Countdown to Independence Day; #9 Return America’s exceptionalism to the schools

Over the next several days leading up to Independence Day I will be posting the 10 steps that must be taken to preserve our great nation and the principles it was established on.  Each day will cover one of the steps as they appear in my book Liberty Inherited.  It is my hope that, in some small way, I can get Americans to start thinking of what they are on the verge of throwing away.  Today's posting covers step number #9.  I recommend reading the previous posts for step #1 through 8.  Please note that any additional comments that I add to the original text will be in italics.

9. Return America’s exceptionalism to the schools

As exposed, America’s exceptionalism has been slowly removed from our schools. Although most Americans sense that there is something special about our country, very few know what makes it so. This is because they were never taught it.  It is truly the history lesson that all Americans should have had but never received. Instead of educating our students on European political philosophies we need to be teaching first and foremost the philosophy that was at the heart of this country until the progressive movement began its campaign to erase it. Americans of all ages need to have well-founded pride in their country but instead our children are being educated to loathe it. By focusing on America’s imperfections, rather than comparing it to its contemporaries, American children are receiving a biased and unjustified view of the nation and its history. It is time that our children are given a more realistic and balanced view of America and her role in the world.  This is not indoctrination for it is based on historical fact, which makes it education.

As I have always stated, I will put America (and for that matter the British Empire) up against any of its contemporaries.  What I will not do is put it up against some ideal of perfection.  Yet, by focusing on what America has done wrong, this is exactly what many schools across the country do.  They focus on America's history of slavery or the oppression of the Native-Americans.  It is true that both of these events (as well as others) are black spots on America's legacy.  But it must be remembered that all societies are comprised of people...imperfect people.  Therefore, any society that has any history at all will have black marks on its record.  As I explained in my book, many bad and horrible actions were done by and in the name of the British Empire.  By today's standards it was barbaric, racists, and oppressive.  But compared to its contemporaries it was very enlightened and civilized.  This is the same for the United States.  While not perfect, it has been the best system man has ever devised.  By removing the chains of bondage it has allowed man to use his creativity and intelligence to their full potential.  And, overall, the world has benefited from its example.  

What many fail to recognize is that before the United States there was no such thing as human rights.  In fact, the Human Rights many take for granted originated with the rights of Englishmen that the original patriots fought for.  This is the lesson schools need to be teaching.  Not only is it accurate but it is also more realistic since it does not compare America to some impossible standard of perfection.  

Interview with African-American Conservatives 19 June 2012

No 1776 without 1688

There is no question that 1776 was an important year.  For nearly 18 months, Englishmen on both side of the Atlantic had been fighting and killing each other.  Only after it became clear that their “rights as Englishmen” were not to be respected by London’s ruling class did the men who would become the Founding Fathers of this nation decide that independence was the only option.  

That year, a rebellion became a revolution and it would end with the establishment of a new kind of government.  One based on the untried premise that man was capable of governing himself.   No longer was a monarch or elites needed to tell the common man what to do—how to live.  This became known as the American Revolution, but in reality it was a revolution for all of humanity and forever changed the world.

Most Americans are familiar with the significance of 1776, but very few know about the year that made the American Revolution possible, 1688.  Almost 100 years before the American Revolution, back in old England, another revolution took place. This was called the Glorious Revolution and it is a revolution that all Americans should remember.  For without the events of 1688—without the Glorious Revolution— there would be no American Revolution, no Constitution of the United States, no Bill of Rights, no Declaration of Independence. 

We clearly see this in the early writings and speeches of the Founding Fathers, especially those prior to the Declaration of Independence. The one common justification for their rebellion was that they were fighting for their rights as “freeborn Englishmen.”  For example, in response to the Stamp Act the colonists drew up the Declaration of Rights of 1765.  Section 2d states:

2d That His Majesty's liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and privileges of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain. 

In other words, they were reaffirming their “rights as freeborn Englishmen” and one would be hard-pressed to find a member of the 2^nd Continental Congress who did not utter the phrase at least once in a speech or debate.  

We need to remember that in most of the world at the time servitude and serfdom was the norm, not liberty and freedom.  So why did these august men believe they had rights?   The answer is the Glorious Revolution.  

  

Just like the American Revolution of 1776 produced such extraordinary documents as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 resulted in an equally impressive document known as the “Declaration of Rights.”  This document, signed by William and Mary, King and Queen of England, numerated several principles and rights that would be reaffirmed in the founding documents of United States.  These include:

• The right to bear arms
• The right to trial by jury of their peers
• Innocent until proven guilt
• Protection from cruel and unusual punishment
• Right to bail
• Right to petition government

And, of course, the big one:

• No taxation without representation

As I explain in my bestselling book, Liberty Inherited, “This comparison of the documents from 1689 and those from 1776 reveals that there is a connection between the Glorious Revolution and the American Revolution. It supports the argument that the American Revolution was fought for English values based on classical liberal principles.”

In other words, there would not have been a 1776 without a 1688.