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2024-2025 Voice of Democracy
"Is America Today Our Forefathers' Vision?"
It’s hard to picture what our Founding Fathers thought the future would look like. Back in the late 1700s, when a journey across the Atlantic took over a month and the cotton gin formed the cutting edge of technology, it must have been difficult to even fathom a world with the abilities and luxuries that we enjoy every day. Chances are good that most people during the early days of the U.S. had no idea that the flag flying over the 13 States of America would one day symbolize a global superpower. Chances are even better that if someone could go back in time and ask our forefathers what their notion of the twenty-first century U.S. would look like, not one would be able to accurately guess what the U.S. has become. And at first glance, it’s pretty easy to see why.
In 1789, the Founding Fathers were so hesitant to put in place a strong central government for fear of replicating the British government they had so recently gained independence from that they gave the federal government permission to do little more than levy taxes, declare war, regulate commerce, and maintain a federal army. In 1789, four out of five Americans lived in a rural area, and our leaders were hesitant to enter into relations with any foreign entity that could potentially take advantage of their newborn country. The early U.S. was highly decentralized, staunchly isolationist, and very rural.
In contrast, today’s government has expanded its influence to include everything from agriculture and food production to business itself, which seems to stray greatly from our forefathers’ initial concept of a weak central government. Additionally, in the 20th century, the U.S. joined the world scene, entering into wars thousands of miles away from our homeland, an action that many of our Founding Fathers may have condemned. Finally, Thomas Jefferson is often quoted for stating: “Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people”. Yet today, almost 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban centers. On the surface, it seems that the U.S. has deviated greatly from our initial values. But have we really lost the vision of the U.S. as our Founding Fathers saw it?
The U.S. looks, acts, and operates very differently than it did two and a half centuries ago. Our federal government has grown immensely, we have taken a much more active role in global politics, and our demographics are worlds apart from the rural society of early America. By all definitions, the U.S. is a completely different country than we were in the 1700s in all but name. But what if our forefathers’ hopes were less of a vision, and more of an idea?
The U.S. was founded on three central ideals: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Throughout the most chaotic three centuries of human history, we have somehow managed to uphold these three simple concepts. When financial behemoths like Standard Oil threatened the stability of our economy, we let our government intervene to stop monopolies from taking away the ability of everyday people to pursue their happiness. When we saw the basic human rights of people around the world endangered by fascism, communism, and totalitarianism, we stepped in to uphold the liberties of people worldwide. And when we experienced a massive influx of people into major cities, we industrialized to support the lives of the millions who now wanted to experience urban life. We may have allowed our government to grow, our politics to change, and our demographics to shift, but time and time again, we have maintained our commitment to the three central values that have governed our nation since its founding.
It is truly a miracle that we have been able to conserve the ideals that our forefathers put in place so long ago. And I think that our veterans have played a large part in this achievement. Veterans have been fighting to uphold these values ever since our independence. Talking to veterans and hearing their stories reminds us that, no matter how many changes the U.S. may endure, the most important aspect of our country is, was, and will always be our values. They help us remember to uphold these beliefs through thick and thin, through good times and bad times, through war and peace. Because in almost 250 years, many aspects of our country have inevitably changed. For one, a trip to Europe no longer takes a month, and the cotton gin is far, far below the cutting edge of technology. But at the same time, the most important aspects of our country, our commitment to preserving the lives, liberties, and opportunities of every citizen, have remained constant. And if our Founding Fathers could see the United States for what it is today, they may be surprised by all of the cars, planes, and skyscrapers, but I’d hope they’d rest easy knowing that the core beliefs of the U.S. haven’t strayed since the founding of this country, and as long as we continue to honor our veterans, and as long as our flag still flies over the 50 States of America, I doubt they ever will.
Noah Lorenz |
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2024-2025 Voice of Democracy
