When EVERYTHING CHANGED

Gracie Mansion, Rev. Martin Luther King
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

American history, or really history in general is not always marked with outstanding events, stunning personalities or remarkable speeches.  Much of the history of a great nation is slow steady improvement, set backs and then how a people recovers from those set backs.  But in the context of American history, there are a number of truly phenomenal moments when everything changed.  These are not just one day events, although some are that sudden.  But these are events that once they transpired, Americans thought of themselves, the world and their place in the world completely differently.  And it’s worth noting what those events were and how they changed Americans forever.

Obviously the revolution itself and the founding of the country changed a small group of colonies who thought of themselves as Englishmen far from home.  When the independence of America was done, that vision of ourselves was completely different.  We were now a proud new nation, a new type of nationality that had its own view of the world and its own hopes and dreams as well.

World War II was the kind of event that once we underwent the tremendous trial, struggle and victory that such a war demands of a people, we never could go back to seeing ourselves again in the same way as we thought before the war.  Our victory against Japan, Germany and their allies gave us tremendous confidence that we could affect world history for the better.  But it also gave us a tremendous sense of responsibility.  When we dropped those bombs on Japan, everybody on the planet began to understand the horrible power that was now in the hands of mankind, for a season in the hands of America and the huge responsibility for the fate of mankind that came with that kind of power.

Pearl Harbor while part of World War II deserves its own mention because of the fundamental change to how America viewed itself in relation to the world.  Prior to that attack, America considered itself invulnerable.  Like a teenager that thought they could never be hurt, we had never been attacked on our homeland before.  But Japan proved that they not only could attack us but that they could hurt us very badly.  Yes, we responded with a fury but from that moment forward, we knew that we, like everybody else in the world, were vulnerable and we had to start behaving differently in a world full of both friends and enemies.

Outside of the military world, the famous I Have a Dream Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963 did not just change the black community forever.  Yes, that speech had a mighty impact on the way the African American community saw their future and it gave inspiration and hope to a struggling civil rights movement that spurred it on to victory.  But it also affected all Americans because we started to see ourselves as a community of many cultures, many races and many orientations.  It was the beginning of acceptance in this country.  But that is a process that is far from over.

In modern times, the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 had a drastic effect on the minds and hearts of America and indeed on the world.  We are still learning how that effect will finally show itself as the ripples of shock, fear, anxiety and reprisals are still going on.  But to be sure, as with Pearl Harbor, the effects on our feelings about our place in the world and our vulnerability were certainly be changed forever.

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The Thirteenth AMENDMENT

Looking back on it now, it’s almost amazing to any modern American that we ever needed something like The Thirteenth Amendment.  The very fact that the United States government had to take this step to outlaw slavery in this country once and for all tells us that the more liberated way we think in modern times was not always the way life was viewed just a few hundred years ago.  In light of the long uphill struggle black history in this country represents, it is worthwhile to look back at this simple but powerful amendment which simply states…

13th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

This amendment to the constitution of the United States, along with the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments represent the most dramatic changes to the fundamental law of this land in regards to civil rights in American history.  And it took strong and courageous leadership by Abraham Lincoln to assure that these provisions were so imbedded into the core definition of what America was and is that there would never be a chance that slavery would rise again inside our borders.

The date to remember of the passage of this history Amendment is April 8, 1864.  It was the end of the civil war and the south lay in defeat, still separated from the north before reconstruction could begin the long task of making this nation one again.  The wisdom President Lincoln had to take action while the sounds of battle were still fresh in the ears of all Americans to set in stone the achievements of this bloody war cannot be overlooked.

Up until the Civil War, slavery was a common part of American life.  It is painful for all Americans, black and white, to look back on a time when most Americans considered it normal for one human being to own another.  While the many great strides for civil rights and equality in the decades to come would stand tall in black history, this very basic restoration of the right of African Americans to be treated as humans had to be a fundamental start to becoming full citizens of this great land.

And so with the guns of the Civil War just recently silenced by the North’s victory, President Lincoln moved swiftly to make slavery a thing of the past forever.  First, in 1863, he issued The Emancipation Proclamation stating in no uncertain terms that…

“all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”

But despite the power of this proclamation, Lincoln knew that The Constitution had to be amended to make the good intent of the Emancipation Proclamation the irrevocable law of the land.  And so he championed The Thirteen Amendment through congress to assure that it was made law and that slavery could never again become a common and accepted part of American life.

