The uniqueness of American Liberty (Introduction)
What I begin here deserves much more weight of influence than I can possibly give. As I myself began to read the words of George Bancroft, I felt them grip my heart and I realized I would be spending more than one visit with him.
Before I share with you some of his thoughts from his oration delivered on the 4th of July, 1826, it seemed proper to discover first of all who George Bancroft was.
You see, I was talking the other day to a friend of mine, and I made the comment that it seems our founders were a very special group of people. Unlike us today, I think they had an understanding of freedom we perhaps have forgotten, and which we may have to lose to some degree to regain.
Their discipline in their personal and private lives exceeds anything we seem to understand today. The way this developed in their faith, politics, social lives, families and homes, produced a way of life that made the American society the greatest experience in human history.
It is the treads that they have sown, that even in the mist of our troubles, for the present, hold us together.
At the time he gave this oration, the little communities around the area in which I live were just beginning to be settled, many of the towns had not yet developed their names.
So who is George Bancroft? He is one of the nation’s foremost historians, titled “The Father of American History” for his Herculean and groundbreaking efforts in that field. Bancroft was also a high ranking and noted political figure, being accorded honors rarely bestowed on any citizen.
George Bancroft was the son of the famous minister, the Rev. Aaron Bancroft, who authored the popular 1807 work, The life of Washington. Aaron’s regular prayer at family meals had been, “Give us a teachable temper”; his son George epitomized that answered prayer.
At the age of eleven, George went to Phillips Exeter Academy and at thirteen entered Harvard. After graduation, he remained at Harvard for an additional year pursuing the study of divinity and then spent the next four years in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland (and elsewhere), continuing his studies in Biblical learning and Asian languages. During his time in Europe, he earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate.
In 1834, he began work on his magnum opus: the History of the United States, a project that spanned four full decades, folks that 40 years!
Bancroft originally pursued his career as a Democrat and even delivered the official eulogy following the death of Democratic President Andrew Jackson. However, because Democrats promoted slavery and strongly supported secession of the South from the Union during the Civil War, Bancroft supported Republican leaders and even delivered the official eulogy following the death of Republican President Abraham Lincoln.
This oration was delivered on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the day that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died (although public knowledge of these events was not yet known at the time of this oration), leaving alive only one remaining signer of the Declaration: Charles Carroll of Maryland.
In this oration Bancroft looks at the powerful influence of liberty throughout the world. He then examines American liberty, noting that the world was being united by the unique ideas of liberty flowing from America. Bancroft’s oration is full of thankfulness to God for His blessing upon America. In fact, it opens with the line “Our act of celebration begins with God” and closes with a similar sentiment, challenging Americans to a recognition of the hand of God both in our history and in our future. He exemplifies the uniqueness of American liberty.
I hope you enjoy his words in next weeks posting as much as I will enjoy sharing them.
May God bless each of you,
David & Julie
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