If there is one thing that studying history has taught me, it is that nothing lasts forever. The mightiest of empires eventually fall, and as individuals, we all go through the cycle birth-life-death; that’s just a cycle we cannot escape. I truly believe that it is what we do in that short period between our first and last breaths that define us.
Not a single one of us has any say as to the conditions we are born into; each of us has to make the best out of the hand we are dealt with. Since none of us can choose the kind of life we’re born into, we can choose to either try and improve our lot in life, or sit around whining and complaining about how screwed we are; how society owes it to us to improve our situation. I think, and this is only me speaking, that how we handle the shit storms that life throws at us says a lot about our character.
Most people, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, go through their lives simply trying to do their best to provide for their wants and needs, and those of their family; most live their entire lives barely making a splash, so to speak. However, sometimes there are individuals, or groups of individuals, who do things that make the world stand up and take notice. I’m not talking about a performer, or an athlete who was born with skills that set them apart from their counterparts; I’m talking about people whose deeds were of such a nature that their names are written down in the annals of history.
I know I’ve mentioned this a couple of times in the past, but when the American Revolution began there were approximately 2.5 million people in America; spread out amongst the 13 Colonies. At the height of the Revolution, when the Continental Army was at its strongest, there were roughly 80,000 soldiers fighting the British. How many of them can you name? Does the fact that their names aren’t remembered lesson their contribution to the cause of liberty and independence? Not to me, their deeds are worthy of our praise just as much as are the deeds of those whose names we have read about in the history books.
Yet, there is a question I’d like for you to ponder. Do you think that those whose names we know, and those whose names we don’t, gave any thought as to what historians would say about the cause they were fighting for? I could be wrong, but I don’t think it ever crossed their minds. I think that the only thing they cared about was defending their rights and liberty against the arbitrary will of a tyrannical government; they fought because, to them, it was the right thing to do. Even when their fellow countrymen remained loyal to the crown, they fought; because for them, liberty was worth defending at all cost to them; their wealth, their reputations, and their very lives. I think Patrick Henry summed that up succinctly when he said: I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! He didn’t care what others were going to do, he was going to defend his liberty; even if it meant he would die doing so.
There’s another aspect to this that I’d like to mention. Most people today call the revolution the War for Independence. While it was independence they were seeking, independence was merely a means to and end. From the time the first Colony was established in 1607 until the Colonies declared their independence, they had lived in relative peace with Great Britain; content, for the most part, with their status as British subjects. Therefore, something pretty serious had to have taken place to cause them to seek an irrevocable separation, at such risk to themselves.
Since all we know about that period is what we were taught in school, most of us believe that it was the various taxes that were levied upon the Colonies; that and the influx of British troops; capped off by the events of April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord. While those were all specific events, they were symptoms of a much bigger problem; the fact that their government had deemed that it held the power to restrict the rights and liberties of its subjects whenever it felt it was necessary to do so.
I could be wrong, but I believe that is what James Madison was referring to when he wrote the following in 1785: The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entagled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. It was the principle that a government, any government, has the authority to deprive the governed of their rights and liberty that is at the core of the American Revolution.
If that truly was the principle they fought for, that no government has the right to invade upon the rights and liberty of the governed, then that principle still applies towards our current system of government today. Yet here we are, sitting on our duffs, hoping that the next clown we vote for, will do a better job and, possibly, restore some of the freedoms our government has been taking from us ever since it was instituted 232 years ago. There is a word to describe our behavior, and I’m sure our Founders would agree… PATHETIC!
I do not blame people for not knowing much about the history of their country; they only know what they’ve been taught. That said, I don’t think people realize that history itself is unbiased; it takes no sides. History is merely an accurate recording of events as they transpired. Historians, on the other hand, are biased; they insert their own prejudices and beliefs into their rendering of the events from our past.
