I impressed my Maker with my thirst for knowledge, he wanted me to help him understand these times and their meanings.  “Therefore, my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parches with thirst,” reports Isaiah 5.13 To be both generally blamed and generally liked evinces a peculiar construction of mortal. The American colonies, robust and expanding, matured rapidly between the 1700s and 1750. Transatlantic commerce linked them closely to Europe, Africa, and other parts of the New World. Churches, schools, and towns–the visible marks of the receding frontier—appeared everywhere.  A balanced sex ratio and stable family life has been achieved throughout the colonies. Seasoned political leaders and familiar political institutions functioned from Bangor Mane, to Atlanta Georgia. Yet the sinew, bone, and muscle of American society had not fully knit together. The polyglot population, one-fifth of it bound in chattel slavery and its Native American component still unassimilated and uneasily situated on the frontier, was a kaleidoscopic mixture of ethnic and religious groups. Its economy, while developing rapidly, showed weaknesses, particularly in New England, where land resources had been strained, and the social structure reflected the colonizers’ emergence from a frontier stage, but the consolidation of wealth by some rural areas. Full of strength, yet marked by awkward incongruities, colonial America, in the mid eighteenth century, approached an era of strife and momentous decisions. “Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning, and even among fools she lets herself be known. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people,” reports Proverbs 14.33-34.

It is the great beauty of the Law that it can dispute any human statement, made under any circumstances, and reduced to any form. He who is in the clutches of the law may think himself lucky if he escapes with the loss of his tail.  The caricaturist, who draws only caricatures, is held to be justifiable, let him take what liberties he may with a man’s face and person. It is his trade, and his business calls upon him to vilify all that he touches. However, were an artist to publish a series of portraits, in which two out of a dozen were made to be hideous, he would certainly make two enemies, if not more. Whether in local or provincial affairs, a political ideology called Whig or republican had spread widely by the 1750s (mid-eighteenth century); The canons of this body of thought, inherited from England, flowed from the belief that concentrated power was historically then enemy of liberty and that too much powers lodged in any person or group inevitably produced corruption and tyranny. The best defenses against concentrated power were balanced government, elected legislatures adept at checking executive authority, prohibition of standing armies (almost always controlled by tyrannical monarchs to oppress the people), and vigilance by the people in watching their leaders for telltale signs of corruption. “All hard work brings a profit, but ere talk leads only to poverty,” reports Proverbs 14.23.

In the cold courts of justice the dull head demands oaths, and holy writ proofs; but in the warm halls of the heart one single, untestified memory’s spark shall suffice to enkindle such a blaze of evidence, that all the corners of conviction are as suddenly lighted up as a midnight city by a burning building, which on every side whirls its reddened brands. If women understood justice, they would be the first to proclaim, that when two are tied together, the one who does the other serious injury is more naturally excused than the one who calls up the grotesque to extinguish both. Seldom do they prove patient martyrs who are punished unjustly. Strong minds perceive that justice is the highest of the moral attributes; mercy is only the favorite of weak ones. Much of this Whig ideology reached the people through the newspapers that began appearing in the seaboard towns in the early eighteenth century. The first was the Boston News-Letter, founded in 1704. By 1763, some 23 papers circulated in the colonies. Though limited to a few pages and published only once or twice a week, the papers passed from hand to hand and were read aloud in taverns and coffeehouses. In this way, their contents probably reached most households in the towns and a substantial minority of farmsteads in the countryside. Proverbs 15.27-33 reports, “A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live. The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil. God is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones. He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. The fear of GOD teaches a man wisdom and humility comes before honor.”

Calling sternness justice, he extolled that for strength of mind which was only callous insensibility.  By the 1730s, newspapers had become an important conduit of Whig ideology. Many of them reprinted material from English Whig writers, who railed against corruption, and creeping despotism, in the reign of George III (1727 – 1760). Particularly popular were the essays (not blogs, but essays) of John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, whose Cato’s Letters and Independent Whig found their way into private libraries of many colonists and were widely reprinted in the newspapers. “The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy,” reports Proverbs 14.20-21.

Justice does not the less exist, because her laws are neglected. A sense of what she commands lives in our breast; and when we fail to obey that sense, it is to weakness, not virtue, that we yield. The new power of the press and its importance in guarding the people’s liberties against would-be tyrants, such as abrasive royal governors, has been vividly illustrated in the news in California. The newspapers have publicized the tyrannical actions of Governor Jerry Brown and his idea to drain the Sacramento River, taking away natural resources from the valley, all for his profit. It has also been noted that Jerry Brown’s interference with the courts and his alleged corruption in giving important office to his henchmen, has led to some serious on going humans rights violations, in one case in particular. Liberty and property is precarious, and slavery is likely to be tailed on them and their posterity if some things past are not amended. However, Proverbs 14.22 reports, “Do not those who plot evil go astray? However, those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.” May I not be unjust to myself? Certainly not; you have no right to be unjust to anybody. Who does most injustice, a prodigal man or a saving man? The one saves his own money; the other spends other people’s money. If the World is unjust, or rash, in one man’s case, why may it not be so in another’s? Simply because, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones; he who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their God, but whoever is kind to the needy honors their Maker,” reports Proverbs 14.30-31.

Nothing can be polite that is not just. In the past Young John Peter Zenger, a printers apprentice has been fired in 1733, by an political investigator, Lewis Morris to start a newspaper that would publicize the corruption of Governor William Cosby. In Zenger’s New-York Weekly Journal, he wrote about many instances where the governor had broken the law. This and other bruising indictments of the governor led to John Zenger’s arrest for seditious libel. He was rescued from an early career by the brilliant defense of Andrew Hamilton, a Philadelphia lawyer hired by the Morris faction to convince the jury that Zenger was innocent of everything, but trying to inform the people of attacks on their liberties. Although the jury acquitted John Zenger, the libel laws remained very restrictive. However, the acquittal did reinforce the notion that the government was the people’s servant, and it brought home the point that public criticism could keep people they ruled. Such ideas about liberty and corruption, raised in the context of local politics, would shortly achieve a much broader significance. “When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge,” reports Proverbs 15.32.  Justice, however, may be purchased too dearly.

Now we fast forward a bit to the early 1800s (the 19^th century). In 1837, the banks and businesses, in America, began to collapse. President Martin Van Buren’s term, much like President Barack Obama, was plagued with a depression so bad it brought him the unfortunate nickname, “Martin Van Ruin.” As New York banks suspended credit and began calling in loans, an estimated $6 Million ($166,666,666.67 adjusted for inflation) was lost on defaulting debts. In 1838, a wealthy merchant and mayor of New York, Philip Hone, wrote in his diary, that half of his friends were deeply in debt, and his grown sons were out of work and businesses of all kinds were completely at a stand. As Mayor Philip Hone knew well, however, the laboring poor suffered most in a depression. By the fall of 1837, 33 percent of America’s workers were unemployed, and thousands of others found only sporadic part-time work. For those fortunate enough to retain their jobs, wages fell by 30 to 50 percent within two years. Now this is interesting because there were no welfare or food stamps to make up for being underemployed. So Walmart workers have a lot to be thankful for and anyone else who has a job, as the economy is currently $18 Trillion in debt. Meanwhile, much like today, the prices of necessities like flour, pork, and coal nearly doubled.  As the winter neared, in late 1837, a journalist estimated that 200,000 (out of 590,000 people) in New York City were in utter hopeless distress with no means of surviving the winter but those who provided by charity. Not surprisingly, the citizens and immigrants took to the streets demanding, “Bread! Meat! Rent! Fuel! Their prices must come down!” One worker told newspaperman Horace Greeley that most laborers called not for the bread and fuel of charity, but for Work!

This is interesting, American, in 2014, has become so polarized by skin color that they cannot see they are protesting about the wrong things. The root cause of injustice is poverty, but in some cases, injustice is just due to evil. Had Michael Brown come from a wealthy family, we would have paid for the cigars and would still be alive today. Now back to the 1800s, the pride of workers was dampened as soup kitchens and bread lines grew faster than jobs. As the hardships grew, some would only hire those who were untouched by the “moral gangrene of Trades’ Union principles,” leaving laboring families isolated and defenseless.  Violence increased and angry textile employers lowered wages below subsistence levels, angry hand-loom weavers broke machinery, destroyed cloth, and wrecked the homes of Irish strikebreakers. Job competition, poverty, and ethnic animosities led to violent clashes in other Eastern cities as well. Federal employees had to work ten hour day, it was mandatory. “God detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him,” reports Proverbs 15.9.

Americans sought to alleviate their gloom and despair. By the mid—1830s, a new two party system and lively participatory national political culture had emerged in the United States. The parties had taken shape amid the conflicts of Andrew Jackson’s presidency and the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening. Although both parties included wealthy and influential leaders and mirrored the growing diversity of a changing nation, the Democrats had the better claim that they were the part of the common man with strengthen in all sections of the country. Whigs represented greater wealthy than Democrats and were strongest in New England and in areas settled by New Englanders across the Upper Midwest. In an appeal to businessmen and manufactures, Whigs generally endorsed Clay’s American system, which meant that they favored a national bank, federally supported internal improvements, and tariff protection for industry.  Many large southern cotton planters joined the Whig party because of its position on bank credit and internal improvements. Whigs ran almost evenly with Democrats in the Sooth for a decade, and artisans and laborers belonged equally to each party. For the Whigs, the best society was one in which All Americans were free to follow their own individual interest. Whigs did not think Americans needed more freedom, but rather they needed to learn to use the freedom they already had. Whigs supported a wide variety of reforms, such as temperance, antislavery, public education, and strict observance of Sabbath, as well as government action to promote economic development. “Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die. A mocker resents correction; he will not consult the wise. The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. All the days of those who are oppressed in their minds are wretched, no matter how much money they have, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast,” reports Proverbs 15.10-12 and 15.14-15 So be thankful for everything this holiday season.