The United States of America is less than two years away from celebrating its 250th birthday. By most accounts, the nation has just concluded “the most important election of our lifetimes.” But perhaps we are living in a time much more significant than that. Perhaps it’s an election that will usher in an era of peace and prosperity that our founders dreamed of when they took up arms against the most powerful country in the world. It was 1776 when Americans stood their ground and finally said “Enough!” to the king of England. Colonists sent the message that what was needed was nothing less than a revolution, consequences be damned.
It was not an easy decision. Men risked their fortunes and lives, for surely they understood the significance of their actions. What hope did they have of becoming a nation, both separate and free? It was a longshot at best, but they wagered that this freedom, this liberty, they so ardently sought was worth the sacrifice.
Such a time of upheaval was grounded in a few core principles: The tyranny of taxation would no longer be a yoke strangling their futures and those of their children. They believed in three truths: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – all of which were left wanting under British rule. It was this intolerable oppression that they could no longer accept that would lead them to war.
Evolution and Revolution
Americans of the 1700s had little hope of winning this conflict – the task was daunting, and the odds were hardly in their favor. Yet they were men and women who felt trapped by a distant and unresponsive government and believed nothing less than a revolution would free them from such tyranny.
What they needed was an insurrection by patriots.
They began by articulating their opposition to the British crown. Among these voices for liberty was a young Thomas Jefferson, who would join six others from the Virginia colony in standing up for their rights along with many others who would put goose feather quill to parchment.
Even before the Declaration of Independence was signed, the real action was taking place in Massachusetts, where Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock were digging in and fighting off King George’s men who believed it would not be a heavy lift to put down the American rebellion. It was during the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 that the “shot heard round the world” was fired. Patriots were overmatched and wildly outnumbered in the early conflicts of the Revolutionary War, yet they persisted in what must have seemed to many a campaign of folly.
Nevertheless, the Americans would not lay down their arms or principles. They would not buckle; their raison d'etre would be to “live free or die.” Unbound by typical rules of engagement, victory would be found in unorthodox methods like guerrilla warfare, pushing beyond all reason, and in the end they would win this terrible war by the sheer force of their blood, sweat, and tears along with the belief that nothing could or would stop their just and righteous cause.
Donald Trump’s Evolution and Revolution
Likewise, who would have believed in 2021 that Donald Trump would rise from the ash heap of Jan. 6 and win the 2024 election? Many a patriot who engaged in what the left labeled an insurrection would suffer, and one woman would have her life snuffed out during the siege of the US Capitol. It could be said that the monarchists on the left won this first battle, but today, as President Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office for a second time, it is evident that he and his band of patriots have ultimately triumphed.
Much like the Revolutionary War, Trump’s election and decisive win against the establishment and its handpicked standard-bearer, Kamala Harris, would overcome the odds. State and federal prosecutors and courts would try to derail Trump from being elected again. And, similar to the British, the leftists had all the powers of a mammoth government at their disposal – and they used it multiple times and in various ways against their foe. With all the fervor that marked the 18th century, there were huge divisions within families, a pitched rivalry between Trump and Harris, and a face-off between patriots and loyalists that hadn’t occurred since the Revolutionary War.
However, Americans in great numbers chose to fight the tyrannical power of the government, which used everything it had to crush Trump and those who believe in his vision of America. In doing so, Americans of all races and creeds have come together and proven that their tough, independent streak --- that looks not at the odds but at the righteousness of their cause - is what propels them to victory.
Almost 250 years after Americans declared their independence from England, the overwhelming force they encountered in the last several years only served to inspire them and demonstrate to all the world that the spirit of America lives on.
