What is the
pride of Americans these days? Is it Paris Hilton's jail clothes? By
some headlines, you might think an orange jumpsuit is the equivalent
of red, white, and blue.
Benjamin
Franklin was asked this question. In the years leading up to the
passage of the Declaration of Independence we celebrate this week,
Franklin answered a similar question. His reply was as telling as it
was prophetic.
The year was
1766. The British Parliament was tangled in more yarn than a
thousand flocks of sheep could produce. They had to rip out the
stitches of the Stamp Act, a knotted mess of their own making. The
Stamp Act required American colonists to pay taxes on licenses,
playing cards, legal documents, and newspapers--pretty much any
piece of paper they touched. Protests ranged from respect to
revenge. Virginia's House of Burgess passed resolutions while an
out-of-control mob in Boston burned the houses of British officials.
Desperate, the members of Parliament turned to Franklin, America's
trade representative in London, for help. They called him to a
secret meeting that turned into an inquisition. They were shocked at
the yarn he told. Americans no longer took pride in the latest
British fashions.
"Do you not
think cloth from England absolutely necessary to them?" a member
asked.
"No, by no
means absolutely necessary; with industry and good management, they
may very well supply themselves with all they want," Franklin
replied.
Many colonists
had decided to increase wool production by refusing to eat lamb. By
doing so, they hoped to lessen their dependence on Britain. Although
Franklin knew wearing fine clothing was as a source of pride among
England's upper crust, he delighted in taunting them with American
ingenuity.
"The people
will all spin and work for themselves in their own houses," Franklin
said.
The protests
and resolutions against the Stamp Act bothered Parliament so much
that some wanted to bribe the Americans with a trade off. If
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, then would Americans "acknowledge
the rights of Parliament to tax them, and would they erase their
resolutions?" a member asked.
"No, never!"
Franklin emphasized.
"Are there no
means of obliging them to erase those resolutions?" the member
pressed.
"None that I
know of; they will never do it, unless compelled by force of arms."
"Is there a
power on earth that can force them to erase them?"
"No power, how
great soever, can force men to change their opinions."
"What used to
be the pride of the Americans?"
"To indulge in
the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain," Franklin answered.
This Member of
Parliament then asked the most revealing question of this secret but
frank inquiry.
"What is now
their pride?"
"To wear their
old clothes over again till they can make new ones," Franklin said
of the colonists' hard work, self reliance, and respect for God,
family, friends, and neighbors.
What is the
source of American pride today? As we celebrate Independence Day
this year--231 years after Benjamin Franklin and fifty-five others
signed the Declaration of Independence--the most tangible example of
national pride is still found in a fabric. American pride can be
found in many places, from the T-shirts we wear to July 4 picnics to
the nylon flags hanging on our porches. Cotton blends often boast of
what matters most to us: schools, sports teams, churches,
businesses, and charities. But we still find the most pride in Old
Glory. The U.S. flag remains America's most popular symbol,
according to a 2002 Harris Poll. A more recent Harris Poll, from
2006, confirmed an important fact. The United States is still the
most patriotic nation in the world.
American pride, however, is most
poignantly found in one minute and 54 seconds--the time it takes for
honor guards at Arlington Cemetery to fold the flag thirteen times
into a trim triangle during a funeral for a fallen patriot. Wherever
you see the flag this week, whether printed on a T-shirt, hoisted on
a pole, or folded over a casket, take a moment to salute Benjamin
Franklin, our nation's founders, veterans, and the members of our
military who have sacrificed so much for the pride and freedom of
Americans.
Jane Cook is the author
of Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from
the Revolutionary War (AMG Publishers, August 2007), The
Faith of America's First Ladies (Living Ink Books, 2006) and the
former White House Deputy Director for President George W. Bush
(2001-03).
