Labor pains and childbirth physiology

¶ … Morgan, Edmund S., Joseph

Birth of the Republic, which was written by the late professor Edmund Morgan, is extremely ambitious in scope. Its purpose is to recount the history of the initial founding of the United States -- which was originally envisioned as a republic. As such, the author covers the approximate 25-year period that began with the end of the French and Indian War and which ended with the formulation and ratification of the Constitution. During this tumultuous time period which included the Revolutionary War, the rise and fall of the Articles of Confederation, and the increasing dissatisfaction with the British government, the mores of the men who would found this country were exuded and tested. The author's central premise is that those mores were more than simple political rhetoric that disguised a need for personal gain, and instead represented a dedication to values that likely has not been evinced in this country since.

The author's approach in writing this book is extremely logical and merely follows a chronological unfolding of the events that took place after the French and Indian War. As such, his overview of this pivotal time frame begins with the disillusionment that the colonists felt at the British efforts to regain the money and resources spent during that aforementioned martial conflict. The principle way the English attempted to do so was through taxation and a host of unpopular acts that supported such pecuniary measures including the quartering act and the Stamp Act. It was during this time period, the author argues, that the value for true liberty and a sense of egalitarianism emerged during the colonies. The revolutionary war is briefly discussed next, while the remainder of the book is dedicated to the throes of the new nation to create a government based on its decidedly liberal ideology. These included the heavily states-rights influenced Articles of Confederation, its failure, and the propounding and implementation of the Constitution.

Perhaps the strongest point of the book is the author's conviction that all of the patriotic rhetoric (as it is known today) that typified the quintessential American spirit actually stemmed from a place of sincerity. Many people have disparaged the American revolution as simply an attempt to avoid paying taxes, or to become independent and to rebel for the sake of revolution itself. However, the author offers evidence that the true revolutionary spirit stemmed from a sense of egalitarianism that somehow existed despite the institution of chattel slavery. It was because many of the founding fathers believed in the concept of "human equality" (Morgan 66), and the dissolution of centuries spanning institutions such as feudalism and even the concept of monarchies, that they originally sought to create a republic. This term is widely misused today due to its association with a particular political party, but a true republic exists with parity between people. Moreover, Morgan is able to buttress this assertion by reviewing the relevant factors that led to the Articles of Confederation. Having just deposed a strong central government, the last thing the colonialists wanted to do was erect another -- which explains the preoccupation with states rights that characterized the Articles.

The author is on much more tenuous ground, however, when acknowledging the inherent contradictions of the purportedly true nature of the American revolution and ensuing republic: namely slavery. The parity, justice and equality professed by many of the founding fathers and which is still found in documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution could not be fulfilled by men who were willing to murder and commit larceny against Native Americans, and who viewed those of a darker hue and different hair texture as 3/5 of a man. To his credit Morgan acknowledges these contradictions. Still, doing so does not negate the fact that the mores he claims the country was founded upon were not universal, and appeared to be nothing more than situation ethics for a matter of convenience. More importantly, these contradictions weaken his initial premise about the supposed 'purity' of values that the Revolution represented.