world wars, numerous conflicts (read as small wars lasting for years), four Presidents assassinated, and at least one attempt to turn a liberal democracy into an illiberal democracy.
Nevertheless, the United States of America is still here. There are still people in this nation who are compassionate, kind, inclusive, decent, and as President Washington said, “see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality”.
Stay strong, stay centered, and be careful.
Happy 4th of July.
