Today I won the lottery …

By Alexander Mercon

For those that know me, I have spent most of my life travelling, most of that travel time in developing countries. If you are one of the folks that I have met during my travels, chances are you won the lottery in life as well. You didn’t choose to be born to your parents. Nor did you choose the town or city you were born or grew up in.  Truth be told, you were lucky. You were chosen from many souls waiting their turn…, but, that is another story. I’ll even add that if you are reading this in any country, you are one of the fortunate too. However, today, on the 22nd of January 2019, I’m especially lucky. I am very proud to say that I became a citizen of the United States. 

Many outsiders may look at the US with deep feelings rooted in anti-capitalism or views of the "arrogant US" and its people.  However, do you really understand the US? In my journey towards citizenship, I have met incredible people. I have learned about their family histories and those that built this country many generations ago. The history of the United States is an incredible story and I encourage all to take a look at it. You will learn so much.

My epiphany came when I was travelling in the Dry Tortugas. If you don’t know where they are, (it is more than one island) it is more like the real “southern most point” in the continental US. Not this one…

but that one… Ballast Key (privately owned)

To get to The Dry Tortugas you have to sail, past The Marquesas, another 70 miles west from Key West to get there (against the current)

On the way, we stayed on an island in The Marquesas. A great reminder of how fortunate we are living in the US since the beach was filled with makeshift rafts. This one I found on the beach.  

I could tell that the raft had just arrived because the clothing and other contents within were not discolored or destroyed by intense sunlight and weathering. These rafts contained the remains of the Cubans that risked their lives to get to the US. Many have died in the attempt.

Pirates during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries launched assaults on merchant ships passing between Cuba and Key West from The Dry Tortugas which remain till today largely off limits to tourism and difficult to reach After the US Independence, the islands were developed into a fortress to protect the trade route to Louisiana. 

What got me was the connection to the civil war "with southern bricks" that built the foundation of the fort and clear as can be, the civil war that forced the bricks from Maine (the Union army) to build the rest.  That connection leads to a whole slew of investigations that brought me to the civil war. The biggest and most significant take away was that the overwhelming majority of the soldiers were farm boys (More below and if you like movies: Cold Mountain) from families and rural communities that never ventured further than a few miles (kilometers for the rest of us… I mean, you… LOL) from home. Yes, a few miles from home. Fast forward to today and that happened several times. Rural people left to cities in search of bigger and better things. 

Why is this important? Because you begin to understand the culture behind the US. It is divided in regions, views and, opinions and for good reason. Rural US was rooted in religious faith with conservative principles and foundations stemming from bible teachings. Some areas had more money than others. Some families had more resources than others. Some people had more land than others. I would argue that everyone more or less, knew right from wrong regardless since teachings at schools and communities were relatively the same. Rural communities tend to help neighbors more since they depended on one another for survival and for relations. This, played into the development of the country. 

Of course, it’s a different world today but the United States remains the best government in the world for one fundamental reason. It is truly democratic and no one branch of government has the right to decide for everyone. It gives everyone the opportunity create a life. If you work hard in the US, it can translate into a comfortable home. It allows the person to choose. That is the fundamental freedom.  This is what we as outsiders, hear the US say, “we fight for freedom.”   I believe this is what it means. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Part II in the next posting…

References:

Dry Tortugas Site: https://www.drytortugas.com/

Dry Tortugas Location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dry+Tortugas+National+Park,+Florida/@24.6100595,-82.8946999,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x88ce267cb93327d5:0x918fe4e10afa6fc!8m2!3d24.6646481!4d-82.8855961

Cold Mountain Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfxXPhKuMUA

Emmy E. Werner, Reluctant Witnesses, Children’s Voices from the Civil War, (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1998), 9.

Moore, Author, “Boys of the Civil War”, Retrieved from: https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/boys-of-the-civil-war.html#_ftn16