Thank you for returning to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. If you are a new subscriber to our newsletter, welcome! This week, I address the concern about America ever returning to its founding priniciples. Our second article (under “articles” in the upper right on the home page of .http://www.civicsandcitizenship.org) takes a look at one of the recent Supreme Court decisions about the Coach who prayed after games on school property. Let’s dive right in to our first article, “Righting Our Ship of State.”
People often express to me that they don’t think America can go back to its founding as Constitutional Republic. She’s at a point of no return, they claim. So, I got to thinking about this. Has America ever had turbulent times, been lost at sea, or drifted way off course? Did the “ship” (America) ever right itself? Could America veer off course and ever return again? Or are we sinking for good?
We are a resilient people. Deep down, we take our role as We the People quite seriously. We are a long suffering group, patient to a fault at times, I think. But, we like our rights and freedoms. I know, some of you are thinking I’m way off base, but consider this:
People are moving from states where rights are being misused or taken away. At one time, they treasured the status or perks of where they lived. Now, these Americans are having garage sales, making their load light, and moving on. You might say that they’re throwing the excess weight of unconstitutional governance overboard.
More Americans are becoming involved in their children’s education. They want to raise their children as they see fit.
More Americans are “rocking the boat” politically speaking. They are seeking a change. We are seeing this in the primaries that having been going on this spring and summer.
But what about in other generations? Some think that America has never been as “bad” as it is now.
Consider:
After the aristocrats from across the ocean were making the American colonies theirs and not ours, a group of Virginians and east coast patriots decided the country belonged to We the People. They fought and won a War for Independence, and wrote the greatest founding documents a country has ever known. Americans took back their land and forged a new path.
There was the Civil War and the Reconstruction era. Now, some here want to remind us of the many wrongs. The fact is that Americans saw wrong and tried to right it. They knew what the Declaration of Independence said: “All men (all people) are created equal.” We could never be free if we continued on any other course. We would have ended up like all the nations before us. The fact is, we didn’t.
What about the Industrial Revolution? Yes, I know of the hardships and failings. I also know that the railroad was developed and that we became an industrialized nation with innovation and products to sell. We saw what was happening when production became more important than people and took the necessary action to improve working conditions.
Americans return to their founding principles. It takes time, but they do it. Americans entered World War II and freed us all from certain tyranny. America has been stared down by other leaders and We the People stood up. We did without, built new things, and improved the lives of millions.
We have faced wrongs in our own country, specifically decisions that were made inconsistent with our U.S. Constitution. We come out stronger as a country in time when we correct the wrongs against our own people.
And so, the ship may veer off course, but we know what we need to do. Americans aren’t afraid in the face of a raging sea. We face it and take the essential risks. The voices that would rail against us are eventually silenced. The ships sails are set in place, and we renew our journey.
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. 🇺🇸
