Portland observer., July 04, 2018, Page Page 12, Image 12

Page 12
July 4, 2018
O PINION
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Consider the Facts to How Nation Came to Be
The historical
significance of
Independence Day
o sCar h. b layton
Each year, many
Americans celebrate
the 4th of July. On that
day in 1776, it is said
that “The Land of the
Free” was born.
But the true historical signifi-
cance of Independence Day has
been smothered in hot dogs, bar-
becue ribs and potato salad. And
fireworks distract us from contem-
plating the economic forces that
served as midwife to the birth of
this nation.
Four hundred years ago, Euro-
peans invaded the Atlantic coast
of North America and fought each
other and the indigenous peoples
for control of the land. By 1763,
the British had made deals or
driven everyone else out so that
they controlled the entire coast.
This included Canada and Flor-
ida, which the British obtained
by
by treaty from France and Spain,
respectively, at the end of the Sev-
en Years’ War – a global conflict
waged by the colonial powers of
Europe for control of the rest of
the world.
Nine years after Brit-
ain gained control of the
entire Atlantic seaboard,
its colonists in North
America were rocked by
the news of a decision in
the British high court that
sounded the death knell for chattel
slavery in the British Empire. This
decision was the result of a case
known as Somerset v. Stewart.
James Somerset was a West Af-
rican held in slavery by a Norfolk,
Va., merchant and customs officer,
Charles Stewart. Stewart had taken
Somerset with him when he sailed
to England on business in 1769.
Somerset escaped in 1771 while
in England, but Stewart recaptured
him and had him imprisoned on a
ship due to sail for Jamaica. Som-
erset had been baptized while in
England and his godparents helped
him sue for his release.
The Lord Chief Justice of the
high court ruled in 1772 that slav-
ery was contrary to Common Law
and therefore illegal in England.
Somerset was freed, and the
news spread quickly to America.
By early 1773, enslaved African
Americans began to petition for
their release in courts in the col-
onies, hoping to repeat Somerset’s
success.
The slaveholding British colo-
nists were alarmed at these devel-
opments and believed correctly
that the British Empire was on
the path to ending chattel slavery.
By taking their “revolutionary”
stance, the colonists hoped to free
themselves and their slave-based
economy from the inevitable ar-
rival of abolition in the Empire.
Every red, white and blue
American knows the narrative of
how the freedom loving Sons of
Liberty threw off Britain’s yoke
of oppression. Some narratives
even recount faithful slaves cheer-
ing them on. PBS and others have
reported that 5,000 African Amer-
icans served in the Continental
Army. But many thousands more
ran away to fight for their own
freedom with the British.
The Revolutionary War did not
end until two years after the Bat-
tle of Yorktown in 1781. As Brit-
ish troops were evacuating New
York City in 1783, they took with
them, from that port alone, 3,000
former slaves who had supported
the crown. The names of these Af-
rican Americans were document-
ed in the “Book of Negroes” as
they boarded the ships bound for
Nova Scotia and the British West
Indies. An accurate record of these
former slaves was kept because of
a dispute between George Wash-
ington and Sir Guy Carleton, the
British commander in charge of
the evacuation of New York.
Southern colonials had insist-
ed that the treaty ending the war
include a provision for the return
of escaped African Americans to
their slaveholders. Carleton re-
fused to comply with that provi-
sion and was backed up by Lord
Frederick North, the British Sec-
retary of State who wrote to him
that transporting the runaways
from the land of their oppression
was “certainly an act of justice
due to them from us…”
On the other hand, Washing-
ton and other slaveholders be-
lieved they had been robbed of
what was rightfully theirs. After
his first meeting with Carleton,
Washington complained in a letter
to the governor of Virginia: “[T]
he slaves who have absconded
from their masters will never be
restored to them.”
Take a moment to consider the
facts of how and why this nation
came to be. Maintaining slavery,
as an economic institution, was
the major driving force for the
desire for Independence from En-
gland – at least for the Southern
states. And it is fair to say that the
Stars and Stripes were stitched to-
gether in large part by the sting of
the lash upon black backs.
It is important to accurately
recall and understand these facts
in our history if we hope to make
meaningful progress towards a
better future.
Oscar H. Blayton is a former
Marine Corps combat pilot and
human rights activist who practic-
es law in Virginia.
An Attack on American Consumers and Workers
Now comes Trump’s trade war
t om h. h astings
simply amount to an alien-
Now comes the
ated attack on American
Trump Trade War,
consumers and workers.
his Bellum omnium
I’m an old man who de-
contra omnes, war
veloped a hearing problem
of all against all. It
over the decades. I’m well
is the most spiritless,
into my senior citizen years
cynical, pessimistic
and on my fourth genera-
perspective on human
tion of hearing aids, each
nature and international relations improvement changing my life,
imaginable. It is also doomed to saving my ability to work, and res-
by
cuing me from what would be in-
creased social isolation. Trump’s
tariffs affect the import of high
tech gear, including the most ad-
vanced components of state-of-
the-art hearing aids. Do I care
where components of my hearing
aids are made or where they are
assembled into the final product?
I do not. Do I care if Trump alters
not only the price of my hearing
aids but possibly the quality? Yes,
I do.
If you have a device such as a
phone, a laptop, any notebook or
tablet, Trump is stepping on you.
He is driving up the price and pos-
sible dragging down the quality of
what you can purchase and use.
Thanks, Dear Leader.
Making cars, motorcycles, and
other consumer goods that sell
big in China—or Canada, or any
of the countries Trump is hitting
with tariffs, is now going to see a
radical reduction in markets. From
soybeans to distilled spirits, the
exports from the US are going to
plummet as erstwhile trading part-
ners respond in kind to Trump’s
“eff you, everyone!” Did you
vote for him? Trump speaks for
you. Trump is your leader. Trump
is taking you right over the cliff.
Trump’s momentary success living
in the White House as unemploy-
ment drops is now about to snatch
failure from the jaws of victory.
Hear that snap, crackle, pop? That
is the giant bubble-bursting sound
with the Trump lurch into trade
wars that he says are “easy to win.”
This is a guy who makes glib
promises and instant blame-oth-
ers excuses for his many failures,
including, by the way, six decla-
rations of bankruptcy. He refuses
to own his mistakes and calls him-
self clever for taking advantage of
laws that unfairly stick everyone
Letter to the Editor:
Appalling Blow to Unions
I am appalled by last week’s Supreme Court’s
decision that delivered a blow to unions in Oregon
and across this nation. Unions built the middle class
in America. My mother was a lifelong member of
the United Auto Workers and five of my aunts re-
tired from the United Food and Commercial Work-
ers Local 555 -- so I understand the job stability
else with the losses and debts.
So when his trade war bombs
and you are jabbed with the costs
and consequences, Trump will
refuse to be accountable. I mean,
this is a guy who orders children
snatched from their parents at the
border and then repeatedly blames
“the Democrats.”Huh? He did it,
no Democrat, not one. He could
fix it. His cruelty and obdurate
rationalizations are epic and inex-
cusable.
Indeed, the only possible way
to hold him responsible is to im-
pose all possible penalties, from
indictment to impeachment. He
will assume no component of cul-
pability that is not simply brought
down on him, and he will go kick-
ing and screaming, but he must go
if we have an ounce of collective
common sense and decency
Tom H. Hastings is founding di-
rector of PeaceVoice.
and economic security that come with union mem-
bership.
The Trump-backed Supreme Court will not stop
me from continuing to fight for the men and women
in labor.
Today I reaffirm my commitment to all labor,
especially my friends in the public sector unions.
Count me in to support any efforts to ensure fair
share is the standard throughout Oregon.
Loretta Smith, Multnomah County Commission-
er and candidate for Portland City Council