THE LAND OF THE FREE
When our country’s founders signed our Declaration of Independence, they were not only denouncing British tyranny, but tyranny in general. For over a thousand years, tyranny had sadly defined much of Christian history in Europe. Soon after our Declaration, our nation would become known as “The Land of the Free.” Our country’s story is a part of God’s revelation to the world.
It is God’s will for all people to be free. As our Declaration of Independence made clear, all people have been created equal by God and have been granted liberty from their Creator. And yet, our founders failed to comprehensively carry through on this particular point by allowing slavery to continue.
TYRANNY HAD TO BE ABOLISHED FOR THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT TO GROW
Imagine being God. Then, imagine having to listen to all of the prayers for protection throughout history by slaveholders in danger of being enslaved themselves! Both tribes and nations have called out for their people’s deliverance, while these people fully intended to retain their slaves. In addition to this reality, they often regarded their women as property, as well. Why would God want to get involved in these skirmishes?
Amazingly, one of the first principles which Christ taught in His earthly ministry was: “What you would have done unto you, likewise do unto others.” (Matthew 7:12) However, men all over the world have continually found themselves facing conquerors, as their own dominating behavior began to catch up to them. Why would our American experience be different? It is because the abolishment of tyranny in our government had to be accomplished, in order, for the anti-slavery movement to continue to grow.
As long as a whole country’s people were under the control of a tyrant, there could be no freedom for any. Throughout history, deceitful rulers had enjoyed re-branding the evil which they were committing with noble causes. “Instead of conquerors, let us refer to ourselves as peacekeepers,” men had said in ancient times. “Rather than regarding ourselves as foreign invaders, let us regard ourselves as a civilizing influence,” Colonial Powers had reasoned. These ideas had conquered the Old World in Roman Times and had colonized the New World in Colonial Times. So, when a group of men decided that it was time to break free from these tyrannical powers, God allowed them to succeed.
A DIVIDED COUNTRY COULD NOT HAVE DEFEATED THE BRITISH
When it came to the American Revolution and the War of 1812, God cared about the outcome. It was only because the document was in place to ensure freedom for all people. Yet, certain things were believed since ancient times because slavery had been around for thousands of years. Men believed that they rightfully owned their women and that it was acceptable to own servants.
However, God had a vision of what America could become after slavery was abolished. A new country was born. Yet, guaranteed freedom for all would not be achieved until 1865, at the end of the Civil War. This is when our country finally lived up to that “all men are created equal” phrase which had been written in our founding document. God had been patient with His imperfect humans.
Obviously, God had inspired people to fight for their freedom in all three of these wars. For our survival, our Creator had given us the ability to defend ourselves from aggressors, like every other organism on earth. Yet, God was patient during the first two wars, because a divided country could not have defeated the British Crown’s tyranny. It had taken a civil war to finally end slavery.
Our founders were sincere about their efforts. When not all of them could agree to abolish slavery in the beginning, they pressed on to achieve what was possible in their day. Our patriots united for the cause of throwing off British tyranny.
SHOULD WE DISREGARD OUR FOUNDERS' CONTRIBUTIONS?
Should we disregard our founders’ contributions because they had not yet abolished slavery? Also, should we dismiss the founders’ efforts because they regarded their women as property? By doing this, we would deny our forefathers’ contributions which made our country great. Our patriots’ courage to rebel against the most powerful military in the world at that time was an inspiration for people throughout the world. The founders’ idea about God granting liberty to all people was exemplary. These words about freedom had helped to inspire half of a country to risk their lives in a war to end slavery by 1861. These Americans fought for freedom for all people because they believed in freedom for all.
Also, our founders’ system of government was designed to serve the interests of its people. In our Bill of Rights, our country’s people were given the right to believe in God or to not believe. We were given the freedom to worship God, according to our faith, rather than having our government or tribe mandate our religious beliefs. We were also given freedom of speech to vocalize our criticisms of our government, so that we could ensure our freedom from tyranny in the future.
Furthermore, the founders abolished the class system to establish equality for all of the people of our new country. They allowed the common man to own his own land. The working class could now profit from their own labor because they were free. We should be grateful for these aspects of our founders’ story because we all derive our freedom from their efforts. They took the first step in accomplishing freedom for all of us by addressing tyranny.