July 4th, 2020 marks the 244th year since our forebears declared independence from England. As we are witnessing, the contest for America’s freedom continues …on a daily basis.
It was John Adams, second president of these United States, known for his brilliant mind and passionate patriotism, who cautioned, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
Adding his voice, Thomas Jefferson discerningly declared, “It was by the sober sense of our citizens that we were safely and steadily conducted from monarchy to republicanism, and it is by the same agency alone we can be kept from falling back.”
When our country’s founders studied the history of jurisdiction, they were drawn to the government of the Roman Republic, located in what is now the country of Italy. The Roman Republic existed more than 2,000 years before our forefathers even took parchment and quill in hand.
In fact, the little country of San Marino, perched high in the Apennine Mountains on the Adriatic side of the Italian peninsula, can be considered a living fossil of old-world governance, claiming to be the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world. Founded in 301 AD, by stonecutter Marinus of Arbe who, like the assortment of English Pilgrims who came to America during the reign of King James I, was seeking religious freedom from an oppressive government.
In 1600 San Marino, which has the same landmass as Washington D.C, promulgated a written constitution that codified its institutions and laws, a document still in force in the 21st century.
Don H. Doyle, professor of history at the University of South Carolina and a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, submitted an op-ed on the topic which was published in The New York Times March 28, 2011 issue. Doyle writes, “San Marino and the United States were members of a very small club: in the mid-19th century republics were an endangered species. Amid the ruins of dozens of revolutionary republican movements that erupted in Europe between the French Revolution in 1789 and the revolutions of 1848, few genuine republics endured, and the tide of democracy was giving way to the imperialist ambitions of kings and emperors. Only Switzerland, a federated republic modeled after the United States, and tiny San Marino upheld the republican ideal in Europe.”
Why has San Marino endured as a constitutional republic all these millennia?
Consider:
San Marino remains legitimately connected to its past, retaining much of its historic architecture. Centuries-old castle-like citadels, dating to the 11th century, sit atop the neighboring peaks to Monte Titano, the highest peak in San Marino, at which generations of its peoples stood watch for invaders.
“The difference between San Marino and other little countries is that it is overflowing with patriotism,” writes Slate’s national editor, Josh Levin. “Their coat of arms is everywhere, and the capital is brimming with tributes to its storied past.” The region’s Carrara marble has been carved into statues, most notably, the neoclassical Statua della Libertà (Statue of Liberty), designed by Stefano Galletti in the second half of the 19th century. The impressive marble statue of Liberty stands in Piazza della Liberta in front of the parliament building. Also, located in the historic city center is a bronze statue dedicated to statesman and patriot Girolamo Gozi and other defenders of freedom.
San Marino’s national anthem, probably the oldest of any country in the world, is unique in that it has no words. It is played rather than sung, as a proud people display their respect.
San Marino has relatively few of the social problems that effect other modern nations. Contributing to this stability could be that admiration toward the elderly is held as a distinctive and persistent behavioral trait facilitated by social learning from one individual to another.
The reality is, after 1,700 years, San Marino remains its own country, with a treasured cultural heritage that is respected and passed on from generation to generation.
Early on the morning of April 12, 1861, only 39 days after Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration as president, turmoil was gripping the country following the fall of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. T.he American Civil War was officially upon both the North and the South. The scene was anything but encouraging as the 16th president contemplated the country’s future as he stared out the window of the White House.
Into this maelstrom a parcel of letters arrived from Europe addressed to President Abraham Lincoln. Included in the communiques was a letter dispatched by San Marino’s joint heads of state, the letter expressed their “mark of high consideration and sincere fraternity” for the United States. Adding substance to their words, the Regents bestowed citizenship on the American president. The letter ended with a wish and a prayer that God would “grant you [Lincoln and the United States] a peaceful solution.” One small republic, which dated back centuries, was giving encouragement and support to the largest republic in its time of strife.
Part two—next week!
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works, as well as other topics. At times the column is editorial in nature.
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