I have very American sensibilities, a fact that became evident to me during my stay in London last autumn. From churches to crossroads, monuments celebrating inherited privilege and conquest are everywhere. Viewing them awakened my inner Tom Paine and a stream of reflections about the causes of our revolution. The warning of John and Abigail Adams that "all men would be tyrants if they could" gained new meaning for me in the midst of all those titles.
Among the threats to liberty that the Founders feared, monarchical titles, rights, and privileges may have been the greatest. Ruling a people from across the ocean is difficult, particularly the raucous and unruly people of America. Unfortunately, there are always those who would rule over their neighbors in exchange for a title that they could force others to use, a right to a peculiar financial extraction that they have not earned, or a legacy of privilege that endures for generations. In America, we are not endowed with rights by a king, but by the Creator.
In Common Sense, Tom Paine observed that "there is another and greater distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is, the distinction of men into kings and subjects. Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven: but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth inquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind."
George Washington did not need further inquiry after feeling the sting of British condescension when he served in the militia. The proof is in his response to Lewis Nicola's suggestion that he should become king. "I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my Country…you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable."
We are so accustomed to what we see as universal values that it is easy to forget the enormity of what Washington, Jefferson, Adams and so many others attempted. They sought no less than to overturn the customs and traditions of all of history. Success was doubtful, perfection impossible. Yet, thanks to them, our republic endures, as do my typically American sensibilities.
Happy Presidents Day!
* Papers of John Adams "On Political Faction, Man's Nature, and the Law 3 March – 5 September 1763". Massachusetts Historical Society, digital edition. https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/PJA01dg1. Accessed on 02.11.2026.
** Paine, T. "Common Sense, addressed to the inhabitants of America." The Thomas Paine Historical Association, The Bradford Edition, February 14, 1776, https://thomaspaine.org/major-works/common-sense/. Accessed on 02.11.2026.
*** "To George Washington from Lewis Nicola, 22 May 1782". National Archives, Founders Online. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-08500. Accessed on 02.13.2026.
**** "From George Washington to Lewis Nicola, 22 May 1782". National Archives, Founders Online. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-08501. Accessed on 02.13.2026.