"The Defiant One. Patriot "of old" standing defiantly with the Stars and Bars of today... oil pencil on craft paper, 18" x 22" - study for oil painting.
In regards to the future State of the Union, in this day of chaos and hate, you hear and see chatter on the subject of succession, a peaceable divorce, go our separate ways, etc... This train of thought and debate occurred in this country in the 1800s as this Union struggled with expansion and the practice of chattel slavery. And, although the subject matter is different, the intent is not... that is, the age old "power and control" of an elite class of men amongst the many dictating to them policy and procedure via the State. Slavery is tyranny, forced upon man. Socialism, in all its forms, is Tyranny, and in its inception, bribery and false promises are its enslaving tools. The intent and result is the same, the methods and means different.
The great statesman from Massachusetts, Daniel Webster, in his epic speech- "The Constitution and the Union" - delivered to the Senate on March 7. 1850, became The Defiant One and said of this idea, this proposal, or thought of secession...
"I am ashamed to pursue this line of remark. I dislike it- I have an utter disgust for it. I would rather hear of natural blasts and mildews, war, pestilence, and famine, than to hear gentlemen talk of secession. To break up! To break up this great government! to dismember this great country!... There will be no secession. Gentlemen are not serious when they talk of secession."
He continued, and ended his speech with encouragement and resolve to keep the Union as one, commenting -
"And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the possibility or utility of secession, instead of dwelling in these caverns of darkness, instead of groping with those ideas so full of all that is horrid and horrible, let us come out into the light of day; let us enjoy the fresh air of liberty and Union; let us cherish those hopes which belong to us; let us devote ourselves to those great objects that are fit for our consideration and our action; let us raise our conceptions to the magnitude and the importance of the duties that devolve upon us; let our comprehension be as broad as the country for which we act, our aspirations as high as its certain destiny; let us not be pigmies in a case that calls for men. Never did there devolve, on any generation of men, higher trusts than now devolve upon us for the preservation of the Constitution, and the harmony and peace for all who are destined to live under it. Let us make our generation one of the strongest, and the brightest link, in that golden chain which is destined, I fully believe, to grapple the people of all the states to this Constitution for ages to come. It is a great popular constitutional government, guarded by legislation, by law, and by the judicature, and defended by the whole affections of the people. No monarchial throne presses these states together; no iron chain of despotic power encircles them; they live and stand upon a government popular in its own form, representative in its character, founded upon principles of equality, and calculated, we hope, as to last forever. In all its history, it has been beneficent; it has trodden down no man's liberty; it has crushed no state. Its daily respiration is liberty and patriotism; its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, courage, and honorable love of glory and renown."
Hail Columbia, with all her faults, and in all her glory!
Tony Moreschi
American Artist