As a quick example, if I were to mention Adolf Hitler, most people would immediately have a negative emotional response to the name; even though they probably know very little about the man, his life, and the things he did while holding power in Germany. That is all because ‘historians’ have painted him in a negative light. I’m not saying Hitler was a saint; what I’m saying is that your opinion of the man has been shaped by what you’ve read about him…by historians. Therefore, historians are controlling you, or at least your opinions and beliefs regarding events from our country’s past.
The thing about it is, history, especially when there is a conflict of some kind, tends to be written by those who are victorious. You don’t often hear praise heaped upon those who lost a war, do you? I think it was Winston Churchill who once said that history is written by the victors. If that truly is the case, then their biases, their cause, they themselves will always be praised, while those they fought against will always be vilified. Oh, you don’t believe me? Well let’s look at an example from our own past.
How would you define a ‘war for independence?’ I’m assuming you’d say it is when a people try to free themselves from the control/authority of a particular system of government, correct? If that is your definition, then are you aware that America has had two wars for independence; one that began in 1775 and another that began in 1860. You know the second one as the Civil War, but according to our working definition, it was, in fact, a war for independence. If you strip away all the issues that led to the South seceding, and boil it down to basics, the South had grown weary of being governed by a system they felt had become oppressive. The only difference is that, instead of doing as the Colonies did in 1776 when they signed the ‘unanimous’ Declaration of the thirteen States, the 11 States of the Confederacy issued their declarations individually; but the premise behind both wars were the same.
Let me ask you a quick question; do you think historians would have called our Founders patriots and heroes if they had lost to the British? If your answer is yes, then why is it that historians write so negatively about the cause of the Confederacy when they were both fighting for the same thing – independence from a system of government they felt had become tyrannical and oppressive. Yet, since the victors always end up writing the history of a conflict, they get to vilify the south. Another thing, and this is only food for thought, do you think those who drafted the Constitution would have been lifted up onto pedestals, and praised, had the document they produced failed to achieve the necessary votes to become the supreme law of the land? It makes you wonder how biased the history books are regarding the true intent of those who drafted the constitution, doesn’t it?
The point I’m trying to make with all this is, the little you know about the history of this country is based upon the biased versions of history found in your textbooks, exacerbated by the administrators of our educational systems by their requirement that teachers stick to the curriculum established by the school districts. When my son was in the 7th grade, and about to take civics, I had a discussion with his teacher about that curriculum; asking if he was going to discuss the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, the Ratifying Conventions, and a number of other subjects relating to our Constitution. He told me that I should be teaching his class; that I knew more about the subject than he did. When I asked him if I’d be permitted to discuss those subjects, he shook his head, saying I would have to stick to the curriculum dictated by the school district. So, a bunch of state employees are deciding how much history you are taught, and the historians who write the books you learn from are writing with a decided bias; either one way or another. Yet people still say they are ‘well educated.’ Give me a break!!!
That’s why I say it comes as no surprise that people do not know much about the history, or founding, of the country they live in; they’ve been denied that knowledge by the system; and for good reason, I might add. You can’t have a well-educated people running around, a people who know what liberty is, and how their government has been stripping it away from them ever since it went into operation in 1789. That simply would not do; not if they wished to maintain their control over us, anyway.
If you were to peruse through the history of the world, you might discover an interesting theme when it comes to major conflicts; they all involve one group of people wanting to gain, or exert control over something that another people possess. That control may be wealth, it may be land, it may be the food stuffs that the aggressors cannot provide for themselves, or it may simply be the population; such as when peoples were conquered to be used for slave labor. Regardless of why, it is always about one side wanting to gain/exert control over the other.
Not all revolutions are bloody; sometimes the transfer of power from one group to another is relatively bloodless; as far as actual revolutions go. Nevertheless, they are always about one side seeking to gain that control I just spoke of. These bloodless revolutions are made much easier if you can convince those who are surrendering their ‘control’ that it is in their best interest to do so. The abolishment of the Articles of Confederation, and the establishment of the government outlined by the Constitution was one such ‘bloodless’ revolution. Yet under it all, the issue was the framers of our Constitution sought to gain control; to wrest it away from the States, and from the people. The question is, why?
