1776 by David McCullough is one of my favorite books. McCullough does a fantastic job of detailing the military and political odds that were against General Washington and the Colonial leaders, and even though it is a lengthy read, it is an amazing story that hardly seems like it could be true. The battles at home, amongst neighbors, family and friends over the best path to forge this country created enormous emotional rifts, not to mention the logistical odds that were stacked against the Colonists.
General Washington was charged with leading an army of farmers, merchants, blacksmiths and postmen against one of the mightiest militaries of the world. They had neither the training, nor the supplies or even the finances to realistically hope to win a military conflict. Many of the troops were forced to desert the army not because they no longer believed in the cause, but because they had no means for feeding their families as the Continental Congress was so delayed in paying the troops. Those who did remain often fell victim to the diseases that ran rampant through the military camps, primarily through the poor hygiene practices of the troops, only to never even make it to the battlefield and die of dysentery and scarlet fever.
Yet since we all know how the story ends, the amazing stories to read amidst these long odds are the strength of courage, character, faith and belief in the idea of what a United States of America should and would be. McCullough recounts the letters that General Washington wrote to his secretary and his wife where at times even he was wary of the task before him, but his belief in the cause set before him, the Continental Congress and other leaders of the Revolutionary War lead him to press on against all odds, despite any wariness he might feel.
1776 details the events of a year that changed the course of history and forged our Republic and in doing so is as much of a recounting of why the General who would become the first President of the United States is as relevant a hero today as he was 237 years ago.
The landscape, economy and demographics of the citizens of the United States are very different from the days of 1776, but the belief in this country and the recognition of the sacrifices made by heroes since those days are just as imperative as they were at the time of the Revolution. Since those days we have endured and won battles beyond our borders and within. President Lincoln so perfectly described our great internal conflict in his Gettysburg Address, of which we commemorate the 150th Anniversary this year. He famously stated, “… our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”
Our battles today are much more subtle, but of equal significance. So our strength of courage, character, faith and belief in the idea of what a United States of America should be must be equal to those of the colonists in 1776, the patriots of 1863, the Greatest Generation of WWII and the heroes who have volunteered to fight terrorism and tyranny around the world since 2001.
The United States continues to stand for liberty and equality through a government created by, of and for the people and as such it is not perfect. It is made up of human beings who are not perfect, myself included, but who seek the betterment of this country through the best manners they know how.
We all have our days that we are frustrated with bureaucracy and “the system,” disagree with elected officials and party leaders and question the future of our nation, but at the end of the day, and especially on the day we celebrate our Independence, we must celebrate the great cause our forefathers fought for in 1776 and every day since. The cause of the success of a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
The odds were against us in 1776, yet our ancestors prevailed, so the task that lays before us is as Benjamin Franklin responded leaving the Constitutional Convention when asked what kind of government would be formed and stated, “A republic, if you can keep it.”