Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine

I was reminded earlier today that tomorrow marks an important day in our national calendar.  It is the anniversary of the publication of Common Sense, by Thomas Paine.  The date was January 9, 1776.

At the time he wrote the pamphlet, America was nearly balanced by three factions, not unlike our political landscape today:  Revolutionaries who longed for independence from Great Britain, Loyalists who remained loyal to the Crown and King George III, and another third who couldn't make up their minds and were undecided.

Paine's early history is not a predictor of his greatness that would come later with his pen and paper.  He was born into a poor family in an obscure village in England.  He had little formal education.  He was bouncing around in several occupations -- corset maker, seaman, schoolteacher, customs collector, tobacco seller -- none that produced success.

He was down and out when he met Benjamin Franklin, who was living in London.  Franklin suggested that Paine relocate to America, "a land of new opportunity," he told him.

Paine nearly died en route by ocean voyage to America.  When he landed in Philadelphia he was half-dead.  With the help of Franklin, Paine was given letters of recommendation to help him get a job as a magazine writer.

Even his later critics begrudgingly admitted Paine had more "brains than books, more sense than education, more courage than politeness, more strength than polish."  He was just what the doctor ordered to move an ambivalent nation to action.  He demanded that Americans demand their freedom and settle for no compromise.  There was nothing in his writings to suggest he was the least bit interested in compromise.

"The birthday of a new world is at hand," he wrote.  He vociferously attacked the idea of living under the King of England.  He planted the seeds of revolution and a complete break with England.  Here's a sample of his rhetoric:

"O ye that love mankind!  Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!  Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression.  Freedom hath been hunted round the globe.  Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her.  Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart.  O! [America] receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."

Paine's words must have sounded like a bugle call to action to the struggling colonists.  Washington, at the head of the Continental Army already engaged in armed conflict with the daunting forces of the Crown on land and sea, used the pamphlet to rally his troops and boost enlistments among those who were still undecided.  Thousands snatched up the pamphlet and decided he was right.  He rallied a nation to produce the Declaration of Independence later that summer.

Thomas Edison would write 150 years later, "We never had a sounder intelligence in this Republic. . .  In Common Sense Paine flared forth with a document so powerful that the Revolution became inevitable."

George Washington -- how it all began

For many months, I have wanted to briefly cite my love and admiration for George Washington.  I have written about John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and other luminaries in our struggle to be free, but last night I was prompted again to say something here about Washington.

We were sitting around a bonfire, as is our custom here at the Ranch during the summer evenings, eating homemade grape ice cream (I've given you the recipe in a comment below, you won't be disappointed) and sampling Grandma's desserts (many varieties of cookies, brownies and other delectables).  One of my precocious granddaughters after listening to me talk about the founders in glowing terms, asked, "Grandpa, did you know George Washington?"  I told you I was growing older. . .

I replied, trying to repress my laughter, "No, I didn't really KNOW him personally, but I've read a lot about him and the other founders."  Some things have to be explained, you see, when the questioner is four years old.  It's that perception of time thing they don't understand.  At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I'm not really that old.

I was reminded in her question last night about a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to Dr. Walter Jones in 1814.  Jefferson was our nation's third President, serving from 1801 to 1809.  Jefferson captured the essence of the first President, George Washington, in this word picture:

“[H]is was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history of the world furnishes no other example.”

George Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783.  He did not want the command when it was first offered.  His record of military achievement prior to the Revolutionary War was that he had lost more battles than he had won.  In the early stages of the War he made several tactical errors.  His mastery of military strategy was lacking.  His troops were, like himself, first farmers.  The term "summer soldiers" was coined to describe those who left the battlefront to return to their farms in the fall to harvest their crops.  They were by all descriptions a rag-tag undisciplined lot.  However, no one doubted his valor and courage, nor his moral integrity.  He was a leader people could believe in.  Soldiers loved him.  They would to a man fight and die for him.  He accepted the post under some measure of duress from his peers. 

He could have used his position as the General to his own advantage, but he never did.  There were suggestions that he assert himself over the civilian authorities and take forcible control of the government and the army as the king, but to those who suggested the idea to him, Washington issued a stern rebuke.

Perhaps my favorite story about George Washington happened in the final year of the Revolutionary War.  Washington was dealing with severe shortages in the number of troops, clothing, food and pay for those troops.  He had served under a dysfunctional and largely ineffective civilian Congress for more than eight years. In the last year of the war the troops were near the breaking point. They hadn't been paid in a almost a year and there was little hope remaining the situation would be cured.  There was a pernicious pamphlet circulating among his soldiers calling for them to storm Congress and force them to pay the delinquent wages.

