No More Kings: Happy July 4th

Americans were fine with kings, really, as long as they were good kings

One of the best sources of history I know is Schoolhouse Rock. It’s sad there’s no better source of learning that the whole country can agree on anymore, with kids having their noses buried in phones (where did they learn it from?).

In honor of Independence Day, we present to you the best version of the American Revolution, and what led up to it.

No more kings.

If there’s any lesson we should learn from that three minutes, it’s that America rejected kings because we realized granting anyone unlimited power under the mandate of Heaven to make us obey would eventually lead to tyranny.

On March 4, 1797, George Washington voluntarily stepped away from an office he could have held for life, with some Americans pleased to make him a sovereign. He did this because he knew he was a mortal, imperfect man, and though he did his duty for his country, he would be replaced with other mortal, imperfect humans, who might decide to rule differently.

Upon hearing of Washington’s plan to go home and once again be a citizen farmer, King George III remarked “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” In 1921, the United States gifted a statue of Washington—an exact replica of the one in the Virginia State Capitol—which the British placed outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. To ensure that Washington never broke his promise to never set foot again on English soil, they built the statue’s foundation on soil brought from Virginia. So a bit of American dirt sits in London.

In the 227 years since Washington left the presidency, Americans have, bit by bit, forgotten the lesson of the Revolution and the first president’s act of humility and duty. We’ve gathered the powers of a king—more powerful than the European monarchs—and invested it in a person we elect to the office.

It’s less important that we fill the revolving door that has become modern Washington D.C. every four years, than we remember what we are electing.

No more kings.

Happy 4th of July. Happy Independence Day!