What would they think? It’s a debatable proposition whether our Founding Fathers would be supportive of all that is being done in today’s America in the name of unifying the country. Indeed, would they recoil in the face of disunifying activities done in the name of unity? Or would they regard them as a way to strengthen the nation? Fortunately, we have their testimony—even today—if we read what they said about unity. The Founders worried about disunity. They faced the tyranny of Great Britain as well as its powerful naval and armed forces sent to perpetuate oppression. And in the face of that threat, they knew that unless they were united—indeed a United States—there was little hope that they could overcome tyranny.
Yet today, we are witnessing a very unhealthy rift in America as we debate the kind of nation we will be. The disagreement at the center of that dispute is not new. Its roots are in the “culture wars”, the term given to the assault on traditional values by those who want to alter our nation and undermine not only our constitutional republic, but the very free enterprise economic system that sustains much of it.
Ironically, in the name of unity, much disunity has been proffered. It’s not as sincere as those who offer it claim it is, whether “taking a knee” when our national flag is being honored or suggesting alternative national anthems be played while doing so. Nor is scouring our history from the public square beneficial to those who have much to learn from its lessons when they are placed in a genuine and historically accurate context. To the contrary, acts that disunify give aid and comfort to those who want to advance a malevolent political agenda.
Consider our national motto, E pluribus unum (out of many one), that was favored by our Founders to appear on the great seal of the United States. Those words represented the importance they assigned to unity as an essentially element in maintaining freedom. Indeed, writing about the threat from foreign powers in Federalist 7, Alexander Hamilton noted the danger to America if our union was horribly divided among ourselves, a conditions we see in the political divide today.
“The probability of incompatible alliances between the different States or confederacies and different foreign nations, and the effects of this situation upon the peace of the whole, have been sufficiently unfolded in some preceding papers. From the view they have exhibited of this part of the subject, this conclusion is to be drawn, that America, if not connected at all, or only by the feeble tie of a simple league, offensive and defensive, would, by the operation of such jarring alliances, be gradually entangled in all the pernicious labyrinths of European politics and wars; and by the destructive contentions of the parts into which she was divided, would be likely to become a prey to the artifices and machinations of powers equally the enemies of them all. Divide et impera must be the motto of every nation that either hates or fears us.”
In the eyes of the Founders, Divide et impera (divide and conquer) was an existential threat from foreign powers to American unity. Yet the divisions we see in our nation today are not those of conflict between our states or foreign nations, but rather those that reside in the bitterness of our domestic conflicts. But don’t be fooled. The domestic divide today is exactly what our enemies in the world are gleeful to witness. The solution is clear. We must embrace genuine unity, not action and rhetoric that divides. Here’s an example:
We are frequently told that multiculturalism holds the secret to national unity. That is, if we fracture ourselves into disparate groups and advance competing cultural identities, all will be well. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our Founders believed a common American identity was irreplaceable in forming national unity. This is the only way we can be true to our national motto, E pluribus unum, “out of many one” as opposed a version that would E pluribus amplius, “out of many more”.
While diversity derived from legal immigration enriches our culture, it can also destroy it if we elevate multiculturalism above E pluribus unum. Central to our common American identity is patriotism, a respect for our system of government and free enterprise, a reverence for the Constitution, and respect for the Judeo-Christian ethic that shapes the virtue needed to sustain freedom. It is both good and enlightening to celebrate the cultures of native lands where we or our ancestors originated. It’s destructive if that undermines the unity our Founders sought. Indeed, it’s precisely what our enemies hope for when we embrace their motto for us, Divide et impera.
PS: The summer is a great time to relax and read my book, Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War, so I hope you will order it today. Also, take a listen to the Podcast interview Cris Alvarez did with me about the book at his website WarScholar. Thanks!
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