Washington called a meeting to discuss the problem. He told the troops he knew what they were going through and he urged them to wait on Congress. Most were not the least bit convinced.  He began to read a letter to them from a member of Congress.  He took out his glasses so he could read it and his hand trembled visibly.  In simple words, apologizing to them, he said, "I am sorry Gentlemen, I have grown old in your service, and now it appears I have also gone blind."  There wasn't a dry eye in the room and the disaster was averted. That's leadership.  He had suffered side by side with his men, and everyone knew it.  If you only read one book about George Washington, read the one cited here:  The Real George Washington.

He was exemplary as the Commander in Chief of the army, then later when he served as an elected representative from Virginia to the Continental Congress after the War.  He consistently deferred to their civilian control and authority, establishing an important pattern to observe for later generations and following the rule of law established under the Articles of Confederation until the Constitutional Convention created a new rule of law.  He was ever the subservient advocate of "the people."

In 1783, when the War for Independence had ended, he resigned his commission as General, longing to return to his beloved Mount Vernon.  Retirement was his sole ambition in life at that point.  By so doing, he proved King George III was underestimating the character of this other George.  The popular thinking at the time was that Washington, unable to resist the lure of wielding power would simply not be able to walk away quietly, and King George III predicted as much.  When the king was told of rumors that Washington was returning to his farm, he responded, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

Well, there are those who erected an obelisk to his name in Washington D.C., then named the city after him who would have agreed with that assessment.  The majesty of George Washington was the purity of his heart and character.

Washington was called back from retirement, however, denying him his wish for a quiet life on the farm as he presided over the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787.  When the provisions of the Constitution had been ratified by first nine, then eventually all the thirteen original colony states, Washington was elected as the first President of the United States of America.  He was unanimously elected by the first Electoral College, something that has never been repeated since in American history.

Washington eschewed any party label, and urged against the practice, fearing a fracturing of the people in the fledgling republic.  He served two terms as America’s first President from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797. Then Washington decided it was important for him to step down.  He had no lust for the power that might have so easily been conferred upon him by the people.  He wanted to set an example before the world, not just for the people of America, so a peaceful transition of power was possible.  He believed it was an absolute necessity before he died, again keeping in mind the precedent he wanted to set forevermore.

His concern was if he died in office and the vice-president ascended to the presidency, it would resemble too much an "heir" ascending to the throne after the death of a king.  He was ever the careful strategist then.

Washington’s farewell address, of course, was once again a precedent maker.  It would become the most quoted political speech ever given.  In it he warned of the importance of virtue among the electorate, and he issued a crystal clear warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.  It was forever afterward sought for wisdom in these matters, but history since has proven difficult to abide by his precepts. 

There was enormous admiration for this self-disciplined leader, perhaps again the highest praise coming from his former adversary, King George III.  He said Washington’s retirement from the presidency along with his earlier resignation as General and Commander in Chief, “placed him in a light the most distinguished of any man living,” and that his relinquishing power made him “the greatest character of the age.”

It is such a stark contrast to what we witness today, isn't it?  Think of the hundreds of millions of dollars amassed and spent for years in the runup to a presidential election in our modern era by eager candidates grappling for the very power Washington eschewed and deferred to other successors willingly without as much as a whimper of protest. 

George Washington died in 1799.  Henry Lee, delivering his funeral eulogy, declared Washington “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”  Historians consistently rank him as one of the greatest Presidents of United States of America.

It was his moral clarity and purity, once again, that exemplifies his greatness in my mind.

The Crisis, by Thomas Paine

Oil painting by Auguste Millière (1880)

The more things change, it seems, the more they remain the same.  There is one man who was perhaps the most unsung hero of the Revolutionary War.  His name is Thomas "Tom" Paine (born January 29, 1737, other sources suggest different dates).  He was an author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Born in Thetford (just north of Cambridge), in the English county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 in time to participate in the American Revolution.

Two men are regarded as having contributed equally to the successful outcome of the American War of Independence. George Washington in directing the movement of the soldiers and another man, Thomas Paine, whose words in a time of crisis inspired those soldiers.

This man's first Crisis pamphlet, which Washington ordered to be read to the troops, begins with these words "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he who stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered." With Washington's troops near disintegration, Thomas Paine, a man about whom few people have heard or know what he did, published those words in mid-winter on December 23, 1776.

