Down with George!
A few weeks ago, America was shocked and saddened by the defacing of George Washington’s statue by unruly mobs. Mobs who were part of a movement that started with a cause just and noble, that swiftly spiraled into indiscriminate looting and terror as a small minority of anarchists tried to re-write history. A history with chapters good and bad. A history that most Americans cherish and can learn from. A history of us. So how could we do this to George? Unprecedented, some would say. But we’ve been pulling down statues of George for a long time. In fact, George himself was part of this kind of behavior. How you ask? Let me take you back 244 years.
July 9th, 1776 - George Washington, the general of the colonial army is in Bowling Green on the southern tip of Manhattan. Hundreds of British naval ships are occupying the New Your harbor. The air is suffused with a spirit of revolution and tension runs high. George Washington stands on the steps of the town hall, not far from a statue – of George. Slowly he has the declaration of independence is read to his troops and citizens of New York city. The inflamed and enraged crowd goes into a frenzy and later that day, pulls down George’s statue, as George stands by and does nothing. Does he not care? George’s statue was made of two tons of lead and the young country needed lead desperately to make ammunition. They melted it down to make 42,000 musket balls to aid in their struggle. So, George didn’t mind. He knew it was for a good reason. But he had a more compelling reason than that.
Five days earlier – July 4th, 1776 – Today the continental congress will officially adopt a declaration that began two days ago. The final version worked on by Thomas Jefferson has been contentiously debated and argued upon. Revisions, compromises and arguments have led to a final version and today will permanently mark this day as the start of a nation.
Seven days earlier – July 2nd, 1776 – You are witnessing a time in history that molded this nation and changed the world for better. A time that begins in a smoke-filled hall where America is undergoing its birth pangs. The second continental congress is deciding whether to adopt Richard Henry Lee’s motion for independence – and they do, with 12 out of the 13 colonies taking the leap towards freedom.
But nothing has been signed yet – it will take another couple of weeks before the declaration is printed legibly on parchment, and not until August 2nd, 1776 will all the signature (except for two) obtained. For today, fifty-six men are unsure of what the future will bring. These men know that as soon as the ink touches paper, there will be a be a heavy price to pay. And what a group of men this is. Ranging in age from 26 to70, eight of them are born in England, one will later recant his support, five of them will be subsequently captured by the British, tortured and killed, twelve of them will sacrifice their sons in the bloody struggle yet to come, and nine will fight and die directly because of the conflict. But they take that first step, and copies of this declaration start making its way through the colonies. In drafting the final version, Thomas Jefferson knows the crucial importance of making a case for revolution, and he does. After listing a score and three grievances, he summarizes his country’s case in one sentence about the English King: “A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define him a tyrant, is unfit to be ruler of a free people” – and the die is cast.
And that brings us back to Bowling Green in Manhattan on July 9th, 1776 and the reason for George’s acceptance of the rage and subsequent rampage. You see, the statue George Washington watched being pulled down was not his own, but that of George III, the tyrant and some would say, mad king of England. And with this one act, our nation was born. A nation built on principles never seen before or since. A nation that gives everyone a voice. A nation that promises opportunities if one is only willing to take them. A nation that is still the envy of the world because of the freedoms it offers – even the freedom to deface and topple statues.