Would Our Founding Fathers Recognize America Today?
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
4-10-2023
As I sat in my office preparing for another show (my hour with America), my mind drifted off with melancholy thoughts about our Founding Fathers and what they gave to their posterity, which is us! Unfortunately, I fear that John Adams was correct when he said, “You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it.” We are a spoiled people, uncaring about the blood that was shed to make way for our freedom and individual rights… Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, Property and Prosperity.
I dare say our forefathers didn’t truly know, in the beginning, that the nation they were building would eventually become a superpower monument for Freedom, Independence and Liberty.
The settling of this land was as rough and tough as it gets. They worked hard to produce food and lumber, dig wells for water, and establish communities. There was an art to their work; whether they be carpenters, millers, bakers, café or restaurant owners, waiters or waitresses, farmers, blacksmiths, candlestick makers, upholsterers, seamstresses, journalists, authors; whatever the occupation, their work was their art and their life. It identified them as well as provided for them. In this way they were very independent. They bought, they sold, they bartered; it was all a part of their way of life. There were some imports from the homeland of Great Britain but for the most part they were self-sufficient and growing quite independent.
While I’m sure there were those who were not so full of faith, America’s pilgrims and settlers knew the blessings of thankfulness and they were grateful to God for seeing them through each winter and for the bounty of each harvest. They relied on God and their own strength, fortitude, and abilities to make their way in life, and to care for their children. Dependence on God is true Independence.
Great Britain’s King George III needed money to pay for a recent war against the French and to help with the cost of ruling over Britain's huge empire. The king decided to tax the colonies to raise money. The colonists resented being taxed by the king when they had no say in governmental affairs.
Does this sound familiar?
You know the story: Our contented ancestors were now finding that making a living was more difficult, as they were giving more and more of their income to the king. (All for the good of the king’s community.)
Living in the colonies here in America, they had no representation in the motherland. The king imposed and restricted and licensed them; even ordering them as to what “religion” they should practice and how they could preach.
The king imposed The Stamp Act, a tax on official documents, on the American colonies. This legislation levied a direct tax on all materials printed for commercial and legal use in the colonies, from bonds, licenses, certificates, newspapers and pamphlets to playing cards and dice. Though the Stamp Act employed a strategy that was a common fundraising vehicle in England, it stirred a storm of protest in the colonies.
One of the grievances our Founding Fathers laid before the king (in The Declaration of Independence) stated: “He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”
These were bureaucrats, not elected representatives and they made life miserable with their mandates, regulations, licenses and demands for permits. You see in the king’s mind, the colonists owned nothing; all they had belonged to him, to Great Britain. In the mind of the king, the colonists were merely serfs and peasants on ‘his’ land. The fact is, the king had never set foot on American soil. These colonists were starting to annoy the king with their rebellious and independent ways.
In the minds of the colonists, they owned the land they settled on, they owned their businesses. They had no representation from the motherland, no say in the ways of the king’s government; so why should they be his subjects, or pay taxes to him or bend to his political whims?
War broke out. Only 2 or 3 percent of the colonists were willing to fight for their homeland and way of life, but they fought hard! It was an impossible war; we were out gunned and out numbered. One advantage we had over the British soldiers was that our American Patriots could shoot straight and accurately. Another advantage was that they had hearts that longed and yearned to be free.
“There’s a certain enthusiasm in Liberty causing mankind to rise above itself in acts of bravery and heroism.” Alexander Hamilton
In today’s world we seem to have grown dependent not on God but on government, which is just another form of slavery and servitude. We want life to be easy. Many consider their jobs drudgery. Some work only out of necessity. Pride in our jobs is missing in the hearts and minds of many Americans, and so is the feeling of personal accomplishment. We are taxed, licensed, regulated, and mandated in every corner of our lives and businesses. Many accept this as a good thing or as normal politics. It is normal for tyrants, but it is tyranny to a free people.
