The Great Republic: Presidents and States of the United States The Great Republic: Presidents and States of the United States of America, and Comments on American History Taking everything together then, I declare that our city is the School [or "Education"] of Greece [τῆς Ἑλλάδος Παίδευσις, tês Helládos Paídeusis], and I declare that in my opinion each single one of our citizens, in all the manifold aspects of life, is able to show himself the rightful lord and owner of his own person, and do this, moreover, with exceptional grace and exceptional versatility. And to show that this is no empty boasting for the present occasion, but real tangible fact, you have only to consider the power which our city possesses and which has been won by those very qualities which I have mentioned. Athens, alone of the states we know, comes to her testing time in a greatness that surpasses what was imagined of her. The funeral oration of Pericles, speaking of Athens, in The Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides [Book Two, XLI:1, translated by Rex Warner, Penguin Books, 1954, 1964, p.119] -- see the comparison of Athens and the United States as commercial democracies in "Why the Greeks?" Tzu-K'ung asked about government. The Master said, "Sufficient food, sufficient weapons, and the trust of the people." Tzu-K'ung said, "Suppose you had no choice but to dispense with one, which of these three would you forgo?" The Master said, "Dispense with the weapons." Tzu-K'ung said, "Suppose you were forced to dispense with one that was left, which of the two would you forgo?" The Master said, "Dispense with food; for from old death has been the lot of all men, but a people without trust will not endure." Confucius, Analects XII:7, translation after James Legge [1893], Arthur Waley [1938], and D.C. Lau [1979]. The current United States Government, of unconstitutional usurpations and tyrannies, has lost my , trust. ἐλεύθεροι παῤῥησίᾳ θάλλοντες οἰκοῖεν πόλιν κλεινῶν Ἀθηνῶν. Free, outspoken, and flourishing, let them live in the city of famous Athens. Phaedra, Hippolytus, by Eurpides, lines 421-423, translated by David Kovacs [Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1995, pp.164-165, translation modified]. τάδε λέγει Κύριος· ἐξαπόστειλον τὸν λαόν μου. Haec dicit Dominus: Dimitte populum meum. This the LORD says: Let my people go. Exodus 8:20, Septuagint 8:16 GEN. ROBERT E. LEE: It's good to see one real American here today. LT. COL. ELY PARKER: General, we are all Americans today. Exchange between Robert E. Lee and Ely Parker, a lawyer and member of the Seneca Nation, on the Staff of Ulysses S. Grant, who recorded the terms of Lee's surrender -- Appomattox Court House, Virginia, 9 April 1865. This is America, Jack! John Amos (as Cleo McDowell) to James Earl Jones (as King Jaffe-Joffer of Zamunda), Coming to America [Paramount Pictures, 1988] The history of the United States may conveniently be divided into three parts, the "Old Republic," 1789-1861, the "Middle Republic," 1861-1933, and the "New Republic," 1933-2005. The length of the "New Republic" is suggested by the previous ones: 72 years, or 18 presidential elections. Now that 2005 has come and gone, it is clear that nothing significant, however, has changed in the form of American history in the "New Republic," whose defining characteristic is the New Deal. Politically prominent Republicans have questioned this no more than Democrats, though Democrats enjoy accusing Republicans to wanting to dismantle the New Deal. Whether by fear, dishonesty, or conviction, those prominent Republicans -- including Newt Gingrich or George W. Bush -- avow no such purpose. However, there can be no "Next Republic" until the spell and the mythology of the New Deal is exploded. There seems little prospect of that at the moment [2009] -- especially after the election of Barack Obama, who is widely expected to institute a "New New Deal," raise taxes, socialize medicine, and legislate or order other leftist desiderata. Contrary voices at least exist -- although the left, after eight years of wailing about their free speech being suppressed, now will eagerly resort to the "Fairness" rule and campaign finance laws to silence non-conformists -- but in the dominant paradigm of academia, the media, the literati, and main stream politics, our understanding of the world has not altered much since 1937. There is even a living and conspicuous apologetic for Communism. States and Territories of the United States at the Beginning of Constitutional Government, 1789, in the order of their ratifying the Constitution +1. Delaware (Swedish 1638, Dutch 1655, English 1664), 7 Dec 1787; Slave State #1 +2. Pennsylvania (Swedish 1643, Dutch 1655, English 1664, William Penn, 1681), 12 Dec 1787; Free State #1, ended slavery 1780 +3. New Jersey (Dutch 1618, English 1664), 18 Dec 1787; ended slavery 1805, Free State #9 +4. Georgia (1732), 2 Jan 1788; Slave State #2 +5. Connecticut (1639), 9 Jan 1788; Free State #2, ended slavery 1784 +6. Massachussetts (1620), 6 Feb 1788; Free State #3, ended slavery 1780 +7. Maryland (1632), 28 Apr 1788; Slave State #3 +8. South Carolina (1629, separated from North Carolina 1729), 23 May 1788; Slave State #4 +9. New Hampshire (1629), 21 June 1788; Free State #4, ended slavery 1783 +10. Virginia (1607), 25 June 1788; Slave State #5 +11. New York (Dutch 1624, English 1664), 26 July 1788; ended slavery 1799, Free State #7 Northwest Territory, 1787; Free The lies and swindles of the New Deal will not die easily, and the "New Republic" staggers on, zombie-like, into the new Millennium. This dismal prospect seems likely to continue indefinitely. The politics of the "Old Republic," although witnessing the greatest growth and settlement of the country, was simply dominated by the issue of slavery, which in the end tore the nation apart. It is therefore no distraction to note for each new State or Territory whether it is slave or free. The Missouri Compromise (1820), the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) were all about the distribution of States or Territories open to slavery, although it may not have been clear until the Missouri Compromise itself (Jefferson's "fire bell in the night") just how polarizing and dangerous the issue was going to be. The "American Colonization Society," to repatriate freed slaves to Liberia in Africa, was founded in 1821; and the Abolitionist "American Anti-Slavery Society" was founded in 1833. Thereafter, the ferocity of the recriminations and the insulting level of the rhetoric in the public debates, even the violence on the floor of Congress, is now hard to believe, though they still cast their shadows in the politics of the 2000's. The original flag for the 13 Colonies in 1775 had 13 stripes but still used the British Union Flag in the canton. This is called the "Grand Union" or "Cambridge" Flag, and various other flags were in use at the same time. On 14 June 1777, the Continental Congress adopted a flag with stars as well as stripes for the colonies, as a "new constellation." The arrangement of the stars was not specified, and different versions were used. It is not known who actually designed this, though the legend is that Betsy Ross made the first one. The flag was first saluted by a foreign power on 14 February 1778 when French naval ships saluted John Paul Jones in the Ranger. At first different ensigns for merchant ships were contemplated, as British merchant ships customarily flew the Red Ensign, while British warships flew the Red, White, or Blue Ensigns. Cases of American flags that are all stripes are known, both with the familiar red and white stripes, and with red, white, and blue stripes. Soon, however, all American ships began to fly the standard Stars and Stripes. Here I have included links to two songs about the flag, "The Star Spangled Banner," written when the flag had 15 stars, which became the National Anthem, and "Marching Through Georgia," when the flag had 35 stars, which expresses the feelings of Union soldiers about freeing the slaves and punishing the South for Rebellion. Since the government has now imposed slavery on everyone, it is no surprise that we no longer hear much about "the Flag that makes you free." An audio file gives the tune for "Marching Through Georgia." My only complaint about the early symbols adopted for the United States is the use of the Eagle. This was a Roman symbol. It was certainly associated with the Roman Republic by the Founding Fathers, but it had been used for many centuries for Empires, including the Roman Empire itself, the Holy Roman Empire, Russia, and later the French, Austrian, and German Empires. Usually the only alternative that gets mentioned for America is Benjamin Franklin's proposal that the Turkey be made the national bird. This is usually brought up now only as a joke, since Turkeys are pretty stupid. But there is still a very real alternative, and that is the Owl, the sacred animal of the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom and patroness of the city of Athens, the first classic democracy. Perhaps when we have learned again even a fraction of the wisdom of the Founders, this might be reconsidered. We have certainly become such fools as to merit no such symbol. In that sense, the Turkey is the national bird. Of course, there is a further complication concerning the Owl. To the Navajo it is a bird of ill omen (as night birds have suggested death as far back as Ancient Egypt). At a time when an objection to anything by anyone regarded as an underprivileged or politically oppressed group is enough to prohibit it, and the politically correct are indeed removing owls from children's books lest a Navajo child be traumatized, this may be enough to ruin the case for the National Owl. Indeed, I might be willing to accept an objection by the Navajo, not because they are underprivileged or politically oppressed (where the "oppression" may be a traditional lifestyle that is self-imposed), but just because they are the Navajo. So that settles the case for the Eagle. The carving of the heads of four Presidents on Mt. Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, by Gutzon Borglum (d.1961), completed by his son, Lincoln Borglum (d.1986), is one of the great monumental sculptures in history. Conceived as a local project, it became national when Congress authorized the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission in 1925. President Coolidge, who vacationed in the Black Hills during his presidency, dedicated the project in 1927. Indeed, the son of Lincoln Borglum (who himself died in Texas), James, still lives in the valley watered by a stream that has been named after the First Lady -- Grace Coolidge Creek. While Gutzon Borglum is said to have included Theodore Roosevelt on the mountain because he freed the working man through his Trust Busting, Roosevelt was also Borglum's personal friend. There was also the request of President Coolidge that two Republicans be featured. Borglum had previously begun the monument to the Confederacy at Stone Mountain, Georgia. This may have reflected some of his own questionable inclinations, since he had himself been involved with the Ku Klux Klan, which was all too popular in the early 1920's -- in part thanks, as we shall see, to Woodrow Wilson. Borglum, however, also created a monument to Sacco and Vanzetti [1928], the anarchist martyrs of the 1920's; and he greatly admired Abraham Lincoln. So he doesn't seem to have gotten quite the right idea what the Klan was all about. Lincoln, Teddy, Sacco and Vanzetti, and the Klan are a very odd mixture. In fact, he had a falling out with the sponsors of Stone Mountain and left the project. With the Presidents on Mt. Rushmore, the project was conceived not long ago in the nearby urban center of Rapid City of populating the downtown area with free standing bronze statues of all the Presidents. This project is all but up to date, with statues placed on corners of the parallel Main (westbound) and St. Joseph (eastbound) Streets, from 4th Street west to 9th Street. Two intersections feature two Presidents; two intersections three Presidents; and eight intersections four Presidents. Only one President remains to be represented: Barack Obama. Three were added after I visited the city in 2010: Chester Alan Arthur, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. I include recent photos of all below. I had missed Rutherford B. Hayes in 2010, whose statue is now included. The statues do seem to generate considerable interest among tourists (like myself), as I have seen other similar, although non-Presidential sculptures do elsewhere. Multiple sculptors are responsible for the statues. Further information may be found on the "City of Presidents" webpage. THE OLD REPUBLIC, 1789-1861, 72 years; 18 elections; 3 Federalist, 13 Democratic, 2 Whig Formative Events: Federalist/Jeffersonian Conflict, the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, the End of the Bank of the United States, & the Mexican WarOngoing Conflict: Slavery, Tariffs, Westward Expansion 17881. George Washington; 1789-1797; Federalist, Virginia; won 2 elections, unopposed. Anyone today saying, "Government, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a terrible master," would be dismissed as some "anti-government" extremist. However, since that was said by George Washington, the Father of the Country, we have the curious result that the modern media and intellectual elite, not to mention President William Clinton, who think of there being a contradiction between loving one's country and being "anti-government," must not understand what the country was supposed to be all about. Indeed, the Founding Fathers (except Hamilton) always worried about the tyranny of a government that had too much power, while the anointed today worry that the government doesn't have enough power to do all the good things it should be doing -- while all the squalid results of their do-gooding are merely taken as evidence that they didn't have enough power (and money). Thus, Washington, who could have been President for Life (as Hamilton wanted), retired after two terms, while it is characteristic of modern politicians (like FDR) to think that they are indispensable. The reason for Washington's views, as stated about one in his Farewell Address, is well given: A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this proposition. This already gives us a clue to Washington's personality, which today is hard to recover and appreciate under all the mythology, mystification, and ignorance. There is little doubt that the awe and love in which Washington was held was well founded on great virtues. He was resolute and brave in action, moderate and restrained in his judgment, yet passionate and committed, ferocious in his rare anger. As a general he did