A Revolutionary Idea

Bob Schieffer Says There Was Nothing Inevitable About The Birth Of The United States

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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Some thoughts on this July 4th weekend ...

In his wonderful book, "Founding Brothers," historian Joe Ellis says of the American Revolution that "no event in American history, which was so improbable at the time, has seemed so inevitable in retrospect."

As we think back on the rightness of America's cause, we find it hard to believe that it could have come out any other way.

Yet, as Ellis writes, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, the signers had no idea how the revolution would end. The most likely outcome was failure.

No matter the rightness of the cause, the signers were defying the most powerful nation in the world, and no colony had ever successfully broken away from a mother country.

Revolution after revolution against imperialist powers followed ours, but until ours, none had succeeded.

All the signers of our declaration knew for certain was that if it failed, they would hang. Somehow, they won.

On the Fourth of July, we celebrate (as we should) the wisdom and the vision of the founders and the way, in one document, that Thomas Jefferson summarized the aspirations of all people: the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

But let us never forget the one thing that made all the rest of it and what came after it possible: courage - the courage of those who bet their very lives on a project that all signs suggested would fail.

There was nothing inevitable about the American Revolution.

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E-mail Face the Nation.

[ausus-2009]

It''s time to stop fighting old battles - the Bush era is coming to an end - now we should think about how we want to shape the US in the years to come. We will have a new President, all of the seats of Congress will be up for election as will a third of the Senate.

What do we want from the new President and new Congress?

[alancozzi]

and with hope , the nation may survive the conservative assault, the conservative war against humanity,

pray for christians to be turned back into humans

HERE HERE!!!

in the interest of fairness, there have been far more human & intelligent conservatives than the ones in power now - the neocon junta (go look up the origins of the neocon movement Righties&Republicans - do it now! - it is not what you think it is, I promise you) and it''s influence is the problem

AC

[mswolfestock]

Right On, hologram5! Use the example set by the courageous patriots - get out there and QUESTION AUTHORITY!!!

[hologram5]

All this talk of freedom and independance means nothing if we sit idle and do nothing while our freedoms get taken away in the name of "national security". We need to stand together and fight the tyranny.

[mswolfestock]

God Bless America. I urge everybody to study American history and the Revolution - it is the most exciting and uplifting story - so much better than most popular fiction.

If you love America, study its history. Then you will know and understand why you love your country. The story of the founding of this great nation is NOT boring, although too many school teachers in the past have made it seem dull.

I have read "Founding Brothers," and it was great. I would also suggest and recommend David McCullough''s books "John Adams," and "1776," which is mostly about George Washington and everything that happened in the year of our great nation''s birth. I think it was Joseph Ellis who also wrote "American Sphinx," about Thomas Jefferson. Cokie Roberts, the ABC News reporter, wrote a great book, "Founding Mothers," which highlights some of the Revolution''s less well-known contributors, along with Abigail Adams, Martha Custis Washington, Dolley Madison, etc.

[cfin5]

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness was only writing on a piece of paper if it has to be implemented from the end of a gun.

Posted by o_nolan1 at 08:51 AM : Jul 08, 2008---- The King of England didn''t bow to a piece of paper, rather from the American spirit of heart that held the other end of the gun. Your understanding is about this "-" long if you believe your own words against the words of the Founding "AUTHORS" of this nation.

[penrod8]

As always when we celebrate the birth of our country, Thomas Jefferson is mentioned. Perhaps, we would do better to compare the contributions of Jefferson to those of John Adams. No one contributed more, and accumulated less, either monetarily or in historical recognition, than John Adams, for their efforts. And even as our nation was being conceived and during the infancy of this country, John Adams realized that the two party system would lead to the ruination of our country. Something that the intellecutals in both parties have not and do not recognize to this day.

[o_nolan1]

We will only have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as long as we are able to defend these RIGHTS. That means not *** with the 2nd amendment. I know this aggravates the "left", but it is even more important than abortion, gay marriage, universal healthcare or wearing your baseball cap sideways.. Aren''''t you glad you don''''t live in Washington DC?

Posted by ken1dall

The second amendment was written when America was teetering on the edge of volatility. Arming oneself was designed to bolster the new nation just formed and not to protect it from itself. Why has this amendment become the right to bear arms to protect yourself from your fellow Americans? It is all so bizarre. If the country is that bad than maybe it''s time to move. If one is that fearful of the government, than those wise old men were dead wrong. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness was only writing on a piece of paper if it has to be implemented from the end of a gun.

[ausus-2009]

larryfarma,

The Founding Fathers may have had their failings, but they produced some wonderful documents in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Have you read either document lately?

[Larry Fafarman]

The proximate cause of the Revolutionary War was the Boston Tea Party and the British response to it, the Intolerable Acts. The British lowered the tax on tea to help the British East India Co. sell its tea in the colonies, but the resulting lowered price undercut the price of tea sold by tea smugglers. Colonists who profited from the smuggled tea protested. The owners of the tea ships in Boston harbor agreed to leave without unloading the tea, but colonial governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to let the tea ships leave without first unloading the tea. Some colonists disguised as Indians then boarded the ships and dumped the tea into the harbor. The British then responded with the Intolerable Acts, which suspended the charter of Massachusetts and closed Boston harbor until the tea was paid for. The Intolerable Acts sparked the beginning of the Revolutionary War. John Hancock, whose signature on the Declaration of Independence dwarfs the others, was a tea smuggler.

The desperate revolutionaries made an alliance with their old enemy, France, against the mother country. Ironically, one of the purposes of British taxation in the colonies was to help pay for the cost of the French and Indian Wars.

Anyway, I see no reason to worship the Founders, as some originalist judges do. The Founders weren''t all wonderful people.