At the time of The American Revolution, every other nation was built on the principle of controlling the people as their first duty. The sovereign and his nobles owned everything, and virtually no one was free to choose the course of their life, where they lived, or even their vocations. Before The American Revolution, there had not been a successful government that was based on freedom first, even though this was a desire of most people. 

     Why had this not worked when most people wanted it? A main reason was that those who sought to create a republic based on liberty did not have a transcendent vision of what their freedom was for. Liberty itself is a noble cause, but freedom has never lasted long if it is not connected to an even greater purpose.

     The new American Republic, built with its main purpose being to protect the rights of the people and their property, caused initiative and innovation to explode. This brought substantial and immediate prosperity. In previous attempts to build republics, freedom brought prosperity, but it also brought discord as many factions arose. The stress of the factions tore them apart. Why was America different?

     This fracturing would have happened in America too if it had not been for the Great Awakening imparting a higher vision than liberty as our national purpose. As this vision has been eroded in our time, we are now seeing the fracturing in America that threatens our future as a Republic. We must have another Awakening to recapture our vision.

     This higher vision was crucial, but the colonies also had stronger roots in liberty than previous republics had. The colonies had a century and a half to develop and mature their ability to self-govern. Because these roots are under such a threat in our time, we must re-examine them, understand them, and protect them if we are to remain free. 

     Those seeking to impose control over the people at the expense of liberty have been intentionally and systematically trying to cut the American people off from their roots. They have been so successful that now some of these roots are almost completely severed. A primary way this has been done is by using historians to revise and change our history.

     Revisionist historians have especially focused on making the good seem evil and the evil seem good. According to the Prophet Isaiah, this is the ultimate depravity a nation can fall into. This is why the only commandment that God gave with the promise that it would go well for us and we would have longevity, was to honor our fathers and mothers. When we dishonor them by forgetting them, we are cut off from our roots. If anything could be even more dishonoring than forgetting them, it would be to call the good that they did evil. 

     The American people have been given some of the most honorable fathers and mothers in history. If we are going to survive the present crisis, we must recover their honor by declaring the truth of their story.

      The roots of the freedom released in America began with the charters for the original English colonies of 1609 and 1612. These were written by Sir Edwin Sandys, a member of the British Parliament, and also a part owner of The Virginia Company that financed the Jamestown colony. These were unique from the charters of any other European nations by allowing for private property, self-government, and freedom of religion, mostly due to Sandys.

     Some believe that Sir Edwin was a sympathizer of the   Pilgrims and Puritans. Whether he sympathized with their beliefs or not isn’t clear, but he did want to attract them as colonists. Both of these groups were known for being industrious, hard-working, and honest, and every place they settled had prospered with their coming. Such characteristics would be crucial for establishing colonies that could survive in the wilderness of the new world.

     Sir Edwin helped persuade his sovereign that they did not need to be burdened trying to govern colonies from such a distance, as it could take months just to communicate with them. So, he advocated for allowing the colonies to self-govern, and this was approved, knowing this would especially appeal to the Puritans and Pilgrims.

     For these groups to go and become colonists helped solve another major problem the British Monarch faced. The Puritans and Pilgrims were causing trouble by refusing to submit to the Church of England. When a persecution against these groups began, it was very unpopular and began causing increasing division in the nation. Sending them away as colonists seemed to be the solution. To induce them to go, they were offered religious freedom along with self-government. They went believing this to be an answer to their prayers.

     In the first colonies, this planted both religious liberty and self-government. So, from the beginning their government had been one “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” This made it a natural seed-bed for the first enduring Republic in history, as it would have over a century to learn how to do it. By 1776 they were ready.

     For this reason, we should have patience when other nations struggle to form republican governments. Many of these have no roots in self-government or freedom. That so many nations coming out of recent Marxist and other forms of tyranny have made the kind of progress in freedom that they have is remarkable and should be honored.

     Thank God for Boris Yeltsin and the remarkable courage he displayed, but he was not a Washington, and he did not have a company of other such remarkable fellow leaders like Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Franklin. Russia, and many of the other nations that emerged from the tyranny of communism, may have done much better than we would have under the same conditions. Instead of chastising them for not being what we think they should be faster, maybe we should just determine how we can help them take the next step in the right direction. 

     We should keep in mind that from the founding of the first English colonies in America until now we have had four hundred years of learning to be free, and we obviously still have a lot to learn. With the exceptional foundation and exceptional leadership we’ve had, we’re still having the kind of problems that keep us on the edge of doom. For this reason, let us keep in mind that God resists the proud and gives His grace to the humble. We have many reasons to be thankful, but none for being arrogant.

An old Russian proverb says: ‘The hammer shatters glass, but forges steel.’ Some people are like glass—the hammer of circumstances breaks them in pieces. Other people are like steel—the hammer strikes, and instead of breaking them, forges them into new strength and beauty. 

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain—and most fools do. Unknown

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