The celebrations of the Fourth of July have grown increasingly "off base." The scoundrels, who have taken refuge inside of the American cultural trait of patriotism, have wrapped the holiday in the American flag. This holiday has nothing to do with the flag…. It is (if you will) a "pre-flag" holiday.
Consider the relationship of Great Britain with her American colonies… or with any of her colonies. No wait…. Consider the very nature of any colonial relationship in the 18th century. The "mother country" has colonies for three reasons: Gold, Glory and God. Glory can be found in the claiming of new lands for the crown. In an age when a "mother country" was trying to either A) earn the favor of the Vatican, as in the case of Spain or France or B) increase Protestant land holding, as in the case of Great Britain…. Winning new converts to one or the other form of Christianity is a great service to God. The gold motive was easy to explain and is what dictated the decay of the relationship between Great Britain and her American colonies.
"Mother countries" colonized for their own best interests. If a better life and upward mobility for the subjects involved in colonization was a by-product of this venture then so be it. This is why the requests of the American Colonists for political power were exceedingly unusual for the time. As a practice, colonies WERE NOT allowed representation in Parliament and colonists were expected to pay taxes for the opportunity to perform the duties of colonization for the crown. This bizarre "chaffing" on the part of the colonists was the cause for war.
When the American Revolution began in April of 1775 the "Rebels" were just that… Rebelling for their perceived right to political power. They had originally intended to remain a part of Great Britain. The flag the colonists chose symbolized the relationship that they still felt existed. This was the first flag to resemble the "Stars and Stripes" and it is known as the Grand Union Flag. (Pictured above)
It had 13 stripes, alternately red and white, representing the Thirteen Colonies, with a blue field in the upper left-hand corner bearing the red cross of St. George of England with the white cross of St. Andrew of Scotland. It was first flown in December of 1775 as Naval Lieutenant John Paul Jones sailed up the Delaware River. Yet, as we now know, with the costs of war may come a change of heart.
After over a year of war the colonists decided that their sacrifices should mean more than a seat in a governing body an ocean away. And so, this tiny group of colonies clinging to the wild eastern coast of North America, separated themselves from their only protector and the most powerful country in the world of the 18th Century with these words:
"….Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
As of yet the fledgling nation had NO FLAG. The Grand Union Flag would continue to be flown in such places as General Washington's headquarters in Cambridge, Ma. Knowing that disseminating and protecting the principles set forth that on July 4, 1776 were the most important task at hand, The Continental Congress put off the selection of a material object to represent those principles until later. It was not until almost a year later (June 14, 1777… eh, Flag Day) that they adopted "Stars and Stripes". As Americans it is important that we not abandon a rational ranking of priorities. Those who signed the Declaration of Independence and filled the chairs of the Continental Congress understood this and governed by it. Why doesn't our government today?
