I am not here to tell you what to believe; that is your responsibility. Because lately we seem to be inundated with myths, misinformation, and alternative facts. I want to present some real facts easily verified in the library’s reference room.
America was founded in diversity. Proof: Georgia was founded as a sanctuary for those in debtor’s prison. In the 17th Cent., North Carolina was a sanctuary for French Huguenots, who were being slaughtered by French Catholics. Virginia’ male settlers were provided brides by rounding up prostitutes from the streets of English cities. Maryland was a sanctuary for English Catholics being slaughtered by English Protestants. Pennsylvania was a sanctuary Quakers, and later Mennonites. New England was a refuge for Puritans after the end of the reign of Cromwell. New York was Dutch. There were groups of Swiss, and Swedes in other colonies. There were French who shared, claimed, and co-habited various parts of colonies. There were Native Americans, Free and slave Africans, and Europeans that intermarried with some of them. Washington’s Letter to the Hebrews of Rhode Island praised their presence. The Jews of New York helped support the American cause. Kosciusko, and Pulaski brought over other Polish. There were some Portuguese engaged in commercial fishing off our coast. Of course with the English Anglicans, came Irish Catholics, Scotish Presbyterians and also German Lutherans. And there were those from, as seen then, religious cults as Baptists and Methodists who were persecuted for their beliefs (being different). While I am probably missing some, it is no wonder why Old Worlders never expected that we could ever remain one nation, or any nation for long. As well, by the principles of the Old World Social Order, Americans, in general, came from inferior classes not able to self-manage never mind self-govern. Factor in that we had 3 types of colonies: Royal, Proprietorship, and Corporate (private wealthy companies chartered to set up colonies), as such with different populations, with different sets of interests. You can say most were White, but that mattered little back then. Most were natural enemies, by Old World standards, of one another and had been for centuries.
You must remember, as well, that your religious affiliation determined your status in life; in the courts, determined what kind of business you could engage in, when and where; and of course very few had the Right to vote or hold office unless a royal, or from the wealthy mercantile class. In fact your fixed, finite, unchangeable Class determined everything in your life. Pre-destination, after all, was the Will of God and Nature: with those who worked for others being made poor by God and nature because regardless of how good they were, they were evil by nature. They needed to be kept poor, and worked so as to not serve evil. And, God and Nature made the Saved/Chosen rich so as to do God’s Good in the world and keep the evil poor in check. And, they were Antinomians who are not subject to man-made, or even God’s laws; as they were the Saved and Chosen from the beginning of time; according to themselves. Also, God and nature proved their superiority in trials by combat; that is, the best killers were God’s chosen superior people. While I am not an expert on the Bible I have read it often enough, and nowhere did I ever find Christ saying any such thing, more often the opposite. So is it no wonder that this motley group of diverse people not only survived but thrived under their own ways of doing things, and that such diverse, often conflicting groups, were able to work together not only to defeat the world’s most powerful nation, but thrived. Oh yes, we had our conflicts, and different states and regions had their own versions of what it meant to be an American, and how to govern, but more often we could put them aside, knowing that only together would we survive and thrive. Thus, why our Constitution has Checks and Balances to prevent any one faction from imposing their will, interests, and principles upon the rest. E Pluribus Unum. And, so too in our Bill of Rights: to live by our principles but, not to be able to impose them on others, or to limit the ways of others by ours. Read them carefully!
Think about it and you decide for yourselves; a Real Reality Check from your former Ward 3 City Councilor, Brian Hoose, [email protected]
