Tear Down This Statue?
Mob rule is the ultimate democracy. Is that what you wanted?
I took this picture of the statue of Abraham Lincoln. I’ll tell you where it is later in this post. Feel free to try to guess. You will almost certainly be wrong, unless you already know.
I’ve had this post in the back of my mind for a while. But seeing Yuri’s Substack today made me realize that I need to get this out there. Feel free to check out Yuri’s post, but then come back!
There has been a drive to tear down statues lately. I have various feelings on the matter. Let’s start with the obvious: If you own a statue, on your own property, you can put it up or take it down for whatever reasons you choose. In a free society, you need meet no one else’s expectations.
But what about a statue on public property? Well, who owns the statue? That gets tricky because no assumptions can be made about ownership. It’s possible that the statue is owned by a private entity and placed on some public property by permission. OK, fine. But times change, and maybe now people are offended by that statue and want it taken down. In a nation of laws, those people can petition the appropriate government to have the statue removed. Or, on the other hand, a mob can form and deface or tear it down, or both. That first possibility is known as “Rule of law”. That second possibility is known as “Mob rule”. Can we all agree that, when mobs take it upon themselves to make themselves the law, that is every bit as bad and as offensive as the statue? ANY statue.
I have utter contempt for mobs, as should we all. But what about a legitimate legal proceeding to remove a statue? Ok, fine. In such case, it would be nice if the people petitioning for removal had a clue what the issues really are. That seems to only be sometimes the case. These are judgement calls, and I won’t presume that my judgement is the best, BUT...
What Americans know about their own history is, shall we say, lacking. Sure, some are quite knowledgeable, but most, I believe, are not. Even college graduates seem to oversimplify to the point of believing that all of American history is binary. Good guys and bad guys. And even simplified to that extent, they largely get things backward. I’ve become very interested in nineteenth century American history. I know now that it is very complex, that there were multitudes of interests and points of view, among all the races. No, White people were not all imperialist colonialists. Some were, of course. Most weren’t. Not all Blacks were slaves (some were slave owners), and there were more tribes of Indians than we can really keep track of. Some aligned with Whites, some against. Some against each other.
I think people fail to realize how significant the idea of government by the people was, in colonial times. People who were having nice lives in England and Europe weren't too inclined to risk their lives on a two month boat trip to the New World, and with no guarantees when they got here. What would make Pilgrams and others do that? Escape from persecution, that's what. Freedom, that’s what. They didn't come here to conquer Indians, and they didn’t. True, that happened, but it was well over a century later. Well, at least in the English colonies. The Spaniards did a whole lot of conquering, earlier. Do you see how tricky this is getting? Simple good guy/bad guy answers don’t really work. And I’ve barely scratched the surface.
So now it’s time for the big reveal. Where is that statue of Lincoln that I took a picture of? It’s in Edinburgh, Scotland. Why would there be a Lincoln statue there? Jan and I wondered the same thing. Our guide had walked us into the cemetery, The Old Carlton Burial Ground, without forewarning us. He wanted us to be surprised, as I’m sure he has surprised many Americans before us. It turns out that this section of the cemetery is devoted to people who are dedicated to the cause of freedom. Right next to the statue of Lincoln is the Martyr’s Monument, dedicated to those who campaigned (ready for this?) in the late 1700s for universal suffrage and individual rights. The statue of Lincoln is known as the Scottish- American Soldiers monument.
One more detail, which I’ve learned from reading Colin Woodard’s American history book, “American Nations”, is that Appalachia was largely settled by Scots-Irish. The Scots fought for centuries to maintain the freedom of their clans. The Romans tried to conquer them and failed, ultimately building Hadrian's wall to seal Scotland from the eminently more conquerable people of what is now England. But, centuries later, the English themselves prevailed, and Scotland came under the rule of England. In coming to America, the Scots-Irish were in no mood to put up with British rule in the Americas. They kept to themselves, and would not submit to any government beside their own minimal government. During the civil war, many Scot-Irish in Confederate states enlisted in the Northern army. Those that did not continued to defend their own home land. The Confederate armies made it a point to go NOWHERE NEAR the Scots-Irish enclaves, even in the confederate states, even with well-armed forces.
The above is a very brief examination of some of what makes America. The real America is not democrats and republicans. It is a rich amalgam of a multitude of cultures from around the world. If there is any commonality, it is in the desire for freedom and autonomy. Being free in no way presumes that we will all be alike. Rather, it ensures that we will all continue to be different. Never forget; this is the United Sates, not the United State. At no time in the past did any of these various cultures and states ever contemplate that we should all be the same, want the same, or have the same values. They knew better.
Hopefully, I’ve piqued your interest in American history, the history of how and why we are who we are. You will learn none of this from a politician or a journalist. Don’t waste your time. They will imply that it’s always been about the two parties, and never suggest anything else.
Good history teachers will teach to the expansiveness of the American experiment in government by the people. Unfortunately, not all history teachers are good history teachers.
I strongly recommend reading “American Nations”. There are a multitude of others. Become informed and knowledgeable. Lord knows, I’m still learning.
There is far more to be gained from learning our rich history, than from tearing down statues.
American Nations-Colin Woodard
Comments?
I think you're right that Americans (I) don't know about American history. I have deeply studied Eurasian history back to a couple thousand years, but I had deep mistrust that American history would deviate much from myth. In fact, even the Eurasian history I read is mostly non-American authors.
Some things are really feeble generalizations. "Some Blacks were slave owners". Wow, what's the significance of that? That the native tribes were against each other, I think I knew, which caused them to make "unfruitful" alliances. What could they do in any case? More soldiers would be coming from the old world.
Pilgrims were persecuted. Surely persecution was all over the old continent. Later of course the message was FREE LAND, which brought the adventurers in droves. Why not; It worked for them.
I have taken your cue and found a free download of "American Nations". I hope that I will be happily surprised.
https://www.academia.edu/44212270/American_Nations
Thanks
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This is, by far, my favorite of all your posts. It's a stroke of maddening genius. And you know what?? When I first saw the picture of Lincoln's statue, I wondered to myself, "Why is there a statue of an American president somewhere in the UK?" You no doubt wonder how I knew its location, and I'll tell you: the architecture surrounding the statue looks quintessentially British!