July Fourth represents an opportunity to look back on our nation’s founding and pause to realize just how remarkable it is that the American experiment has made it through 248 years.
Today it seems as if America was always a global power. That status makes it easy to forget the remarkable underdog story that enabled the United States to become an independent country in the first place.
First we had to shock the world and defeat the mighty British military in the Revolutionary War. Then our fractious group of states had to reach agreement on how the new nation would be governed.
Keep in mind that even declaring independence was not a foregone conclusion during the debate leading up to the event we celebrate today. Americans disagreed about a lot leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. There were strong differing opinions as our Founders developed the Constitution. And bitter disputes over slavery continued for our nation’s first century, ultimately bringing about the Civil War.
It’s worth keeping this history in mind during this fractious era. It’s tempting to think that there was once broad agreement in our nation before we descended into today’s polarized environment.
The truth is that situations like the one we’re experiencing today have occurred time and time again in American history, most notably in modern times during the 1960s.
That’s not to downplay today’s problems. With each passing year it seems more and more as if people are living in two different Americas, unable to agree on even basic facts regarding what’s happening in our country, let alone reaching consensus on how to solve our problems.
There is discontent all around us. And we’re in a presidential campaign season that has many Americans dissatisfied with the choices being presented.
The battles go on, with many expressing eagerness to vanquish their political foes. Rhetorical combat is the rule of the day rather than persuasion or attempts at reaching any kind of consensus. But to what end?
Today we need to look back at our history and recall that through all the troubled times, the nation managed to endure because Americans ultimately embraced the idea that we need each other for our mutual protection and survival.
It’s foolish to think that we can smite and silence our political enemies or divide our nation into separate countries — red and blue. The national divide is not nearly as neat as many assume. Each state has tremendous numbers of people who hold views different from the majority. Somehow we have to figure out how we can continue to live together without being at one another’s throats.
Recall that the United States managed to emerge from the Civil War as an intact nation again.
Let us heed the words of President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865. As the war ended, he chose a conciliatory rather than triumphant tone:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
The nation failed to live up to the ideals expressed by Lincoln, who was assassinated the following month. But his message had an impact. The nation did reunite, and despite serious disagreements, Americans have worked together to overcome tremendous challenges over the years.
Lincoln’s call for reconciliation has become faint in today’s world. Many political partisans routinely express sentiments that are heavy on malice and devoid of charity toward fellow Americans who hold different views.
Today each of us faces a choice: Do we try to find common ground or continue to drift apart? The most fervent among us are not likely to be swayed, but we believe there are many in the middle who yearn for a change in tone.
On this Independence Day, it’s time to stop opening our wounds and start binding them.
This editorial was originally published in the Reading Eagle. The Sentinel sometimes republishes editorials that reflect our point of view. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.