He was the first person to use the phrase "The United States of America", so let us honor briefly the life and work of a man dedicated to liberty and reason, and review his words to lift the fledgling band of American freedom fighters who threw off the yoke of England's oppression.

His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), advocating colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series.

The historian Saul K. Padover in the biography Jefferson: A Great American's Life and Ideas, refers to Paine as "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination."

Another author called him the Apostle of Freedom (Jack Fructmann, Jr.)

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December 23, 1776

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own [Footnote 1:  The present winter is worth an age, if rightly employed; but, if lost or neglected, the whole continent will partake of the evil; and there is no punishment that man does not deserve, be he who, or what, or where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season so precious and useful.]; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little resolution will soon recover.

I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.

'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.

As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances, which those who live at a distance know but little or nothing of. Our situation there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a narrow neck of land between the North River and the Hackensack. Our force was inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so great as Howe could bring against us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the garrison, had we shut ourselves up and stood on our defence. Our ammunition, light artillery, and the best part of our stores, had been removed, on the apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys, in which case Fort Lee could be of no use to us; for it must occur to every thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these kind of field forts are only for temporary purposes, and last in use no longer than the enemy directs his force against the particular object which such forts are raised to defend. Such was our situation and condition at Fort Lee on the morning of the 20th of November, when an officer arrived with information that the enemy with 200 boats had landed about seven miles above; Major General [Nathaniel] Green, who commanded the garrison, immediately ordered them under arms, and sent express to General Washington at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the ferry = six miles. Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and us, about six miles from us, and three from them. General Washington arrived in about three-quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush for; however, they did not choose to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and made their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there passed the river. We brought off as much baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost. The simple object was to bring off the garrison, and march them on till they could be strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to make a stand. We staid four days at Newark, collected our out-posts with some of the Jersey militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being informed that they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in generalship in not throwing a body of forces off from Staten Island through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our stores at Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania; but if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise believe that their agents are under some providential control.

I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat to the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both officers and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their wishes centred in one, which was, that the country would turn out and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that King William never appeared to full advantage but in difficulties and in action; the same remark may be made on General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude; and I reckon it among those kind of public blessings, which we do not immediately see, that God hath blessed him with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon care.

I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on the state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these men, and used numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave.

But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn between us, let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an invitation to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you as the American cause is injured by you. He expects you will all take up arms, and flock to his standard, with muskets on your shoulders. Your opinions are of no use to him, unless you support him personally, for 'tis soldiers, and not Tories, that he wants.

I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, "Well! give me peace in my day." Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;" and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can distinguish himself between temper and principle, and I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.

America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a proper application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of a day, and it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off. From an excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an army, and trusted our cause to the temporary defence of a well-meaning militia. A summer's experience has now taught us better; yet with those troops, while they were collected, we were able to set bounds to the progress of the enemy, and, thank God! they are again assembling. I always considered militia as the best troops in the world for a sudden exertion, but they will not do for a long campaign. Howe, it is probable, will make an attempt on this city [Philadelphia]; should he fail on this side the Delaware, he is ruined. If he succeeds, our cause is not ruined. He stakes all on his side against a part on ours; admitting he succeeds, the consequence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent will march to assist their suffering friends in the middle states; for he cannot go everywhere, it is impossible. I consider Howe as the greatest enemy the Tories have; he is bringing a war into their country, which, had it not been for him and partly for themselves, they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I wish with all the devotion of a Christian, that the names of Whig and Tory may never more be mentioned; but should the Tories give him encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as sincerely wish that our next year's arms may expel them from the continent, and the Congress appropriate their possessions to the relief of those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful battle next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two years' war by the confiscation of the property of disaffected persons, and be made happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is revenge, call it rather the soft resentment of a suffering people, who, having no object in view but the good of all, have staked their own all upon a seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to argue against determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear, and the language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with prejudice.

Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a friend to those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to stand the matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but "show your faith by your works," that God may bless you. It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now is dead; the blood of his children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being, who at the last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains to cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and the slain of America.

