Chapter 17 THE REVOLUTION SPREADS

“AN army of principles,” declared Thomas Paine, “will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot; it will succeed where diplomatic management would fail: it is neither the Rhine, the Channel, nor the ocean that can arrest its progress: it will march on the horizon of the world, and it will conquer.”^13-b

Many Europeans had joined the Americans during the war, and they carried home the sentiments of Paine – as well as the sentiments of Lafayette, who said: “For a nation to love liberty, it is sufficient that she knows it.”^13-c

And there were converts among the mercenary soldiers who had been brought over from Europe to fight for Britain. Many of them were coming to the same conclusion as the captured Hessian who confided to Paine: “America is a fine, free country … I know the difference by knowing my own: in my country, if the Prince says, Eat straw, we eat straw.”^13-d The sentiment for freedom was spreading.

Thirteen years after the Declaration of Independence, the oxcarts and roving hogs were cleared from New York’s main street to make way for the inauguration procession of General George Washington, as the first president of the United States of America. Just two months later, a group of freedom-loving Frenchmen declared themselves to be a national assembly and set about to develop a French constitution, patterned after the American model.

Lafayette, with the aid of Jefferson, had carried the revolution to Europe. The people of France adopted the American colors: red, white, and blue. They called their leaders “the Americans” and named General George Washington as an honorary citizen of the new French Republic.

They sent for Thomas Paine and gave him French citizenship. When the news got out, Paine was elected by three different French provinces to serve as their representative at the National Convention. So the author of Common Sense sat in the inner councils with Lafayette and the French revolutionists, as they debated their plans and policies – under the American flag and the French tricolor, with portraits of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin gazing down upon them.

Freedom on the March

The initial effort met with reverses, but the new revolution – the real revolution – was on the march. During the period 1810–1812, it spread southward in the Western world. There were revolts in Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

In 1813, Mexico declared its independence from Spain; and in 1819, the people of Colombia took the same action.

Late in 1814, the Treaty of Ghent brought an end to the War of 1812. It was more or less of a draw; but the new American nation had held its own against the might of Britain’s Navy, and Americans were no longer molested on the high seas.

In 1822, Brazil proclaimed its independence from Portugal; and in 1890, it was set up as a republic, with its former provinces united under a constitution patterned after ours.

In 1823, the President of the United States announced, through the Monroe Doctrine, that Americans would resist any attempt on the part of the Old World to interfere with revolutionary progress in the Western Hemisphere.

Back in Europe, the struggle for freedom continued with mixed results; and in the 1840’s, thousands of defeated revolutionists fled to America. They came especially from Germany, where the fight for freedom seemed hopeless.

In 1848, the Swiss, whose struggle against authority dated back to the legendary period of William Tell, revised their confederation and set up a constitutional republic patterned after the American model, with two legislative bodies – one to represent the different cantons (states), the other to represent the Swiss nation as a whole. Switzerland is really deserving of a special chapter in this book. In common with the Saracens, the Swiss have been neglected by the historical analysts. It is highly significant that their little republic, embedded in the center of Old World conflict, has kept out of the big wars – and the protection afforded by the Alps is only part of the reason.

In the 1850’s, Garibaldi, who had been fighting for freedom in South America, carried the revolution to his native land, Italy.

In the 1860’s, Americans fought to abolish slavery once and for all. At least, that’s usually thought of as the cause of the War Between the States; and it was a just cause, except that the problem of freeing the slaves was already well on the way toward a peaceful solution. But the real issue was the matter of states’ rights versus federal domination. Among other things, this involved the tariff question, which had long been a bone of contention between the industrial states and the agricultural states. The latter had for many years been fighting against high tariffs because they violated the principle of no special privileges for any one.

The southern states wanted free ports; the federal government insisted on uniform tariffs at all ports – and the election of 1860 meant higher tariffs.

Northerners fought to preserve the American revolution by preserving the Union. Southerners fought to preserve the revolution by defending the rights of the states.

During the War Between the States, European troops moved into Mexico – thus proving that the Northerners were right. But the drifting away from the constitutional balance of power which has been going on ever since may yet prove that the Southerners were right. At any rate, the slaves were freed, and the Declaration of Independence was applied to all.

Lapses

In 1898, Americans went out of these United States to fight for the revolution in behalf of Cuba – against Spanish tyranny. Cuba was freed from Old World oppression, but our federal government took it over.

In that same year, the Filipinos proclaimed their independence from Spain; but instead of supporting their efforts, the United States moved in, fought them for four bloody years, and bought the Philippine Islands from Spain.

While our record is not spotless, these actions were later repudiated. Cuba and the Philippines were released. Since that time, America’s attempts to support the cause of freedom in other lands have partially atoned for our earlier lapses into Old World tyranny; but our support would be far more productive if we would do a better job of sowing the seed, instead of merely donating the fruit.

So much for a rapid glance at the first century of the third revolutionary movement.