If you rely on government, you are not independent nor are you free. We’ve reached a time in our own nation where our elected officials believe themselves to be better than the people they supposedly represent. They consider themselves above the laws they impose upon We the People.
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
(Lest we forget, in a Constitutional Republic form of government the people are the government and the Constitution is their contract with their elected representatives; it is their guideline.)
WE ARE NOT A DEMOCRACY
After months of debate and heated arguments, our Founding Fathers finally agreed on a Constitutional Republic form of government. The Organic Constitution which they wrote and agreed upon, gave federal government very limited powers. It certainly doesn’t look or feel that way today, does it?
We are once again under siege by tyrants. Not just one king and his ‘governors,’ but a multitude of the elected and their bureaucrats. My favorite line from the movie The Patriot, was when the delegates tried to convince Mel Gibson’s character, Benjamin Martin, to join in the fight. He said, “Would you tell me, please, Mister Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man's rights as easily as a King can.”
And this is where we are today America.
“The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their government.”
George Washington
Back to my original question: Would our Founding Fathers recognize America Today?
Our Founding Fathers knew tyranny and they would recognize it in America today.
Better than we, they would immediately see that we are no longer a free people. They might even say, "This is much worse than it was in our day. Fighting a king was tough but we were strong and determined for a cause. We had a dream about a day when all men – regardless of color or gender (they knew there were only two) would live in freedom and enjoy Liberty."
Did you know that many of our Founding Fathers believed this nation was called to be, and designed by God, for the purpose of evangelizing? Imperfect men yes, but the majority were God fearing men of principles and Christian morals; so much so, that they based our Constitution on Biblical laws and Godly principles.
John Adams Felt Inalienable Rights Come From God
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Perhaps this is the reason the LEFT, the WOKE, and the GLOBALISTS fight so hard to remove God from all facets of this nation and want this nation to fail as a sovereign country!
I love to quote our Founding Fathers, however if they were here today, they’d be rallying us all to go back to our founding principles, to sift the chaff from the wheat and point to The Declaration of Independence. Perhaps they would also remind us of the importance of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I’m certain they would tell us these things have great value and are worthy of personal commitment. In fact, they are so important that you should be willing to pledge your life, your fortune, and your sacred honor to them.
Is there one among us today who would be so bold as to pledge such? I fear those elected to represent us in DC as well as in many of our statehouses, are lacking in sacred honor. Perhaps their pledge would be closer to the old saying "There is no honor among thieves."
In the movie The Patriot, Benjamin Martin did fight, but only after it became personal. His character was based loosely on two men, who made the way for General Washington’s victory in Yorktown. I’m referring to Brigadier General Thomas Sumter, known as the Game Cock and Brigadier General Francis Marion, known as the Swamp Fox. Much like Benjamin Martin in The Patriot, Brigadier General Thomas Sumter was not going to fight. The British knew of his reputation as a fierce warrior during the French and Indian war. They decided to use tactics of fear and intimidation and burned his home to the ground. In doing this, they created the Game Cock. (The lives of these two patriots are great stories. They were extremely significant in America winning the war against King George III.)
Liberty is personal! Freedom is personal! Must we suffer more attacks on our homeland before we realize the fight for Independence and Freedom is never truly over? “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” (Thomas Jefferson) You see there’s always a shyster trying to grab your freedom and independence for their own power.
I believe our Founding Fathers knew that freedom would be most difficult to keep. They gave us many warnings, which we ignored. They set up a Constitutional Republic form of government, in which…. Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
If the spirit of our Founding Fathers still dwells within the hearts of American Patriots today, we might hear them telling us “Suck it up buttercup” and "Dig your heals in." When liberty and freedom is at stake, there is no place for summer soldiers or sunshine patriots. They might remind us, "We left you the formula for Freedom and Liberty, so get busy; it isn’t a lost cause!"
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security” …
Live for God, in all things pray and then rise up putting on the full armor of God.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
Ephesians 6:10-18 KJV
Thomas Paine signed each of his writings Common Sense, I will sign
… Bring America Home©
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