There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both. Howe's first object is, partly by threats and partly by promises, to terrify or seduce the people to deliver up their arms and receive mercy. The ministry recommended the same plan to Gage, and this is what the tories call making their peace, "a peace which passeth all understanding" indeed! A peace which would be the immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet thought of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon these things! Were the back counties to give up their arms, they would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are all armed: this perhaps is what some Tories would not be sorry for. Were the home counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed to the resentment of the back counties who would then have it in their power to chastise their defection at pleasure. And were any one state to give up its arms, that state must be garrisoned by all Howe's army of Britons and Hessians to preserve it from the anger of the rest. Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that state that breaks the compact. Howe is mercifully inviting you to barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues or fools that will not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of imagination; I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to your eyes.

I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know our situation well, and can see the way out of it. While our army was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit to him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean opportunity to ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great credit to us, that, with a handful of men, we sustained an orderly retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all our field pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for we were near three weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and remained out till dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp, and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged. Once more we are again collected and collecting; our new army at both ends of the continent is recruiting fast, and we shall be able to open the next campaign with sixty thousand men, well armed and clothed. This is our situation, and who will may know it. By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils — a ravaged country — a depopulated city — habitations without safety, and slavery without hope — our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented.

December 23, 1776

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Those words could have been written today.  Substitute the references to England to our modern American government.  The tyranny this time is being marshalled by us, against us, and lies within our borders.  The enemy is among us.  There are no foreign troops like the dreaded Redcoats to engage in open fields, cloistered forests or raging waters.  They could well be Republicans or Democrats -- I intentionlly draw no distinctions.  They are the forces arrayed against us who are perpetuating an expanding and increasingly intrusive budget-busting government determined to control us.  It is the tyrannical rule of oppressors who are usurping powers not granted in the Constitution.  Because of the Constitution, America can renew herself every two years through her elected representatives.  Few mistakes in judgment by men are permanent.  Whoever it is we find advocating those political positions must be stopped at the ballot box this November.  It will be an orderly transition of power.  It will be a bloodless coup this time.  We must ourselves carefully discern who the patriots are to oppose those who knowingly suppress the freedoms of self-determination. 

"For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived -- verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day."  (D&C 45:57).

"Give me liberty, or give me death!"

In the category of patriots, none looms larger than the story of Patrick Henry in the struggle of freedom.

Following the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773, in which American colonists dumped 342 containers of tea into the Boston harbor, the British Parliament enacted a series of Acts in response to the rebellion in Massachusetts.

In May of 1774, General Thomas Gage, commander of all British military forces in the colonies, arrived in Boston, followed by the arrival of four regiments of British troops.

The First Continental Congress met in the fall of 1774 in Philadelphia with 56 American delegates, representing every colony, except Georgia. On September 17th, the Congress declared its opposition to the repressive Acts of Parliament, saying they are "not to be obeyed," and also promoted the formation of local militia units.

Thus economic and military tensions between the colonists and the British escalated. In February of 1775, a Provincial Congress was held in Massachusetts during which John Hancock and Joseph Warren began defensive preparations for a state of war. The British Parliament then declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion.

On March 23rd, in Virginia, the largest colony in America, a meeting of the colony's delegates was held in St. John's church in Richmond. Resolutions were presented by Patrick Henry putting the colony of Virginia "into a posture of defense... embodying, arming, and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient for that purpose." Before the vote was taken on his resolutions, Henry delivered the speech below, imploring the delegates to vote in favor.

He spoke without any notes in a voice that became louder and louder, climaxing with the now famous ending. Following his speech, the vote was taken in which his resolutions passed by a narrow margin, and thus Virginia joined in the American Revolution.

***

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve.

This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty towards the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?

For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House?

Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation -- the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motives for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?

No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer on the subject? Nothing.

We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.

Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.

Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope.

If we wish to be free -- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending -- if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable -- and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

Patrick Henry - March 23, 1775

Pilgrims, Patriots and Prophets

This is the season of the year when we remember our America heritage, but only if we are aware of it.

Pilgrims

Detail of Edgar Parker's Embarkation of the Pilgrims

"They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country." -- William Bradford

The Pilgrim saga began with a group of religious dissidents who believed it was necessary to separate from the Church of England. Persecuted in England, these "Separatists" moved to Holland in 1607/1608.

The group, joined by other colonists recruited by the venture's financial backers, began the move to America in 1620.

Bacon's Landing of the Pilgrims

Early Plymouth records refer to all passengers from the first four ships as "First Comers." These ships were the Mayflower (1620), the Fortune (1621), the Anne and the Little James (1623). The term "Pilgrim" was not generally used until the early 1800s.

