by Martin Green
Do you remember America’s Bicentennial? Of course, many of you who are reading this right now were born after 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the 14 colonies’ Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. This marked the birth of the United States of America and has been celebrated every July 4 since as Independence Day.
I turned 17 in 1976. There was a wonderful air of anticipation as the new year began, and the excitement only continued to intensify as we drew closer to Independence Day. I remember the nightly Bicentennial Minutes broadcasted on television by CBS from July 4, 1974, to Dec. 31, 1976, commemorating the Bicentennial. These one-minute historical vignettes featured prominent Americans — various celebrities, public figures, and politicians — recounting historical events from the American Revolution which had occurred on that day two hundred years prior to their broadcast date.
I consider it a great privilege not only to have been alive to celebrate this monumental milestone in 1976, but also to be alive now 50 years later as we look forward to our nation’s 250th anniversary.
For the sake of brevity and ease of pronunciation, I have heard the suggestion that we refer to this upcoming milestone as the Supercentennial, rather than its very long and tongue-twisting name, Semiquincentennial. Although the Centennial was in 1876, and the Bicentennial was in 1976, the designation Supercentennial may not necessarily be a numerically precise, but it seems like a much less cumbersome way to refer to it.
As we now find ourselves in this Supercentennial year, I would like to share some remarkable and little-known facts which might adhere in some fashion, in printed form, to the pattern of an extended Bicentennial Minute. Perhaps we can refer to them as “Supercentennial Segments.” They will highlight and focus on the remarkable origins and birth of our nation, the extraordinary confluence of the genius and collaboration of its founders, and the victory of the colonists over the British against overwhelming odds in the Revolution, all of which are integral to the miraculous history and heritage of America’s Christian foundations.
To relegate the vital spiritual and biblically informed component of our nation’s founding and establishment to something merely incidental or insignificant is to essentially deny our true history and to obscure the totality of what makes it so exceptional.
There is so much about our great nation to celebrate, particularly in this 250th year since its birth. Let’s begin with quotes from two of our nation’s most influential founders:
Benjamin Franklin, in his remarks to the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787: “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”
George Washington, in his first inaugural address, April 30, 1789: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
But to recount some of these highlights of the miraculous story and bring us up to speed, we must travel back 150 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The Pilgrims made the 66-day voyage across the Atlantic to America’s shore under horribly adverse conditions. However, once the Mayflower landed, overcoming the new obstacles, they encountered proved to be even more formidable than having survived the journey just to arrive here.
William Bradford, first governor of the new Plymouth colony, with gratitude acknowledged that, “Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element … What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace?”
Although 99% of the native population had been wiped out by an epidemic just prior to the arrival of the Pilgrims, their path was to then providentially cross that of two of these natives, Samoset and Squanto, without whose invaluably kind and practical help the Pilgrims may have likewise perished.
Providential miracles marking their arduous journey from this point forward until July 4,1776, and beyond, would not only strengthen the colonists’ faith in God, but their own resolve to persevere in establishing the United States of America.
The post Green: A reflection on America’s upcoming 350th first appeared on Vermont Daily Chronicle.
The post Green: A reflection on America’s upcoming 350th appeared first on Vermont Daily Chronicle.
