For the most part, people of today never stop to think or meditate upon what made this country what she is today – when it started, how it started, and the cost of that start up. Here it is July 4, and the only thing on peoples’ minds are cookouts, fireworks, camping, boating, and whatever else people do to entertain themselves. Rightly so, too. We have reason to enjoy freedom, do we not? Of course we do, but let’s not forget what the fireworks are all about. As the national anthem goes, “And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” There is no way that this article along with twenty more volumes could portray the history in detail of this United States, of what it took to get to that song. The history of this country started long before 1776 and continues to evolve every day, sometimes good and sometimes not so good.
Change is inevitable and remembering history takes a backseat to everything else. For instance, go and shout, “The British are coming, the British are coming,” and most will think that the Beatles are making a comeback. Ask what was the Stamp Act? Ummm, wasn’t that last year when the price of forever postage stamps went up? How about the Boston Massacre? Of course, we remember that as when those terrorists bombed the Boston Marathon. The Liberty Boys- oh, were they not a hit in the 1950’s as an up and coming heavy metal band? How about the Daughters of Liberty? Of course, they’re a group of women from California who stand behind people who don’t get a fair shake in life. Last one. Nobody will forget the Boston Tea Party – that’s when they discovered an herbal tea blend that revolutionized our new health standards. There are so many more, but of course there are not enough pages. All these events and groups were part of the beginning of this country before 1776. It was a time when people got tired of the status quo of bowing to established orders; it was a time that people took control of their own lives. So from 1775 to 1781, the American people of that time paid a terrible price against one of the biggest and toughest countries on the planet. However, a determined people armed with fire, pitchforks and wooden canoes overcame the armies and navies of that great country.
These determined people called themselves Patriots, which infuriated the British and caused them to make mistakes that cost Britain the war. All because of a word. It was a great political victory from the standpoint of a people who organized into colonies and declared their independence. The war was a victory for people who could now find their place in society, and that they did. Has it taken many years and many heartaches to get things right? Yes. We still don’t have it set in stone and may never get it perfect. The Revolutionary War took care of a lot of problems, created just as many and started the process of becoming the United States of America. It left the greatest question for the people to figure out – what do we do now?
Many of the working class families of that time endured some of the worst of conditions afterward, but because of those hard working generations who had to be inventors, story tellers, wood wrights, blacksmiths, loggers, pioneers, mountain men, trappers, farmers, and such, all of them built and rebuilt when all seemed lost and struggled to keep food on the table. Those generations made it because they worked together to make life bearable and better for future generations. Harsh times are a tough instructor, and they will show us a side of ourselves that we didn’t know existed. It has been said that a smooth sea never made a good sailor, neither does uninterrupted success or easy living qualify us as tough, strong willed people.
Those generations of people of our past looked at tragedy as giving them a greater purpose and a chance to see life as being more than just about themselves; they became transcendental in their thoughts and in their actions. Their lives should be taught in schools, that it is not so much the political aspect but the people aspect. Government would not exist if not for the working people who keep the money train moving. Government would not exist if not for people who had vision and created opportunity for those that had none. Look into your own family tree and somewhere you will find individuals who made a difference, who were among those helped build this country we call the United States of America.
So, when you see the fireworks, remember what they are about so that the list I mentioned before ceases to exist. Francis Scott Key, and he wasn’t a locksmith, was inspired to pen The Defense of Fort McHenry, otherwise known as The Star Spangled Banner, when the British navy fleet attempted to bomb Fort McHenry in an attempt to take over the town. The people and the fort stood strong, and the British were defeated. The actions of the Patriots when this county was formed were a thing of beauty. It is never over though; hope is the last thing that dies within its people. Let’s not let it die in this country. “Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”