A Little Perspective

     Today there was much debate in class over the nature of the American Revolutionaries' complaints against the British.  Was it whining?  Was it necessary?  What was the nature of their freedom in relation to Black slaves or Native Americans?   All in all, I enjoyed this debate- not because I agreed with any particular side, but because I felt that the arguments made each reinforced the idea that DeAnne mentioned: that much of our analysis of past events as well as broad concepts such as freedom are only truly explored when examined from different perspectives.   We can look at the original Boston Tea Party, the Declaration of Independence, and the subesquent Revolution from the eyes of the Founding Fathers and see a completely different picture than that from the eyes of the Founding Fathers' slaves.  However, even our attempts at looking at the situations from their poinits of view are marred by the fact that we, ourselves, are unable to completely separate ourselves from the 21st century values and ideas which inherrently present themselves in our manner of thinking.   I do not believe that the colonists were whiny in rebelling against Great Britian, nor do I believe that they were worse off than their own slaves.  However, the Declaration's phrase, "All men are created equal"   did not, in the time in which it was written, refer to equality in the same manner in which we regard it today.  The idea was that all men were created by God and would thus be equally judged in the end.  Political equality was not the original purpose of the statement.  Rather, this idea was molded and shaped through the changing perspectives of different generations.
     In a somewhat similar fashion, the Tea Party has moved from being a serious event, " the destruction of the tea" to a more impressive feat by a different name, to a conservative political movement.   In the end, it is all about perspective, and how it changes through the hands of different Americans and different time periods.