Once again, Lt. Smash sends us his thoughts from overseas:

From the Ground Up

They didn’t have electricity, or running water. Most families lived in homes they had constructed with their own hands, and with whatever materials were locally available. They often survived solely on the food they would grow or raise for themselves. No motorized transportation was available. Most communities did not have paved roads--when the rains came, the dirt tracks turned to mud and travel of any kind became impossible. Families were large, both because the young ones were needed for labor and, sadly, because so many children did not survive to adulthood. Public sanitation was non-existent. Plague and disease were facts of life, and the victims were buried the same day they died--often right behind their own homes.

Life in eighteenth century North America was not easy.

Communication between small towns and the colonial governments was problematic—it could take several days or even weeks for messages or instructions to complete the round trip from village to capital and back again, and the vast Atlantic Ocean often made consultation with London impractical. If the colonists had a local issue that required urgent attention, the only realistic option they had was to take care of it themselves.

The church was the center of most communities, and everyone for miles around would gather on Sundays to attend services and catch up on the local gossip. But after their weekly duty to the Eternal One was complete, many of the townsfolk would remain to discuss more temporal issues. Sometimes these meetings would be held in an inn or a private home, but just as often they would meet in the church itself. They were the first American town councils.

If there was an issue of some dispute, the colonists would discuss and debate it for a while, then simply count up how many supported each side of the question. Whichever side had more votes won the argument—it seemed to them the fairest way to conduct community business.

When these meetings became too big to be handled informally, the colonists would elect a leader to referee the disputes. In larger communities, they also elected representatives to argue on their behalf. These were called “councilmen,” and their leader was called “the mayor.”

Over time, this model was applied to the colonial governments themselves. Many of the colonies formed representative legislatures, which addressed matters that were of concern to the entire colony, and made recommendations to the colonial governors.

Thus, a democratic tradition in America was born.

Unfortunately, while these colonists were developing means of self-government, the Atlantic Ocean was not getting any smaller. Without consulting the colonial legislatures, the British restricted colonial trade, levied heavy taxes and duties, and even forced an oppressive military occupation upon the colonies when they protested the harsh measures. As the cries of injustice from the colonial legislatures grew louder, the British authorities ordered them to dissolve.

But the democratic tradition in the Colonies refused to die. After an attempt by the British Army to seize a cache of weapons in a small Massachusetts town resulted in violence and open rebellion, representatives from each of the Thirteen Colonies gathered in the City of Philadelphia during the hot summer of 1776. The result of this Continental Congress was the document that we celebrate today as the Declaration of Independence.

Once the War of Independence had been won, the former colonies formed a loose confederation of independent democratic states, each with its own distinct government, laws, and currency. This often-confusing state of affairs continued for several years until 1789, when the States met again in Philadelphia to draft a national Constitution, creating the United States of America that we know today.

* * *

We talk quite a bit about the future of Iraq. It often seems an impossible problem, to build a democratic society out of such a divided and war-torn nation. But when you look back at our own history and consider the difficulties that our forefathers overcame, it doesn’t seem so out of reach.

You just have to start small, and build from the ground up.

Read Lt. Smash's weblog for more treasures like this.

Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1864.
Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts:

DEAR MADAM: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln.

As it turns out, only two of Mrs. Bixby's sons were killed. 'Only'.

And two more American sons were laid on 'the altar of freedom' just yesterday.
Most of us never knew Sergeant First Class Gladimir Philippe of New Jersey or Private First Class Kevin Ott of Ohio. But they knew us. And knowing us, they were willing to put their lives on the line for us. We honor them because they honored us first. And we offer our respects to their families who love...and mourn.

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!" And take these men into Your care.

Godspeed, brothers. Our brothers.