Restore America Plan - Objections to What the Founding Fathers Did

Restore America Plan - Objections to What the Founding Fathers Did
Objections to What the Founding Fathers Did

Executive Summary – What we are going to do here is illustrate some “controversial issues” concerning what the founding fathers did. They were not perfect. We will show some of the things they did that would get many to criticize them if there were internet vehicles for criticism open to them at the time. No work of man is going to be perfect.

Declaration of Independence – Let me quote from this document: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
What we have here is a case for creation not evolution and this would offend many evolutionist oriented people today. We also have a case for God referred to as the creator. Not all believe in God. We also have a case for all men are created equal which sadly many people do not hold to. So we have three potentially inflammatory statements right here that many would protest about today. They would say we do not want these people to represent us, etc.

Paris Treaty of Peace 1783 – This was the document commemorating the end of the war of independence. There are a number of things contained herein that would offend many today. Let's look at just the introductory first paragraph to see some of these things.

The Definitive Treaty of Peace 1783
In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.
It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, duke of Brunswick and Lunebourg, arch- treasurer and prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire etc., and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily interrupted the good correspondence and friendship which they mutually wish to restore, and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse , between the two countries upon the ground of reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience as may promote and secure to both perpetual peace and harmony; and having for this desirable end already laid the foundation of peace and reconciliation by the Provisional Articles signed at Paris on the 30th of November 1782, by the commissioners empowered on each part, which articles were agreed to be inserted in and constitute the Treaty of Peace proposed to be concluded between the Crown of Great Britain and the said United States, but which treaty was not to be concluded until terms of peace should be agreed upon between Great Britain and France and his Britannic Majesty should be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly; and the treaty between Great Britain and France having since been concluded, his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, in order to carry into full effect the Provisional Articles above mentioned, according to the tenor thereof, have constituted and appointed, that is to say his Britannic Majesty on his part, David Hartley, Esqr., member of the Parliament of Great Britain, and the said United States on their part, John Adams, Esqr., late a commissioner of the United States of America at the court of Versailles, late delegate in Congress from the state of Massachusetts, and chief justice of the said state, and minister plenipotentiary of the said United States to their high mightinesses the States General of the United Netherlands; Benjamin Franklin, Esqr., late delegate in Congress from the state of Pennsylvania, president of the convention of the said state, and minister plenipotentiary from the United States of America at the court of Versailles; John Jay, Esqr., late president of Congress and chief justice of the state of New York, and minister plenipotentiary from the said United States at the court of Madrid; to be plenipotentiaries for the concluding and signing the present definitive treaty; who after having reciprocally communicated their respective full powers have agreed upon and confirmed the following articles.
Note the first words: In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.
This is the triune godhead from the bible, Imagine the screams you would see in the forums if they had forums back then. They are writing in the name of the triune godhead. How dare them be so bold about their religious beliefs. They actually act as if God told them to do something like this.

Then we can look at this:
It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts
This is actually based on a scripture.
Prov. 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Can you imagine how people would be mad beyond belief today reading a document like that attributing the peace and end of the war to God affecting the hearts of the Kings involved to end the hostilities. There are a lot of people opposed to the God of the Bible today who resent anything positive being attributed to God. The de facto courts today would put the signers of such a document under psychiatric evaluation with an eye towards keeping them locked up in a mental institution. On the other hand the founding fathers were successful and if more of we the people listened to them carefully we would not be in this mess today would we? Dwell on that!
Next we can look at this:
most potent Prince George the Third, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith,
My gosh they compromised and paid respect to one holding a title of nobility after he was responsible for the deaths of numerous people. They went on to even use the Esqr title of nobility as shown: John Adams, Esqr., Benjamin Franklin, Esqr., and John Jay, Esqr. The founding fathers being thrust into politics, international finance not being God did some things that were far from perfect, My Gosh!!!!! Look they had to make compromises for the greater good to end the conflict and save lives and property. So they paid homage to a now foreign King to end the war. What would you do keep fighting until he agreed to be called George? The Esqr titles of nobility I think were eliminated down the road but admittedly I have not dug deeply into this at this time.

Let's take a Look at George Washington - General Washington's Order for the Celebration of the French Alliance. Read below and see that at the end there was a canon salute and they chanted “Long Live the King of France”. This is paying serious homage to one holding a title of nobility. Imagine what the forums would be saying if there were forums back then. Oh my Gosh this Washington will probably crown himself King before it is over. Again George Washington was thrust into politics and was trying to preserve the freedom and lives of those that trusted him to lead them as best he could. Circumstances were adverse. Washington was a man, not God and thus he was not perfect. Washington may have said he listened to God, was led by God, gave God credit, etc but he never said he was God and being a man he was not perfect. Also note how he gives God credit for raising up France as an ally. Yikes would that ever get screams of protest today. How about these words: “the important event which we owe to His Divine interposition”. My gosh there goes Washington again giving God credit for international alliances. He must surely be insane is what I expect they would say today. Those that believe God would quietly be encouraged but those who dislike God would be enraged. People are still the same today. Perhaps more of those in the states at the time of the war believed in God than today.

