The Power of Words
by Jenny L Keller
As I read a Biography of Benjamin Franklin, I understood the power of words. I realized that Franklin spent a lifetime developing his thoughts. Of course he had a printing press. But had he not spread his philosophy via the written word, along with Thomas Payne and others, I doubt that we would have ever become the United States of America. I also realized that, just like us, the “tension” under which Franklin lived, trying to get others to understand what he was saying and why it was important, also just like us. It was not until Franklin was 81 years old that he was privileged to finalize the Constitution of the United States.
In reading the Biography of Thomas Jefferson, I was impressed with the fact that he didn’t just write the Declaration of Independence and later when our country was independent, become the third President – and all was well.
Not at all, he fought all through his life for the principles that had spawned the USA. The Federalist Party tried to take government back to “the old ways.” Jefferson fought to keep the government small, not adding “departments” and “offices.” He fought to keep the Federal Government from taking power from the States. He did all that he could to keep from taxing the people. And on the fights went, battling many of the same things that you and I battle today, like limited government and lower taxes.
If we do not continue in pursuit of the principles on which our country was founded, we will revert back to tyranny. In fact we are well on the way. Tyranny is at the door. Never give up expressing what you believe, what you know to be true. As it was for Jefferson, this is a lifetime pursuit!
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