It has been a while since I wrote an entry for this blog. The good news is I have been investing the time writing the book that was the inspiration for this series of commentaries; but today I am taking a moment to reflect on the 4th July.

Today is the 232nd anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence (1). Many Americans still confuse this with the Constitution (“We the People”) of 1786 or even the Bill of Rights of 1791. The Declaration sets out the rationale for separation of the Colonies from the Mother Country and names King George III as principal culprit. If you are unfamiliar with the document, the NPR team made an audio recording which you can listen to here: NPR It is stirring stuff.

In the course of my researches, I came across a fascinating book, Greeks & Romans Bearing Gifts: How the Ancients Inspired the Founding Fathers published in April this year. In the book scholar Carl J. Richard traces back to Greek and Roman historians, politicians and philosophers the inspiration for creation of the independent United States of America. He highlights how extensively the ‘Founding Fathers’ drew on antiquity to find ideas and precedents for the principles and structure of government of their new state. It is a remarkable notion that modern men should look to our ancestors of two thousand years and more ago for ‘best practice’ in government. That the USA still exists these two hundred and thirty-two years later is testament to how well they did their job and the fulfillment of their pledge in the Declaration (2):

And for the support of this Declaration … we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
2. Carl J. Richard, Greeks & Romans Bearing Gifts: How the Ancients Inspired the Founding Fathers, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, April 2008

 

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