It was an important start.  But we all know that true freedom was still had many more battles ahead of it.  When slave owners around the country, released their slaves, African Americans everywhere knew a freedom they had only dreamed of before.  But it was just one step in a long uphill struggle for equality and freedom that continues on to this day. 

Let us all look back on President Lincoln’s vision, forward thinking and courage and let it inspire similar vision and courage in us to find ways to make American society free and equal for all citizens, black, white and for all races, creeds and colors.  If we can achieve that, then we have done our part to join President Lincoln in seeking freedom for all men.

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The Cornerstone of American Law - CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

There are just a few truly great documents that represent the foundation stones upon which the American system of government was built.  One is the Declaration of Independence. Another is The Bill of Rights.  But when it comes to the legal girding that we always go back to in order to test if a law in this land can stand or fall, it is the Constitution of the United States of America that is that backbone that defines right and wrong for us.

Signing the Constitution, September 17, 1787

Indeed you might even say that the sole reason we have a Supreme Court is to have a living body that is here to decide on, interpret and enforce constitutional law.  And what is the worse accusation anyone can make about any act that is in question from a government agency?  “That’s unconstitutional” is that accusation.  That is how powerful this document is in American life, legal definitions and culture.

The historical context of the signing of The Constitution was The Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia.  That city witnessed many such historic events which enshrine its place in the history of the country to be sure.  The framers of that Constitution would have to be considered without question the most intelligent and well educated men certainly of their time and maybe of any time.  That document was so well crafted that it has lasted as a legal standard for over 200 years with no signs that its power will diminish for hundreds of years more.  But in that context, the Constitution is the oldest document of its kind in existence in the world and the original is carefully protected but on display in Washington DC.

The Constitution reflected the best of some of the oldest legal documents of similar intent that went back hundreds of years into history.  As such the Constitution includes ideas drawn from the Magna Carta, the French political philosopher Montesquieu, The Code of Hammurabi, the law of the Old Testament, ancient Greek political ideology from such writers as Polybius as well as Common Law from England.  So while the core ideas of the Constitution draw from some of the greatest systems of government and ideologies from history, the outcome is a unique format for governing a people that was so untried that it was considered to be “The Great American Experiment.”

Constitution of the United States, page 1 - Wikipedia

The Constitution is divided into seven “articles” each of which discusses one of the divisions of government.  Articles one through three discuss the three branches of government including the legislative, the executive and the judicial.  Article four goes into depth about the rights and powers reserved to the states.  It is clear to see that the framers knew the importance of leaving much of the power of governing at the local and state level and that those rights needed to be preserved at the foundational document of the society, The Constitution.

Other articles discuss the ratification process and federal power.  But the wisdom of the framers of The Constitution lie in article five which outlines a process of amendments which leaves room for additional work to be done to keep the Constitution up to date to changes that need to be made.  As such the Constitution has remained a living document for all of these years and will continue to be seen in that light for many decades and centuries to come.

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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Sometimes when a country is just getting organized, its citizens are considered to be uneducated, out of touch or primitive.  But exactly opposite was the truth when the great American experiment began to take shape.  The world did not see America as provincial or simple and that is due to a large part to the work of the man many that many have called “The First American”.  That man was Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin 1767
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Benjamin Franklin stands out amongst those we would call “The Founding Fathers” because he was neither a military man nor a politician.  He was one of the few we think of a one of our nation’s fathers that never served as president.  But that does not mean that his contributions to the start of this great country were not profound and far reaching.

Benjamin Franklin could easily be described as what was popularly known in his day as a “renaissance man”.  He was truly proficient in many fields of discipline and he had a mind that was fascinated with all areas of study and knowledge.  As such he brought to the discussions with his fellow founding fathers a knowledge of political theory, an awareness of history and an ability to speculate on the perfect union that was crucial to the laying the conceptual foundation of what America would come to be when it blossomed into reality.

For many, we remember Benjamin Franklin as a great scientist and inventor.  And to be sure he qualified in that realm as well.  Every school boy or girl has that image of him flying that kite to capture electricity to test his theories that is so popular in our mythology of his accomplishments.  But these images are no myth for Franklin was truly a great inventor contributing to the world such important innovations as the lightning rod, swim fins, the catheter, the harmonica and bifocals.  In that way, Benjamin Franklin had as much in common with Michelangelo as he did with Thomas Jefferson and indeed he was in good company if listed with either.

