Published: July 02, 2009 04:33 pm      

America remains a dream in progress after 233 years of tragedy and triumph

Freedom is hard to explain. Everybody knows what it is but nobody can tell anyone else exactly how to define it. We all have our own ideas, though.

Almost every child knows that July 4, 1776, is the actual date that the United States of America was born. A lanky 33-year old Virginian named Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence which told the world — especially Great Britain’s King George III — that the Americans were entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The war itself went on until 1781 and although General George Washington lost more battles than he won during his military career, he gained victory at Yorktown and that gained freedom for the new country.

It took help from the French navy, great military leaders like Lafayette and Von Steuben, and some luck, too, but finally the Americans were on their own.

That first freedom was purchased dearly. It always is.

According to the historians, only about one-third of the citizens actually fought on the side of the American army. Another third didn’t do anything much except try to stay out of harm’s way. Believe it or not, the other third actually fought for the British against the Americans.

Quite a few of those so-called Tories either headed for Canada or back to England or got killed by their former countrymen.

Sticking together was the key but the lock to freedom was opened by the intervention from countries like France, which made it possible for the 13 little colonies to overcome the greatest military machine in the world (England) in a great conflict.

John Adams said that “all 13 candles came together to burn at the same time.” Nearly a century later, those candles did not light up together and there was no foreign intervention during the Civil War. As a result, the country did not ultimately separate and a new “United” States was born.

In the beginning that freedom was not quite what one might suppose. While it is true that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, the liberty provided by the Declaration and the Constitution lacked complete coverage for the total population.

The late Alistair Cooke once talked about slavery, for instance, as “a sleeping serpent coiled up under the table” when the Founding Fathers were preparing the government.

It is difficult to explain how Jefferson could write so eloquently and yet own scores of slaves. Washington, a shining light in the Revolution, himself owned more than 200 slaves at Mount Vernon. That was a part of the problem by the time Jefferson’s great Declaration was spread publicly throughout the land.

It took a more brutal war 89 years later to come closer to solving that problem.

Women could not vote at the time of the American Revolution and would not get that universal right for 144 years after the triumph at Yorktown. Yes, there were still quite a few wrinkles to be straightened out on the way to realizing the American Dream.

As we prepare for the celebration of Independence Day our country is in trouble.

Here in Four Seasons Country we worry what will happen if legislative plans to curtail the coal industry succeed.

We have already watched electric bills begin to rise dramatically and have been told that coal is the key to keeping our power affordable. As we lose mining jobs across state lines we realize that families, more than simply power bills, are being squeezed to the breaking point.

We are still trying to find ways to keep our local businesses open. We want to be able to have enough jobs to allow our children to continue to live here. We are more than weary of hearing that our area is “a good place to retire to.”

America, however, is still the best place to be and when men around the world have the chance it remains the place they want to come to and live in.

God Bless America, for the 233rd time!

Larry Hypes is a teacher at Tazewell High School and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph.