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July 4

This Land Is Our Land

June 7, 2019 by Peg Leave a Comment

Woody Guthrie (Woodrow Wilson Guthrie 1912-1967) came of age in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. When one hears Woody sing about the America of those times Guthrie’s personal experiences and perceptions should be considered. In that context, his song’s ironic lyrics that point out America might not have been made for everybody speak to those Americans left out by our Founding Fathers, who were all well-to-do white men.

James Madison (1751-1836) is called the Father of the United States Constitution for good reason. He conceived of and drafted most of the Constitution including its first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights. Madison and the rest of the fifty-five well-to-do white men who attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 25 to September 17, 1787 met in secret. The public and the media were excluded and the delegates were sworn to secrecy.

Madison and his fellow Virginian, George Mason (1725-1792), were of like mind in believing average citizens were not equipped to govern themselves and, therefore, a Constitution needed to provide for a government to consist of capable representatives who could provide for the common good. Such groups as women, Negroes and Native Americans were not to have a say in determining their own destiny. Over the years since 1787 we have slowly and gradually addressed some of the Founders’ omissions.

Slavery was abolished almost one hundred years late by the XIIIth Amendment and women were given the right to vote by the XVIIIIth Amendment in 1920. Young men who could be drafted to fight for their country at age eighteen but could not vote until age twenty-one, were fully enfranchised in 1971 by the XXVIth Amendment.

America from the Spanish Conquistadors of the 16th century until this very day has struggled with what were, are and ought to be the ideals of our country’s government. Competing interest groups such as religious sects, LGBTQ citizens, immigrants, political parties, social and cultural associations, news media and countless others exert pressures and vie for recognition and inclusion in our American dream of equality and equal opportunity. In short, America calls itself a melting pot, but it is often more of a bubbling cauldron of competing aspirations.

As we near our mutual birthday on July 04, we may wish to re-examine the base upon which our national dreams were founded and candidly evaluate our progress. Of course, it is only human that in a country of over three hundred million people we will always have disagreements on what directions to go and the best methods for getting there. And we should, also, probably both recognize the genius of our Founders and remember they were simply humans too.

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Events, Gavel Gamut, Patriotism, Slavery, Women's Rights Tagged With: America, American dream of equality and equal opportunity, Bill of Rights, Constitutional Convention, Dust Bowl, Founding Fathers, George Mason, Great depression, immigrants, James M. Redwine, James Madison, Jim Redwine, July 4, LGBTQ citizens, Native Americans, Negroes, political parties, religious sects, slavery, social and cultural associations, Spanish Conquistadors, women, Woody Guthrie, XIII Amendment, XVIIII Amendment, XXVI Amendment

More Time Needed?

July 11, 2016 by Peg Leave a Comment

The Universe is nearly fourteen billion years old according to some scientists. Their concept of time as linear makes no sense to me if by “The Universe” they mean everything. My puzzlement is, what was there before? Why isn’t that part of “everything”? Even if they only mean all matter and the space between it, the “matter” had to come from or be something before the Big Bang, if there was a Big Bang. Perhaps the scientists are as the gods, “Their ways are higher than my ways and their thoughts are higher than my thoughts.” I can live with that.

Our tiny blue speck of The Universe is about four and one-half billion years old say these experts. I am okay with that estimate as it has a beginning about half way through the “beginning” of The Universe. In other words, the earth came from something; “Star Stuff” says astronomer and philosopher Carl Sagan.

Africa, our home of origin say these wise men, started breaking from the super-continent Pangea about a quarter of a billion years ago. Humans came along maybe three to four million years ago in Africa and we Homo sapiens evolved around two hundred thousand years ago. We named ourselves Homo sapiens, which means “wise men” or “wise humans” in Latin. It is probably only a coincidence that Latin is a dead language.

North America likely was first inhabited by these wise creatures around fourteen thousand years ago. The original Americans, the Native Americans one might say, lived more or less undisturbed for around thirteen thousand years until a few Norse men showed up and stayed a short while. Then the people we all nod and wink at as the “discoverers” of America arrived in 1492 and the immigrant gates slowly opened.

Two hundred eighty four years later we revolted against Great Britain. It took another 145 years before we completely subjugated the Natives and started to unsubjugate women. African Americans had to wait for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We are still stumbling toward total acceptance of some other groups.

Some might complain that fourteen billion years should be long enough. However, as we contemplate the significance of July 04, 1776, others might be enheartened and invigorated to complete, “the great task remaining before us”. I guess it depends on who evolves.

 

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Gavel Gamut, Patriotism Tagged With: 1776, Africa, African Americans, big bang theory, Carl Sagan, Civil Rights Act of 1964, July 4, Native Americans, Pangea, universe

© 2022 James M. Redwine

 

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