But it was a political theorist and a philosopher that Franklin made huge contributions to the development of the American experiment in its early formations.  It was he who was able to envision the concept of a new American nation.  But his talents did not end at his ability to use his powerful mind to envision the future so well.  He was also a talented communicator, writer and teacher so he was able to use his eloquence and magnetic personality to promote the idea of an American nation both within the colonies and internationally.

Benjamin Franklin was truly a citizen of the world as he was as comfortable in the courtyards of France as he was in the pubs of Boston.  In fact, he was so popular on both sides of the Atlantic that he served as America’s first ambassador to France and therein lies one of his greatest contributions to the independence of the new country.  He was able to use his vast popularity and his trained powers of persuasion to cause the French to enter the battle on the side of the colonies against the British which was a major contributor to the success of the revolution to free America from English control and launch the independent American nation.

Franklin’s writings have become treasured documents among the archives of this important time in American history.  But just as much as his written work, his influence as a thinker, an intellectual and an international diplomat set the standard for others to follow after him and truly established America as a member of the international community of nations.

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The UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Sometimes when a people are under their most oppression, that is when they truly are at their best it seems.  And that adage could certainly be applied to those who operated the Underground Railroad in the 19th century while slavery was still the law of the land in America.

Routes for escaping slaves through western
(West) Virginia on the Underground Railroad
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Underground Railroad was a means by which literally tens of thousands of slaves were able to escape their oppressors and make their way north to free states and a chance for freedom.  It was so secretive that even to speak of it meant discovery and terrible punishment.  But worse that that if it had been discovered by those who would stop slaves from finding their way out, it would have meant the end of hope for thousands of African Americans who were enduring the injustice of slavery.

The term "The Underground Railroad" was itself a code because that actual mechanism for moving slaves to freedom was not a railroad at all.  It was a series of stops, connected by obscure routes that wound their way through the countryside.  The routes were twisted and illogical so those seeking to catch slaves and return them to bondage would be hard pressed to figure out the ways those seeking freedom might travel.

Whole map of the underground railroad
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There was no published route for the Underground Railroad.  "Passengers" made their way from safe house to safe house taking refuge in homes, churches and other out of the way locations that became known as "stations" to those in the know.  Very often, the people who ran the stations along the path had no idea how long the railroad was or anything about the whole route.  They simply knew enough to receive their "passengers", do all they could for their health and care and send them along with instructions on how to reach the next station.

The routes were treacherous and difficult.  Slaves trying to reach freedom usually walked the routes from station to station to avoid public gathering places where slave chasers might find them and send them back to their owners in the south.  And just as there was no real "railroad" to the Underground Railroad, the routes themselves were not actually under the ground.  However many times at the safe houses, the owners will secure their guests in tunnels under the house or under a farm building.  

At one such safe house in Nebraska City, Nebraska, there is a tunnel from the house to the barn so that if the farmer was feeding a needy family, they could quickly "disappear" if slave hunters arrived without notice.  There were also roughly dug out bedrooms and crude accommodations under those houses to provide as much comfort and opportunities to rest and recover as was humanly possible under such difficult conditions.

We cannot leave our consideration of this phenomenal network without recognizing the courage of those who ran the "stations" to take in slaves, harbor them, feed them and care for their needs and help them along the way to try to do what they could to strike back at this inhuman practice of human slavery.  It is a testimony to humanity that people would overcome their prejudices and reach out to strangers, putting their own homes and families at risk to help a downtrodden people in their time of great need.

And we must take a solemn moment and look back on a dark time in American and Black history when such measures were necessary.  But the Underground Railroad spoke loudly that real Americans would not sit idly by and watch their fellow man suffer unjustly.  There is no doubt that tens of thousands of lives were saved by these anonymous heroes who didn't do it for reward or recognition.  They did it because it was the right thing to do and the thing God would expect them to do.  It is an inspiration to us all in this day to lay down our own prejudices and bond together as brothers to resist prejudice, bigotry and mans cruelty to man because of these evils.  If we do that we will know in our hearts, like those slaves on the railroad and the station owners knew, that there would come a better day.

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