Written by Frank Li
They did three big things:
- They did not want to pay more taxes to the mother country, even if it meant a war with her ultimately, namely, the American Revolutionary War.
- After the war broke out, they published the Declaration of Independence.
- After winning the war, they created a republic by accident and by heavily copying the Roman Republic of more than 2,000 years ago …
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1. What is the American Revolution, anyway?
Most Americans are simply incapable of correctly answering this question for one main reason, as highlighted by the image below.
It’s time to end the lie!
Simply put, the American Revolution was chiefly instigated by a bunch of rich people, most notably Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who did not want to pay more taxes to the mother country!
Moreover, not only did they want to keep more to themselves, they also wanted the possibility of swallowing up everything that still belonged to the indigenous people, specifically and explicitly against King George III‘s decree (Royal Proclamation of 1763). They conspicuously hid this real reason behind an eloquent slogan of “no taxation without representation” and took a modest risk throughout the American Revolutionary War for huge potential gains.
For more, read: What is The American Revolution, Anyway?
2. What is the Declaration of Independence, anyway?
The image is worth more than 1,000 words.
For more, read: What Is America’s “Declaration of Independence”, Anyway?
3. A republic by accident
The American Revolution was not about self-governing or against the “tyranny of the king”! It turned out that the American revolutionaries just did not like the British King (at the time). After the war was over, they asked George Washington to be their [new] king, instead. Washington refused, thus making it possible for America to be a republic …
4. “A republic, if you can keep it”
According to American legend, at the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman stopped Benjamin Franklin as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation, inquiring whether we had a republic or a monarchy.
Below is said to be Franklin’s reply.
5. Why a republic?
Our Founding Fathers surely had examined all the major options available at that time, especially the following two:
- Monarchy: Almost all other countries were monarchies.
- Republic: The most prominent example was the Roman Republic.
After George Washington refused to accept the kingship offered to him, the only option left for America was a republic.
6. What is a republic?
A republic is not a monarchy. Other than that, a republic may have many forms, such as democracy, of which the most well-known example was Athenian democracy.
6.1 Why not a democracy?
Democracy was perhaps never seriously considered as an option for one simple reason: Not only was it a proven failure until then, most, if not all, of our Founding Fathers did not believe in it. Three examples:
Bottom line: the word “democracy” was not in the U.S. Constitution!
6.2 Anything but a democracy!
With democracy out (most likely never in contention), our Founding Fathers debated about many other forms. Three examples:
- Alexander Hamilton: an oligarchic republic of the few.
- Thomas Jefferson: a representative republic of the many.
- John Adams: a balanced republic that addresses both the few and the many.
Jefferson won the debate! As a result, America was built as a representative republic!
Now, was “representative republic” an American invention?
No, not at all!
7. Copying the Roman Republic
America, at its birth, resembled the Roman Republic in five major aspects, at least, as follows:
- The 3-branch structure of the government. For more, read: 3 Branches of Government in the Roman Republic.
- The Electoral College, which remains, to this date, a big anti-democracy element in our system. For more, read: The Electoral College – Origin and History.
- A House of Representatives elected “by the People of the several States” (Constitution of the United States), where “the People” referred to some property-owning white men only, just like the Romans did! For example, when George Washington was elected the first President in 1789, only 6% of the American population was eligible to vote. For more, read: U.S. voting rights timeline.
- “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature” (Constitution of the United States), just like the Romans did. In other words, the Senators were not chosen by “the People”, like we do today!
- The two eagles, as shown below. Do not they look eerily alike?
8. Discussion
America is deeply in trouble. “We the People” simply do not know what to do, other than periodically casting our vote of “no confidence” to elect someone, anyone, very different to be the President – first Barack Obama, then Donald Trump. Unfortunately for America, neither has worked out …
What’s wrong with America?
Simple put, America: It’s Democracy, Stupid!
Two informative readings:
More profoundly, we must go all the way back to the founding days … Five informative readings:
- What is The American Revolution, Anyway?
- What Is America’s “Declaration of Independence”, Anyway?
- What Is the U.S. Constitution, Anyway?
- Vision for America: Alexander Hamilton vs. Thomas Jefferson.
- America: A Great Country Without A Working Government?
Everything is relative. America can’t understand itself without understanding China, and vice versa. Three informative readings:
- American Revolution vs. Chinese Communist Revolution.
- What If America Is Actually More Communistic Than China?
- The U.S. vs. China: A Great Experiment vs. A Great Civilization!
9. Closing
America was founded by/of/for the rich and remains so today, with money behind [almost] everything, from politics to the main-stream media (Brainwashing in Communism and in Democracy).
America was created as a representative republic, specifically precluding democracy!
Unfortunately for America, it has morphed itself into a democracy over the past two hundred, in danger of destroying the last safe-guard against it: the Electoral College (Elizabeth Warren calls for an end to the Electoral College).
America, reform our failing political system, as I have suggested (American Democracy – Why is it failing & how to fix it?), or become a fiddle, second to China!
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