Eric Demay

A gift from the French, the statue was erected in 1876 celebrating a 100 years of american independence from the British Empire. By creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity, they had managed to overthrow the colonial system, thus taking over land, profits and political power.

Was is often omitted to be said is that the people’s case didn’t change much with the Declaration of Independence. “Tyranny is tyranny from whom it may come” and such was still the case for most living under this new government. Even thought they had fought themselves in the subsequent war against the British in the name of (and in hopes of) equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by all, they were still much abused, poor and overtaxed by the local wealthy elite now in power and free of colonial obligations. The profits and taxes weren’t crossing the Atlantic anymore, but they weren’t redistributed among all either. And liberty and equality for all obviously did not include slaves, servants and women: more than fifty percent of the population.

Yes, I’m having a blast reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States and I’m not even half way through and already much more critical to the large number of events, ideas and decisions that are being held, discussed and taken today. Two hundred years isn’t that far back and it often feels like we have long forgotten about it.