Liberty - A Gift From France, A Right From God

The Necessity for an American Rededication

Recently, I read in the newspaper that it was the anniversary of the 1886 dedication of the statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World” in New York Harbor, by President Grover Cleveland. A gift from the people of France, “Lady Liberty” was very dear to the hearts of the French, most famously featured in the Eugene Delacroix painting, Liberty Leading the People. A million New Yorkers in attendance witnessed the moment when the statue’s sculptor, Auguste Bartholdi, released the tricolor French flag that veiled Liberty's face, to a roar of guns, whistles, and applause.

Considering the fact that France turned the tide of the American Revolution in favor of the Continental Army, it is the United States who, by all rights, should have gifted France with such a colossal tribute to Liberty. Not only did America and France share an intense l’amour de la liberté, but the French were looking for some payback for the defeat they received at the hands of the British in the Seven Years’ War. But it was Benjamin Franklin who truly brokered the deal with France (at first clandestinely, and then overtly), when he successfully petitioned for open-ended credit, armaments and gunpowder.

After formalizing the 1778 twin agreements with France (the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce), the added infusion of much needed supplies, and committed French fighting men, greatly increased the Continental Army’s chances for sustaining their fight with Britain. Approximately 12,000 French soldiers came to the rescue of General George Washington’s ragtag army, along with 63 warships with 22,000 sailors aboard. The most famous French officer to join the fray was the Marquis de Lafayette, but it was the Comte de Rochambeau, commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force, whose army played the decisive role in helping the Americans defeat the British army at Yorktown. Compounded with the naval victory, by the Comte de Grasse, at the Battle of the Chesapeake, the final defeat of the British military was now sealed. But not for the military support of the French Generals Lafayette and Rochambeau, and Admiral de Grasse, Washington’s forces may never have been able to deal the decisive blow to General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 - and America may never have won its independence.

So, it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that France gave America the gift of liberty, twice - once in 1781, and again in 1886. But Thomas Jefferson, in 1776, had a different notion as to what liberty is, and from Whom it comes. He boldly proclaimed:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As to what liberty is, it’s not a gift - it’s a right, an unalienable right. It can never be taken away. And it doesn’t come from man - it comes from our Creator, from God. Because it comes from God, it is given to man as his birthright. If liberty came from man, it wouldn’t be unalienable - it could be “given” one day, only to be taken away the next. This foundational truth about liberty seems to be all but forgotten today, amidst a growing population of people who: a) take their American civil liberties totally for granted, and b) believe that these civil liberties are benevelantly granted to them by their government.

On December 15, 1791, the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America were ratified. And what were the very first thoughts, the first words, used by those truly colossal, divinely-inspired men, whom we endearingly refer to as our Founding Fathers? What were the most pressing God-given rights that they couldn’t wait to put on paper, as a guarantee to a new nation of free people? You need not look further than the first two amendments to know what they valued most in this world:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The very first assurance from our newly-founded Government (succinctly articulated in the 1st Amendment) was, “Don’t worry, citizen, you are forever free to believe in the God of your understanding. Oh, and you’re also totally free to talk about your God, or anything else you which to say, and if you get tired of speaking, you are just as free to write and print whatever it is you wish to say. Oh, and if you find other people who share your same beliefs, you are all free to peaceably assemble and, if you wish to voice your grievances, you are also free to petition your Government for a redress of those grievances.”

Now, stop and ask yourself, “How confident am I today, in the year 2022, that the current “temporary resident” of the White House, and his Administration, are doing everything in their power to assure me that those rights, outlined in our nation’s Constitution, - the one and only document they are sworn to “preserve, protect and defend” - are just as guaranteed to me, today, as when they were written in 1791?” Sorry, but Biden’s elitist, authoritarian Democratic Party, with it’s groupthink, cancel culture minions in the news media and social media tech companies, have absolute contempt for what is contained in that First Amendment.

But, the only thing the progressive Left despises more than that First Amendment is the 27-word Second Amendment. That one makes their eyes bleed and their heads explode. If you don’t believe me, read what Tulsi Gabbard just wrote in her Substack essay, entitled 2nd Amendment: Our right 'shall not be infringed':

I used to think the warnings from conservatives, libertarians and gun enthusiasts about the ‘slippery slope’ were overblown. But I was wrong. As I look back over the past decade, I see that their warnings were justified. The Democratic party wasn’t against the second amendment when I joined — but they’ve since removed all mention of it from their national party platform. The Democratic Socialists of America, a faction which has become increasingly vocal through members like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib, published an essay in 2018 titled “The Second Amendment is a Threat to Us All.” Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing for credit card companies to track and report all sales of firearms and ammunition, a backdoor effort to create a national gun registry, which would be unconstitutional and has so far failed to pass in Congress. President Biden relentlessly pushes for gun confiscation and reinstating the assault weapons ban. Meanwhile, they are politicizing Federal agencies like the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, and using them to target law-abiding Americans who oppose the radical so-called woke agenda of this Administration. They are dangerously showing their authoritarian instincts through their rhetoric, policies, and actions — undermining our God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution at every turn.

The actions of today’s Democrat party and the Biden Administration are proving how visionary our founders were in ensuring the Second Amendment came after the First Amendment. We cannot fold under the pressure of tyranny. Our rights shall not be infringed.

America, we need to rededicate ourselves to being worthy recipients of the God-given right of Liberty that He bestowed upon us at birth. And may that rededication help in “enlightening the world” as to what is truly at stake if we but “fold under the pressure of tyranny.”