| Historical Background |
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The historical background of liberty and independence is the
story of the human race in every stage of its development and
in every corner of the earth. It is told in the ages-old pyramids
of Egypt, builded upon the backs of human slaves; in the philosophies
of Plato and Socrates; and uncovered in the catacombs of Rome.
In the German forests it was planted deep in the hearts of Saxon
and Norman, and there given its first real semblance of form.
England, in the days of the Saxon and Norman conquest, in the time of Cromwell and Elizabeth, laid a still broader foundation upon which to build the structure of self-government. Slowly there was evolved an appreciation of government incorporation of the rights of individuals into fixed laws or practices. Yet there remained the iron heel of government to crush those whose demand for independence and liberty exceeded that granted by the will of the ruling King or Parliament. |