Those who govern us today may smile to our faces, tell us that what they are doing is being done for our welfare, but they seek control; control over our rights, our liberty, and our property. Patrick Henry saw this for what it was, saying that it was as radical a revolution as the one that had separated us from Great Britain. Yet the people, for the most part, had been beaten down with fear; fear over what would happen to them, and the Union, if they did not adopt the plan being proposed by those seeking to gain control over an entire country.
It saddens me to sit here and watch as those same tactics are used effectively against the American people, over and over and over again. Oh, you want examples? Okay, I can do that.
The events of 9/11, regardless of whether or not they were orchestrated from within our government, or if they unfolded exactly as the media said they did, caused fear amongst the people. Without that fear the people would not have supported the anti-terrorism infrastructure the government erected to keep them safe from future attacks; nor would they have supported another war in the Middle East. It was fear, fear then anger, that caused the people to justify these infringements upon their rights and liberty.
You want more? Okay, what about every time there is a mass shooting; and again, this is assuming that these are not staged false flag events, they are still the means by which fear is used against you to surrender another slice of your right to keep and bear arms. That right exists, not so you can defend your home against crooks, or hunt deer, but so you can defend your rights and liberty against your government; and you’re giving that right away because you’re afraid of becoming a victim. The right to keep and bear arms has become so weakened, so neutered, that defending our rights and liberty from infringement by our government would be like trying to stop a tank with a slingshot; that’s how much of that right we have let slip away.
And the coup de grace is Covid. Never in my life did I imagine that the people of this country would submit to having to wear a mask over their face; a mask that it has been proven the Covid virus can pass right through, just because they are afraid of getting sick. Never in my life would I have believed that people would lock themselves away in their homes; shutting down their businesses, and being told they cannot attend church services or visit sick family members; all for a cold; a nasty cold yes, but a cold nonetheless.
Do people not know that this ‘cold’ only kills 1% of those who come down with symptoms? Do people not know, that when the patriots were waging war against the tyranny of King George III, smallpox was ravaging the country; and the death rate for smallpox was upwards of 30%. Did they don masks, hide away in their homes until they had ‘flattened the curve?’ No, they fought on with valor; facing hardships I can only imagine; all because defending their rights and liberty was worth the price; whatever that price might be.
So, I ask you America, when the history books of the future are written, what will the historians say about you? Will you rise up and develop a spine; stop bowing down before tyrants, or will you continue on as you have been, while the little that remains of the liberty your ancestors is taken from you. Will the history books of the future call you patriots, or will they call you cowards?
The answer to that all depends upon you. However, to again quote from Patrick Henry: I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! I don’t know what course you will take, but my course is set. You see, I believe as did Jefferson: God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have removed their only firm basis: a conviction in the minds of men that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.
I believe that my rights and liberty are a gift to me from God, and that governments are instituted to secure those rights. I also believe, that when government no longer serves that purpose, I am under no obligation to obey its dictates, in fact, it is my right and my duty to resist it; for as Jefferson also believed: Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.
So, you can do whatever you want, resist the tyranny that is spreading across this nation like a cancer, or submit meekly without a fight. I know what path I’ll take, and if it comes and the condemnation of my fellow countrymen, so be it. I know, just as our Founders did, and just as those who fought for the Confederacy did, that my cause is just, and that my position holds the moral high ground. I may lose, I may die, but in the end, it will be those of you who stood against me that are vilified; if not in the history books, then in the day or reckoning when you are called before your God and asked to explain why you let his precious gift of liberty slip through your fingers without a fight.
July 23, 2021
~ The Author ~
Neal Ross, Student of history, politics, patriot and staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Send all comments to: [email protected].
If you liked Neal’s latest column, maybe you’ll like his latest booklet: The Civil War: (The Truth You Have Not Been Told). Life continues to expand for this prolific writer and guardian of TRUE American history.