There is no single definition of "Pilgrim." Many families, Separatists and non-Separatists and Separatist sympathizers alike, traveled to America in several ships in the 1620s.

However defined, the story of these Pilgrims has provided inspiration for centuries.  There are those today who are rewriting the history books to assert these people either had no religion or were so diverse as to be indifferent to religion.  However, religious freedom and the right to worship as they pleased were central to their departure from England. 

The Church of England seems to be an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Church. The roots of the Church of England go back to the time of the Roman Empire when a Christian church came into existence in what was then the Roman province of Britain. The early Christian writers Tertullian and Origen mention the existence of a British church in the third century AD, and in the fourth century British bishops attended a number of the great councils of the Church such as the Council of Arles in 314 and the Council of Rimini in 359. The first member of the British church whom we know by name is St. Alban, who, tradition tells us, was martyred for his faith on the spot where St. Albans Abbey now stands.

The British church was a missionary church with figures such as St. Illtud, St. Ninian and St. Patrick evangelizing in Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but the invasions by the pagan Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the fifth century seem to have destroyed the organization of the church in much of what is now England. In 597 a mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great and led by St. Augustine of Canterbury landed in Kent to begin the work of converting these pagan peoples. What eventually became known as the Church of England (the Ecclesia Anglicana - or the English Church) was the result of a combination of three streams of Christianity, the Roman tradition of St. Augustine and his successors, the remnants of the old Romano-British church and the Celtic tradition coming down from Scotland and associated with people like St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert.  Until the Reformation in the 16th century, the Church of England acknowledged the authority of the Pope.

When the Church of England became so dominant that it made unreasonable demands on the citizenry, the Separatists were forced to flee in search of the freedom to practice their religion elsewhere.  That fact is at the core of the founding of America.

At the Reformation, the Western Church became divided between those who continued to accept Papal authority and the various Protestant churches that repudiated it. The Church of England was among the churches that broke with Rome. The catalyst for this decision was the refusal of the Pope to annul the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, but underlying this was a Tudor nationalist belief that authority over the English Church properly belonged to the English monarchy.

In the reign of Henry’s son Edward VI the Church of England underwent further reformation, driven by the conviction that the theology being developed by the theologians of the Protestant Reformation was more faithful to the teaching of the Bible and the Early Church than the teaching of those who continued to support the Pope.

In the reign of Mary Tudor the Church of England once again submitted to Papal authority. However, this policy was reversed when Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558.

The religious settlement that eventually emerged in the reign of Elizabeth gave the Church of England the distinctive identity that it has retained to this day. It resulted in a Church that consciously retained a large amount of continuity with the Church of the Patristic and Medieval periods in terms of its use of the Catholic creeds, its pattern of ministry, its buildings and aspects of its liturgy, but which also embodied Protestant insights in its theology and in the overall shape of its liturgical practice. The way that this is often expressed is by saying that the Church of England is both "Catholic and reformed."

At the end of the 16th century Richard Hooker produced the classic defense of the Elizabethan settlement in his Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, a work which sought to defend the Church of England against its Puritan critics who wanted further changes to make the Church of England more like the churches of Geneva or Scotland.

Patriots

John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia

There is a reason we celebrate July 4th in this country.  It is the day the Declaration of Independence was ratified and signed in 1776.  It is Independence Day.  Over a hundred years would go by after England claimed her "colonies" in the New World.  All of that history is the preamble for the final break with England that culminated in the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent Revolutionary War.

The revolutionary era began in 1763, when the French military threat to British North American colonies ended.

Adopting the policy that the colonies should pay an increased proportion of the costs associated with keeping them in the Empire, Britain imposed a series of direct taxes followed by other laws intended to demonstrate British authority, all of which proved extremely unpopular in America. Because the colonies lacked elected representation in the governing British Parliament, many colonists considered the laws to be illegitimate and a violation of their rights as Englishmen.

In 1772, groups of colonists began to create committees of correspondence, which would lead to their own Provincial Congresses in most of the colonies. In the course of two years, the Provincial Congresses or their equivalents rejected the Parliament and effectively replaced the British ruling apparatus in the former colonies, culminating in 1774 with the coordinating First Continental Congress.

In response to protests in Boston over Parliament's attempts to assert authority, the British sent combat troops, dissolved local governments, and imposed direct rule by Royal officials. Consequently, the Colonies mobilized their militias, and fighting broke out in 1775.

