The Citrus Heights annual “Red White and Blue Parade,” which took place last month, was created as a “thank you” to the city, shortly after it had declared its independence from the county. Its themes of patriotism and bounty in a country uniquely blessed with liberty, were an echo of a day 242 years ago, aptly described by President Ronald Reagan, in his first July 4th speech as president:
“On that day 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor.”
The document these men signed is called the “Declaration of Independence.” It served notice to King George III of our country’s determination to separate irrevocably from England. It threw down the gauntlet to England and challenged all subjects of the Crown residing on these shores to choose whom they would serve from that point forward.
The Yankees of New England, the former merchant class mostly from the environs of London and a few of the port cities were almost uniformly committed to the cause of liberty. Their names still resonate through our history: Sam Adams and his cousin John Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Ethan Allen, Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene, Rufus King and Governeur Morris.
Loyalties were divided in the middle states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the former London merchant class was mixed in with the landed class and the aristocracy. Patriots that haled from these states included Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin.
The South, composed of the large landowners from northern and central England, who were traditionally allied with the Crown, tended to be Tories, i.e., still loyal to the Crown and supportive of the British army. Nevertheless, four future presidents haled from this group: Virginia planters George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe.
It was nearly a re-enactment of the English Civil War of over a century earlier. Parliament against the Crown – the working class against the ruling class, i.e., those that didn’t have the franchise (the right to vote) against those that did. The American Revolt would serve as the climax for what the English Civil War came short of, the establishment of individual rights, foremost among them, the ability to choose their representation in government, thus assuring the many rights and liberties outlined in our Constitution, which would be established in 1787 and ratified two years later.
But just as the English Civil War fell short of achieving governmental self-determination for all citizens, so the American Revolutionary War would fall short of achieving voting rights for those that entered the country as slaves. Even at this most glorious stage of our nation’s history, the seeds were sown for a more bitter and bloodier conflict four score and seven years thence.
The American Civil War would result in the 16th amendment to our Constitution, granting universal suffrage to men of all color. Women’s suffrage followed in 1920 with passage of the 19th amendment.
Happy 4th of July. We live in the greatest country that has ever existed on earth. Let’s all never forget.
Michael Bullington is a 39-year student of history and a 34-year resident of Citrus Heights.
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The Citrus Heights annual “Red White and Blue Parade,” which took place last month, was created as a “thank you” to the city, shortly after it had declared its independence from the county. Its themes of patriotism and bounty in a country uniquely blessed with liberty, were an echo of a day 242 years ago...
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