"[O]ur fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that 'all men are created equal.' Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure." – Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
Americans have been fundamentally different from other peoples due to our devotion to individual liberty and equal treatment under the law. Our nation's unique character began with the early English settlers, who courageously left their homes, friends and way of life to hazard a perilous ocean voyage to a harsh and largely unknown wilderness. They made this sacrifice because they saw little opportunity for a better life in their native land, where government persecuted many of its subjects for their religious practices and favored the politically powerful with a life of privilege. The settlers were confident in themselves and came to American shores to be on their own, away from governmental persecution and exploitation.
Here is the earliest known of the five drafts of what may be the most famous American speech. Delivered by President Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, at the dedication of a memorial cemetery on November 19, 1863, it is now familiarly known as "The Gettysburg Address."
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As an isolated people living in untamed nature, life was severe, and survival was problematic. Their success required that they be self-reliant, responsible and hardworking, as well as cooperative among themselves to enhance the safety and development of their settlements.
The American Colonies prospered and exploitation again appeared when the English government, in the 1760s, demanded increased control, obedience, and tribute. Eventually, in 1776, "a long Train of abuses and Usurpations" – as they wrote in the Declaration of Independence – was too much for our founders to tolerate. They stood up to the most powerful empire in the world, declared their independence from it and won a desperate, eight-year war, pledging their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the cause.
It is their Declaration that boldly states the self-evident truths of American Exceptionalism, which successor generations practiced with greater inclusiveness. Each person is equal before God and the law and possesses the unalienable right to live free, beyond the authority of legitimate government to obstruct or deny.
During the Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln referenced the Declaration of Independence in his Gettysburg Address, another American generation was making a momentous sacrifice for American Exceptionalism. The character and virtue of these early generations of Americans built an extraordinary civilization that created greater freedom, equality, opportunity, and prosperity than had been known before.
Today, it is our generation that will determine whether liberty and equality under the law will endure or whether the nation will fall further into a collectivist, impoverished state where our daily lives are increasingly controlled by authoritarian dictates. The challenge before us does not demand the great hardships endured by the early settlers, the American Revolutionaries or the Union forces of the 1860s. Nonetheless, we face a formidable test as America again finds itself a nation divided over the role of government.
The corrosive effects of changing government's role from securing liberty and equal treatment under the law to engaging in social engineering are clear. First, government has promised more than it can deliver as illustrated by Social Security and Medicare becoming unsustainable in their present forms.
Second, it has recklessly spent us into functional bankruptcy and is debasing the value of our money.
Third, it has become corrupt and discriminatory, serving as a favor-factory for politically active groups who are rewarded with bailouts, subsidies, waivers, and preferential legislation at the expense of the general public.
Fourth, the expansion of government has weakened the role of self-reliance and voluntary associations, leading to the decline of our society.
Fifth, government is becoming dictatorial. There is hardly an activity in modern life that is not subject to the discretion of unelected bureaucracy.
America's strength has always been the character and vigor of its citizens. We the People, either individually or cooperatively, can solve most problems. Our government has proven that it cannot. America has flourished as a sanctuary from governmental exploitation and discrimination and as a haven for freedom and happiness. Its survival as an exceptional society depends on us.
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