Chapter 18 6. Philadelphia meets Athens

The United States is the "reincarnated soul boy" of the Greek city-state. Like the Greeks, the founding history of the Americans is inseparable from navigation, colonization, and business.In fact, the predecessor of the United States was originally 13 "British colonies" divided into three categories.The first category is granted by the British king, called "lord colonies", such as Maryland.The second type is the charter issued by the king, which is established by commercial companies, called "company colonies", such as Virginia.The third category is established by free immigrants according to their own contracts, called "self-governing colonies", also known as "contract colonies", such as Rhode Island and Connecticut.

But either way, they are self-governing colonies.Although the British king claims to enjoy sovereignty, he is actually "sovereignty owned by the king and governed by the people". There is neither affiliation nor unified system among the 13 colonies.Some are managed by oath or contract, some have all procedures handed over to the commander of the gendarmerie, and some have the final say on what crops to grow.Not only do they have nothing to do with each other, but some of them never communicate with each other. The only thing the same is the core values ​​- independence, freedom, equality.

Just say Massachusetts. In 1620, some British secessionists in the Netherlands took the ship "Mayflower" and arrived at the unplanned Massachusetts (originally planned to be Virginia) after 66 days of drifting at sea.There were a total of 102 of them when they went ashore, but a winter's cold wind took away 58 lives.In the spring of the following year, when the Mayflower came here again, the captain was surprised to find that none of those who were dying were willing to return to "civilized" England with him.The reason is simple: independence here, freedom here. This is really "give me liberty or give me death".

No wonder these suffering and brave people are regarded by Americans as their spiritual pioneers, even though they were not the earliest North American immigrants.In fact, Massachusetts has always been the birthplace of the independence movement and the practitioner of the spirit of freedom.It was they who formulated the first document embodying the idea of ​​"sovereignty lies in the people" - the "Mayflower Convention"; it was also they who initiated the convening of the "Anti-Stamp Act Conference" and said to the British government's excessive taxation that " No".They threw tons of English tea overboard because freedom was more important than cheap tea.After the British closed their Boston Harbor, not a single unemployed workman was hired to repair the British barracks, and not a single poor peasant sold grain to the British army, for they would rather have nothing than give up their liberty.Not surprisingly, the Revolutionary War was fought first in Massachusetts.

This spirit belongs to Massachusetts, and it belongs to all Americans.Therefore, they would break the convention and sit together twice to hold the "Continental Congress" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Of course, they also dispersed after the victory of the war, and it took several years to hold a constitutional convention in Philadelphia.Because the alliance is for independence, and the war is for freedom. How could it be possible to create an "American king" after driving out the British king? So, although they later created a federal constitution and established a federal government, their founding date was July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was passed.Obviously, in the eyes of Americans, the national spirit is far more important than the national form.In other words, the most important thing is the spirit of the country, followed by the Constitution, and then it is the turn of Congress, the Supreme Court and the President.

This is the "American spirit", but also the "Greek spirit".Independence, freedom, equality, science, democracy, and the rule of law are consistent and passed on. The road is long and long, from Athens to Philadelphia. Let us revisit that immortal declaration— We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that each of them is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.It is to secure these rights that man has instituted governments among himself... Why should there be a state?Now you can figure it out!

The secrets of civilization should also be revealed.