First ostensibly loyal to King George III, the repeated pleas by the First Continental Congress for royal intervention on their behalf with Parliament resulted in the declaration by the King that the states were "in rebellion", and Congress traitors.

The Dunlap broadside was the first published version of the Declaration.

In 1776, representatives from each of the original thirteen states voted unanimously in the Second Continental Congress to adopt a Declaration of Independence, which now rejected the British monarchy in addition to its Parliament. The Declaration established the United States, which was originally governed as a loose confederation through a representative government selected by state legislatures (see Second Continental Congress and Congress of the Confederation).

The opening words of the Declaration of Independence are perhaps the most inspiring in human language:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The next section, the Preamble, sets forth the ideals of America:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 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.

Note:  They believed they were "endowed" (an interesting word choice) with their rights as free people by their Creator.  There is no doubt in the language of that heavenly banner that God is the source of its inspiration.  The founders were not indifferent to religion; they were patriots because of it.The balance of the document is a specific recitation of the abuses of King George and the British government upon the colonies and a description of the failed attempts at reconciliation with the throne.  Their signatures at the bottom of the document were a knowing admission of treason and a certain death sentence for the signers if they were apprehended and brought to justice.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

John Hancock's now-iconic signature on the Declaration is nearly 5 inches (13 cm) long.

Eventually there were fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence.  John Hancock was the president of Congress and his signature, it is said, was the largest "so King George would not have to use his spectacles to read my name." 

The Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives building, which houses the originals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

One has the sense when viewing these documents in their current setting that America was no mere accident.  Rather, it was the willful act of determined free men that brought her into existence.  The oppression described by the signers brought about the improbable outcome of victory under General George Washington in the Revolutionary War.  On paper and in the field against the might and muscle of the largest army and navy on earth, the little band of patriots prevailed in its struggle to be free men and America was born.

There is an inspiring recounting of the miraculous outcome of the Revolutionary War in Seven Miracles that Saved America.  I recommend the book.

Prophets

There is a long and tortuous history associated with these events, only a small snippet of which is included here.  However, all of that history was merely the preamble of what would come later in 1820, when God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to the fourteen-year-old boy prophet Joseph Smith in what would later become known as the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York, to usher in the dispensation of the fulness of times.

From his own written history of that spring day, we learn:

While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to "ask of God," concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction — not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being — just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other — This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong) — and which I should join.
I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."
He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, "Never mind, all is well — I am well enough off." I then said to my mother, "I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true." It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?

And thus was ushered in the final dispensation of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Without the pilgrims, without the patriots, there would have been no prophets.  It was upon the shoulders of pilgrims and patriots in their blood, sweat and agony to organize a free country that Joseph Smith could stand to establish forever until the end of time the Restored (not reformed) true religion originally introduced to Adam and Eve.  Now at last the truth could take root and flourish.
 
The scriptures, the priesthood keys, the ordinances of salvation, the knowledge of the saving tenets of the gospel of Jesus Christ are now available.
 
But the struggle for our ongoing freedom as a country continues.  The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is inextricably linked to the history of the United States of America.  Our freedoms were purchased with the blood and tears of our ancestors.  Those freedoms are under assault again, as they have been from the earliest revealed history in the pre-existence before this world was organized.  (See Moses 4:1-4).
 
The political arguments abroad in the land today are no different than they were in the pre-existence.  Shall we have freedom to choose our own path of self-expression (to win or to lose), or shall we guarantee success for all without regard to individual choice?  Nothing has changed since Satan declared:  "I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it."
 
It is a worthy ambition to provide for the poor, but the Lord reminds us "it must needs be done in mine own way."  (See D&C 104:11-18).  One political philosophy would offer cradle to grave security and safety from failure by redistributing the wealth of others to attempt to equalize our social existence.  Today, the expression of this philosophy is best embodied in China and other parts of the world where dictatorships and their central governments still hold power over the masses.  In other places socialism and communisim have been tried and failed.  The world will remain in chaos until the Savior's return.
 
In America, the ideal we hold inviolate since our founding is freedom -- the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail.  We hold that we are all children of the same God, that all have an equal opportunity to access His divine will and blessings in our lives.  "We claim the privilege [freedom] of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all  men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."  (11th Article of Faith).
 
I testify of my gratitude for pilgrims, patriots and prophets in former days.  In their space and time they were inspired of God in their various roles.  We will live to see mighty deeds among our children and grandchildren to match theirs in these last days as freedom's struggle continues unabated.