Every Independence Day in the USA I like to offer a few thoughts on my heart. This year Independence Day takes on a whole new meaning in light of all that has occurred over the last two months.
Daniel Webster was a pillar of American life for over a half century. An intelligent and articulate lawyer who later served in the U.S. Senate and as a Secretary of State to three administrations, Webster was the quintessential statesman.
At the age of 18, while a junior at Dartmouth, Webster was asked to deliver an Independence Day speech in Hanover, New Hampshire, home of the university. Let me draw to your attention one particular passage of his 1800 speech:
“It becomes us, on whom the defence of our country will ere long devolve, this day, most seriously to reflect on the duties incumbent upon us. Our ancestors bravely snatched expiring liberty from the grasp of Britain, whose touch is poison… Shall we, their descendants, now basely disgrace our lineage, and pusillanimously disclaim the legacy bequeathed to us? Shall we pronounce the sad valediction to freedom, and immolate liberty on the altars our fathers have raised to her?”
220 years later, does this sentiment not ring true today? Webster answered his own question:
“No! The response of a nation is, ‘No!’ Let it be registered in the archives of Heaven! Ere the religion we profess, and the privileges we enjoy, are sacrificed at the shrines of despots and demagogues, let the pillars of creation tremble! Let world be wrecked on world, and systems rush to ruin!”
Webster’s speech was delivered in the shadow of growing hostility with France, but the sentiment carries a larger meaning and foreshadowed Webster’s strong belief in abolition and the inspiration his leadership provided many.
Toward A More Perfect Union
No man is perfect, and any discussion of Webster’s legacy must tackle not only his strengths, but his shortcomings. But isn’t that the American story? Isn’t that the story of humanity?
Travel certainly exposes us to that. When we travel we see the great promises of civilization and humanity and we see the tremendous shortcomings of humanity, both on a macro level and micro level. My recent visit to Cape Coast in Ghana, the gateway to transatlantic slavery, made those failings clear. We see that in Concentration Camps and gulags but we also see that in poverty and a prevailing social inequality that limits outcomes of many who just want to work hard and live a quiet life with their basic material needs met.
People talk about being the on the right side of history. But history is written by the victors and itself a struggle over narratives and even facts. For me, the importance is not so much being on the right side of history as it is of using our own sphere of influence to lift others up and treat everyone we encounter with dignity and respect. That includes tough love…we must stress personal responsibility and not make excuses for those who not only should know better, but do know better. But empathy unlocks understanding and understanding unlocks the sort of change that does not simply seek to whitewash the past, but wrestle with it, learn from it, and use it as a fulcrum to pivot toward progress.
CONCLUSION
As Webster said, “Shall we, their descendants, now basely disgrace our lineage, and pusillanimously disclaim the legacy bequeathed to us? Shall we pronounce the sad valediction to freedom, and immolate liberty on the altars our fathers have raised to her?” In one sense, his premise itself was flawed…the legacy bequeathed to us considered some men 3/5 of a person. But I hope the answer is no, for there was a deeper strain of liberty ingrained in the American experiment that over the last 244 years has made progress toward a more perfect union. We are humans. Thus, we can only approach that goal, never actually reach it. But each of us has an opportunity right here and right now to do our part to effectuate a more perfect union. Let’s do it…no revolution is required beyond that of our own hearts.
Your best post ever. Much better than the one about the dude who put his feet on the table at a lounge.
I agree 100%. Building a perfect union will come with these moments of testing evolving values. We certainly have been tested hard the past four years. Soon we will see that while the American Experiment may well be fraught with issues, in the end the system works. And that the real liberty we fight for is the ability to correct and choose a better path.
Way to go, Matthew. A perfect sentiment on this special day.
During these dark days I’m reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s famous comment. Walking out of Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman shouted “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Franklin responded “A republic, if you can keep it.”
We’ll find out in November.
We’d be much happier separate and apart. Liberals and conservatives have irreconcilable differences and define right/wrong and good/evil the opposite. A country is supposed to be built on a core genetic group of people who share the same language, culture, and customs. I think that is impossible in the United States with so many different races, ethnic groups, religions, cultures, languages, political ideologies, life philosophies, and etc. Why would anyone have a problem with large groups of people seeking to self govern and have their own countries. Why does the Chinese communist party care about an island where 23.5 million people care to self govern and live their own way.
Who says what a country is “supposed” to be? This is a nation of immigrants, century after century – that’s what’s made it great, not some rose-colored 1950’s view of some great white picket fence time (which was horribly discriminatory towards POC).
The US is about to become a majority-minority country…going to be a rough one going forward for Republicans, given that it’s evolved into the party of hate & suppression.
I don’t understand why you capitalized the term ‘concentration camp’. Though gruesome, they aren’t proper nouns so don’t merit capitalization.
Overall nice sentiments.
Beautiful, Matthew. Thanks for sharing Webster’s and your own thoughts.
I have to ask: in the spirit of those words, isn’t it time to get rid of the (Russian?) troll/shill UA-NYC? The entire account’s premise is to sow division and hate across frequent flier blogs. Maybe that’s that account’s job?
While that may fly on other blogs, you seem less interested in Marxism and more interested in civility.
Really? Russian? GMAFB. I was responding to a poster agitating for the dissolution of the USA and being pro-eugenics in essence, yet you harp on my post.
(and FWIW I have been reading Matthew for a decade now, even back when he was on other platforms prior to him starting his own blog, so piss off)
There it is again. Deliberate escalation to spew more hate, trying to start another argument.
Try with a modicum of civility. It would make your trolling less obvious.
Funny, you didn’t address my argument at all – maybe try replying directly to the same divisive post I originally did, if you are so “concerned” about trolling (note as an FYI that the poster I replied to uses at least 5 different last name variations in making race-based arguments across the travel blogs)
You’re not participating in good faith, and therefore not entitled to an answer to your agitprop.
All you want is to get a rise out people by provoking them, humiliating their ideas, breaking social norms. It’s straight out of Alinsky and oh-so-transparent.
Matthew, as always, thank you for a thoughtful post.
Why is it that certain posters appear to be unable to have a discussion without being abusive, and then become even more enraged when others do not respond to the childish abuse?
I agree, Matthew. I have always said that liberals should organize their own lives before trying to create large social change.
See you at the polls! CAN’T WAIT.