Gordon Forgey

We just celebrated America’s birthday.

Actually, it was a theoretical birth only. Although the American colonies declared their independence from England on July 4, 1776, it took years to achieve that independence and years more to form the new country.

Prior to 1776, tensions and violence between the colonists and England were already decades old, and armed conflict had already started.

The colonists realized that trying to simply win concessions from the British by force would not be successful. The violence had taken too great a toll.

Their only recourse was to fight for total independence. The only recourse for England was to try to forcibly quell the rebellion.

Not every colonist joined the rebels. Many sided with the British. In 1780 alone, more than 80,000 loyalists emigrated to Canada.

The war was bloody and difficult for both sides. A peace treaty was ultimately signed in 1783.

During much of the war, the Articles of Confederation gave the fledgling nation its structure. It soon proved inadequate. Something better was needed.

Thus, work and thought began on creating a new blueprint for the country and its government. The result was the Constitution. It was ratified in 1788. The Bill of Rights followed shortly thereafter.

The new nation finally had its structure and guiding principles.

Getting to this point was not easy. The process was fraught with emotion and strong opinions. Differences of opinion, regional rivalries and distrust among the nation’s leaders were widespread. Yet, consensus was finally reached.

Statesmanship, compromise, concessions, intransigence and rough and tumble politics all played a part, but overriding them was the common goal to create a working, lasting democracy.

The differences proved less important than the ultimate goal.

We desperately need that spirit today.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher