In the beginning, there were politicians

A new commentary every Wednesday - September 23, 2015

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE POLITICIANS: 1774

The founders of the United States of America were male aristocrats, most of whom, such as Thomas Jefferson, were termed at the time "enlightened country gentlemen." Then, as now, "money talked," as well as "men ruled the roost." Women did not win the right to vote until the 19th amendment to the Constitution became the law of the land, in 1919.

At the beginning, the important people—they could have been referred to at the time as the "one percenters" of the former colonies— the slave-owning plantation landowners, merchant captains and former colonial assembly members, came together as a Continental Congress. Their first responsibility: to defeat the British, with massive aid from France, of course. Then, chose among themselves, not the common folks, the men who would be allowed to make political choices in the former colonies. That included who would be inaugurated President.

I just spent an enjoyable weekend reading the backgrounds of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. It came as no surprise to learn that nearly half, 23 of them, including Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Adams of Massachusetts, were attorneys, many of them self-taught. A handful of others were colonial justices of the peace, judges, sheriffs, tax collectors and former soldiers of high rank in the various colonies' regiments. Only one, John Witherspoon, President of the College of New Jersey, could be called an "educator." Benjamin Franklin was the only publisher. I believe that William Williams was the only one who could claim the title of "pastor," although Charles Carrol of Carrolton, Maryland, whose family founded the city, was a noted Jesuit scholar. His descriptive title was "Highly Refined Gentleman." Three of the signers were physicians. A dozen, such as John Hancock, he of the famous large signature, were merchants of one sort or another, but it is fair to say that all were politicians, many of them having served on colonial assemblies, congresses and committees; men willing to risk their lives and their families' considerable fortunes, for independence.

In 1774, 56 delegates from the 13 colonies, most of whom were drawn from the list of Founding Fathers above, met to form the Continental Congress in order to formulate a list of grievances that were presented to King George III. In April of 1775, the monarch's forces, having occupied Boston since 1768, assaulted citizen soldiers at Concord and Lexington, intending the capture of arms and arrest of dissidents. Every school child must know that the Continental Congress declared the Independence of the United States on or about July 4th, 1776 and later, in 1789, inaugurated another Virginia landowner and ultimate victorious General, George Washington, First President of the United States.

NEXT WEDNESDAY: The quick appearance of political parties and the rise of Machine Politics: Boss Tweed of New York State, Tom Pendergast of Kansas and the Daley Machine in Chicago.

REEFER MADNESS: IF YOU VISIT COLORADO, BEWARE OF GIGGLING A LOT OR CONSUMING AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF SWEETS

To be blunt about it, a funny thing happened on the way to the pot shoppe. When Colorado passed the law making recreational marijuana readily available to all comers with cash, it was immediately inundated with out-of-state aging hippies bent on getting bombed. Trouble is, most couldn't wait to get home to get high and lit up their doobies immediately— some on the street, others in cars, and many in nearby parks. Someone forgot to inform whomever wrote the law that it might be wise to include cannabis clubs, where potheads could smoke/injest the weed without interference. Consequently, the cops cracked down with Public Intoxication and DUI citations that have already brought thousands of unanticipated dollars to City of Denver coffers— at last count, over $60,000 in fines.

-Phil Richardson, Observer of the human condition and storyteller. "He goes doddering on into his old age, making a public nuisance of himself" - Joseph L. Menchen.

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