Here is the text of the Order for the Celebration of the French Alliance and more comments follow after the text:
"It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the course of the United States, and finally raise up a powerful friend among the princes of the earth, to establish our Liberty and Independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the Divine goodness, and celebrating the important event which we owe to His Divine interposition. The several brigades are to assemble for this purpose at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, when their chaplains will communicate the information contained in the postscript of the Pennsylvania Gazette of the 2nd instant, and offer up a thanksgiving and deliver a discourse suitable to the event. At half past ten o'clock a cannon will be fired which is to be a signal for the men to be under arms. The Brigade Inspectors will then inspect their dress and arms, and form the battalions according to the instructions given them, and announce to the commanding officers of the brigade that the battalions are formed. The commanders of brigades will then appoint the field officers to the battalions, after which each battalion will be ordered to load and ground their arms. At half past seven o'clock a second cannon will be fired as a signal for the march; upon which the several brigades will begin their march by wheeling to the right by platoons, and proceed by the nearest way to the left of their ground by the new position. This will be pointed out by the Brigade Inspectors. A third signal will then be given, on which there will be a discharge of thirteen cannon; after which a running fire of the infantry will begin on the left of the second line and continue to the right. Upon a signal given, the whole army will huzza, 'Long Live the King of France.' The artillery then begins again and fires thirteen rounds; this will be succeeded by a second general discharge of musketry, in running fire, and a huzza, 'Long Live the Friendly European Powers.' The last discharge of thirteen pieces of artillery will be given, followed by a general running and huzza, 'The American States.'
Then we read this:
when their chaplains will communicate the information contained in the postscript of the Pennsylvania Gazette of the 2nd instant, and offer up a thanksgiving and deliver a discourse suitable to the event. Those that detest the things of God would croak seeing a military tribunal with chaplains offering thanksgiving to God for the alliance.
Then we read this: 'Long Live the King of France.' More paying respect to nobility. Again what else could they do, insult the King of France who was sending his troops into harms way to help them?
I like the ending and probably all sovereigns would like it:
“The last discharge of thirteen pieces of artillery will be given, followed by a general running and huzza, 'The American States.” What a nice salutation.
Slavery – After the war of independence there were still slaves. Yes there were. Some of the founding fathers did eventually release their slaves like Washington. They were trying to find a solution to end slavery in a slow gradual way. The business owners were in debt to foreign bankers and these debts were enforceable. As a condition of ending the bloodshed they had to agree to accept valid debts as enforceable, both ways. They did not want to bankrupt the businesses using slaves by immediately terminating slavery. The slaves once freed would need an economy able to absorb them so they could work, find housing and and afford to live. The founding fathers would not resort to illegal taxes. Slavery did linger on for some time after the war was over. In 1774 the First Continental Congress delegates did pledge to stop the importation of slaves. The founding fathers fully believed what they had put their signature to: “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.” They limited and eventually outlawed the importation of slaves. They outlawed slavery in the majority of the states within their lifetime. They outlawed the expansion of slavery into areas where it currently did not exist. They passed or influenced legislatures to pass laws making slavery more humane. Many individual slave owners, largely through the efforts of the founders, voluntarily freed their slaves. Politics is compromise and they did what they could do to end slavery but is was not as abrupt as some would have insisted on. They would have been attacked as being racist etc for not immediately ending slavery. Politics is not a perfect world. Some people did not think all men were created equal and thus clung to slavery. They did a lot towards the abolition without bloodshed or economic collapse. There was a large amount of people who did not want to end slavery is what the problem was. So it took about 80 years to bring an end to it. Once again the founding fathers were not perfect and would be subject to much criticism by todays standards. They did not have a book called “ Constitutional Government Startup for Dummies”. Such a book did not exist then and does not exist today. Much is done by the seat of the pants.

Summary – When you gaze back historically at the work the founding fathers did one can see some shortcomings. They got out from under the king and got entangled in what proved to be an international armed conflict involving several powerful nations. Many of these nations were just sick and tired of what the King of England was up to. Sound familiar? So foreign nations saw the founding fathers and their movement as a way to reel in the King of England and they supported the revolution. Sound familiar? Thus the revolutionists got finances (sound familiar), weapons and military assistance from foreign powers. Rest assured they did not go to them and say ok shut up and listen and we are going to tell you what to do and when to do it. They went into negotiations with these countries. Negotiations means concessions and compromises would need to be made. While you are seeing your fellow countrymen get killed and lose their property you get quite motivated and interested in ending the conflict. The same things apply today. It is easy to be critical of a movement like RAP. It is also unjustifiably harsh to hold them to unrealistically high standards. At least cut them the slack that was allowed to the founding fathers. RAP is not the source of the problems of we the people. They are a solution. Now we should fire canons 13 times and chant Huzza - the Republic of the united States.

http://www.panamalaw.org