The Fourth of July

By Ron Beasley

It's the 4th of July, the birthday of this Republic.  It is a good day to think about how it all started.  That history has been re-written many times over the last 233 years so this might be a good day to make a resolution to become more informed.  A good place to start is  A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic by John Ferling.  You can find my review here. The writings of Thomas Paine are another must read.  You can find an online copy of Paine's Common Sense here or if you prefer a book The Essential Thomas Paine is a good one.  And you might want to take another look at the Adamses.  They are described as Americas first political dynasty.  The have been compared to today's Bush dynasty but even though both John and his son John Quincy are thought to have had failed presidencies it is horribly unfair to compare them to the Bush family.  Without John Adams there would not be a United States of America.  A good source of information on the Adams family is America's First Dynasty: The Adamses, 1735-1918.

Comments

[Redhand]

even though both John and his son John Quincy are thought to have had failed presidencies it is horribly unfair to compare them to the Bush family.

That's an understatement. John Adams was a lawyer who passionately believed in rule of law, and its absolutely central role in the governance of peoples. Bush 43 is a dictatorial ignoramus who doesn't know the first thing about the role of law in our system of Government, and who acted like he was a goddamned king. Adams was one of our Founding Fathers; George W. Bush, the "deciderer," still doesn't have a clue about the system of government Adams helped to found.

[Dave Nichols]

For those particularly interested in Thomas Paine, these three new historical essays on Paine's world and legacy are well worth reading:

http://www.common-place.org/vol-09/no-04/forum/intro.shtml