What America was, and what it is now

When years ago, I was in Baghdad attending a conference on Palestine, I met a short and rather square Russian woman, wearing four rows of medals on her ample chest. She asked me where I was from. I replied, “America.” She asked, “Do you mean the United States?” Indeed, I did, and from that time forward I always replied to this question, “United States” or “US.” By saying “America” I seemed to imply the entire western hemisphere which comprises 35 states in North, Central and South America. These days, I normally reply, “Cyprus” as I am also a citizen of this land with a civilisation which emerged 11,000-10,000 BC in West Asia.

By comparison, the US has an all too brief history. “American” colonists living in the original 13 east coast states revolted in 1776 against Britain. The cause was taxation without representation; they threw boxes of tea into Boston harbour and declared their independence. At the time of the “Boston Tea Party,”, the population of these states was 3,929,114, today these states alone of 50 have a population of 331,449,281.

When on Saturday, July 4th, the US celebrated the 250th anniversary of independence, commentators, politicians, and citizens had a great deal to say about current divisions and antagonisms. The primary exploiter of an already tense situation has been Donald Trump who has assumed full executive powers, ignored Congress, which is meant to provide checks and balances, and sidelined the Supreme Court which is intended to decide the legality of policies. Trump has also made anniversary celebrations about him, promoted his Republican party and sidelined the Democrats.

For a decade, the bipartisan America250 committee planned for a national commemoration based on history, service, and local communities. He has starved the committee of funds and has staged events he could dominate, including the national fair in Washington, at which states have exhibited. At least one, Oregon, has opted out. Extreme heat cancelled the Independence Day parade in the capital, and events elsewhere. Gatherings took place after five in the afternoon and a fireworks display on Saturday night lit up the night sky over Washington and elsewhere across the country, but participants were not as enthusiastic as hoped by Trump’s clique.

Nearly 70 per cent of citizens say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going and 60 per cent argue the country’s finest years have passed, according to the Pew Research Centre. A Gallup poll shows that only about half of the nation’s inhabitants say they are “extremely proud” or “very proud” to be a citizen, a 25-year record low. This low rating contrasts with popular excitement and commitment to the John F Kennedy administration which took office in 1961 and lasted until his assassination in November 1963. Kennedy was 43, scion of a prominent family, handsome, with a glamorous wife and two young children. The US has never recovered its political balance since his death. Trump is 78, son of a New York real estate developer who immigrated from Germany and whose wife was from a Scottish island.

The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by 56 men. John Hancock, a merchant by trade, was the first to sign which he did in bold letters so there could be no question of his involvement. His name has gone down in US history to describe firm commitment to an agreement or course of action. Inventor, newspaper editor, and politician Benjamin Franklin, 70, helped draft the declaration and was oldest man to sign the document. He also signed the constitution in March 1789. He was the inventor of lightning rods, bifocals, the glass harmonica and the Franklin stove, a free-standing metal fireplace, and founded many civic organisations, such as the Library Company, the University of Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia’s first fire department.

Many settlers faced persecution in their homelands and boarded rickety ships to make risky Atlantic crossings from the Old World to the New. Some 388,000 African slaves were transported to the colonies and the US from the early 1500s through the 19th century. Slavery condemned the US to a civil war between 1861 and 1865. Since then, the US has become a land of refugees from a mix of races, different languages and cultures. Some of my forebearers on my father’s side were Protestant Huguenots who fled persecution in Catholic France in the 15th century for Germany, England, and eventually landed in North America. Research done by my father showed that they arrived in the first permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, in around 1607-1609. Only 60 of the 214 original settlers survived the harsh winter, starvation, and attacks by the natives. This settlement was established 14 years ahead of the 1621 arrival in Massachusetts of the Mayflower carrying 102 passengers who established the second colony. Although half died, their snobbish descendants claim to number 30-35 million, 10 million in the US alone. This is certainly an exaggeration.

In 1803 Thomas Jefferson, primary author of the independence declaration and third president, negotiated a treaty with France to purchase the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River, doubling the size of country. The territory stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. In 1819, the US bought Florida from Spain, in 1845 Texas was annexed, in 1846 control was extended to the Pacific, and in 1848 the Southwest and California were added to the US following the Mexican American War. In 1867, the US bought Alaska from Russia and in 1868 Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines were annexed. Alaska and Hawaii became states, Puerto Rico and Guam are unincorporated territories under federal jurisdiction but are not officially states. While residents of both islands are US citizens at birth, their political status and governance differ from mainlanders. The Philippines became independent in 1946 after Japanese occupation during World War II but retains close ties with the US.