Posted by
Bill Crawford on Saturday, July 04, 2009 11:26:48 PM
In the classic Charlie Brown Christmas special from eons past, two thirds of the way through, Charlie raises his hands up and yells, "Is there anybody out here who knows the meaning of Christmas?" Linus steps in and drags his blanket center stage and, under a lone spotlight, starts a monologue about the birth of Christ, quoting scripture in a way that would never be allowed today on a kid's TV special.
Well, July 4th is upon us, and I am going to try to be Linus for a moment.
The Rights of Man movement was gaining steam in the mid to late 18th century in the world of philosophy. The seminal works of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were known to many contemporary Renaissance men.
When John Adams and Ben Franklin were cobbling together a Colonial coalition for a break from Great Britain, they formed a committee to write the Declaration, using Jefferson as the initial author. His work was edited in the final version, but the framework was his: the rights of man went from God to the people, who then lent it to the government at their consent.
At the time, this was such a radical concept to the world that the governments in Europe didn't quite know what to make of it. It was simply beyond their imaginations that anybody would actually try an idea like that in the real world.
But the Founding Fathers had the luxury of trying to start fresh in a world geographically remote from the old Colonial order.
And then they willed it into concrete reality, at great risk to their lives and property. The Constitution that followed was based in concept on the same structure- a statement of governmental power based on it's limitations first.
Twenty years later, after being elected President twice, almost by acclamation, George Washington walked away from power in 1797 and sent Europe into shock- it wasn't conceivable to them that anyone would walk away from that much power.
And here we are, forty three power transitions later, still kicking and lighting fireworks in celebration. Still living off the nerve, confidence and intelligence of our greatest generation.
After the Continental Congress voted 12-0 to declare independence (New York abstained), they stood for a minute in stony silence to contemplate what they just did. I still contemplate the same. I will never forget, nor will I take for granted the radical change they made in the course of the history of Western civilization.