Well, I'll be darned: the founding fathers were indeed human, and did change their minds from time to time. An already-known edit in a draft of the Declaration of Independence shows Jefferson's careful erasure of the word "subjects" and its replacement with "citizens".
I haven't much to add to the CSM's commentary, except for an important deduction.
Semantics count!
2 comments:
It's more than mere semantics.
A "subject" is just that -- subject to the power exercised by the state.
A "citizen" is empowered to participate in the political process, and has opportunities to shape state policy.
It's a key difference.
That was then, this is now. Canadians are not now subjects in that old archaic British sense. Also do not forget that the 13 colonies were originally fighting for their traditional rights as Englishmen. They were not fighting for independence until they realised that they could not gain representation in the British parliament. If the British at the time could have figured out how to incorporate an effective federal type system history might have been different.
Post a Comment