not win many battles, but he won the most important ones. He knew when to attack and when he had to retreat. He knew that the most important strategic goal was just to keep his army together and in the field, wear out the British, and then catch them at a vulnerable moment, as he did. He inspired unparalleled loyalty and love in his men, suffering with them, as through the nadir of their fortunes in the terrible winter at Valley Forge, as the British occupied Philadelphia (1777). After the war, Washington was as far from a demagogue as could possibly be. He often led, as when presiding at the Constitutional Convention, without even directly expressing his opinions, though he certainly had them. This was an ideal rather more like Taoism or Confucianism than the style we are familiar with today. But, in addition to the inactivity of the ideal Taoist ruler, Washington also embodied the qualities of the lesser kinds of rulers, to be "loved and praised," and, in a very healthy sense, to be "feared." And, let me end with a sentiment of the most extraordinary kind to come from the first military man to become President: Hence likewise they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown Military establishments, which under any form of Government are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. It is noteworthy that police departments did not exist in Washington's day, and even when they were introduced were originally prohibited from arming themselves. Today, an "overgrown Military establishment" must mean, not just a vast standing army, but the heavily armed paramilitary police establishment in each community, not to mention the multiple, extra-constitutional, often unaccountable, police agencies of the Federal government. The hostility and danger to Liberty of this establishment is palpable. +12. North Carolina (1629), 21 Nov 1789; Slave #6 +13. Rhode Island (1636), 29 Mar 1790; Free #5, ended slavery 1784 +14. Vermont (1777), 4 Mar 1791; Free #6 +15. Kentucky, 1 June 1792; Slave #7 +16. Tennessee, 1 June 1796; Slave #8 Territory South of the Ohio, 1790; Slave 1792 17962. John Adams; 1797-1801; Federalist, Massachusetts; won 1 election, defeated. A characteristic of Federalist government was tax rebellion. Under Washington, when Congress passed a direct tax on whisky, the result was the 1794 "Whisky Rebellion" in Pennsylvania, which had to be put down by the militia. Then in 1798, under Adams, Congress passed a direct tax on property, which set off the "Fries Rebellion," also in Pennsylvania. Again force was used, and the leader, John Fries, was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. As Washington had done with the leaders of the Whisky Rebellion, Adams pardoned Fries, much to the disgust of most Federalists. Adams, indeed, had had a bitter falling out with Hamilton and purged the Cabinet of Hamilton's friends. This reflects well on Adams, but it did not help him get re-elected against the tide of anti-Federalist (i.e. anti-tax) sentiment. The Federalist Party would never win the Presidency again. On the other hand, Adams, embittered by defeat, spent his last hours in office filling the judiciary with Federalist appointments. This would do great damage to the Republic in the long run, mostly because of just one appointment, John Marshall. Marshall, although usually revered with the Founders, was really the "Federalists' Revenge": He carefully laid the groundwork for future Federal power and, in the doctrine of Judicial Review, raised the Supreme Court itself practically above Constitutional checks and balances. As Jefferson understood, such a Court in the long run would act to promote the power of the Federal government and undermine the principle of limited and enumerated powers in the Constitution. It would be many years before the full effect of that was felt, but the fracture was already in the foundation. I am persuaded, however, that Mr. Adams meant well for his country, was always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes and in some things, absolutely out of his senses. -- Benjamin Franklin Mississippi Territory, 1798; Slave Indiana Territory, 1800; Free 18003. Thomas Jefferson; 1801-1809; Democratic, Virginia; won 2 elections. Thomas Jefferson effectively re-founded the country by putting in place a government and a Party that understood and mostly practiced the principles of limited government fought for in the Revolution and embodied in the Constitution. Thus, Jefferson got repealed all the direct federal taxes passed by the Federalists and boasted that ordinary Americans would never see a federal tax collector in their whole lives. A federal whisky tax, indeed, did not return until the triumph of Hamiltonianism in the New Deal. The two terms each of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, the only time in American history (until 1993-2017) that three successive Presidents, let … truncated (276,628 more characters in archive)