History is on our side.
One of the most maddening things to me about the Tea Party has been their distorted use of American History, particularly of the revolutionary war period, to further their political ideology. They seem to be blissfully unaware about the nature of the original Boston Tea Party (witness the denunciation of Occupy Wall Street as being a "mob" - the original Boston Tea Party, now
that was a mob), the religious orientation of the founding fathers, the very intent of the framers of the Constitution to make it a living document.
Nothing has agitated me quite as much as the use of the "Don't Tread on Me" flag (the Navy Jack), which was based on the "Join or Die" illustration which was all about encouraging unity in time of crisis. But they probably don't know that and just think the snake is cool.
So it occurs to me what we need is a symbol that accurately embodies the original spirit of resistance against the punishing tyranny of those who would pummel us into subservience, which better reflects the broad issues addressed by Occupy Wall Street. My suggestion is: Don't Give Up the Ship, the words of the dying naval hero James Lawrence that were made into a flag by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and taken into battle at the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. Because in America, we may get beaten down, but we come back and fight for what is right. We won't Give up the Ship of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. More historical pontificating on the flip.
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Transferring his flag during the battle of Lake Erie.
"Don't Give Up the Ship" had its rather ironic origins in the Naval actions of the War of 1812. The origins of this war were complicated, but many at the time considered it "The Second War of Independence", the issues of both Freedom of the Seas and freedom of commerce on America's Western frontier having the common theme of shaking off continued British domination of American affairs.
The decision to go to war was somewhat impetuous in a way, given that Britain at the time, engaged in what was essentially a world war against Napolean, had amassed both a battle-tested professional army and the largest Navy the world had ever known. The war went badly almost from the start, and had as its lowest point the sacking and burning of Washington, D.C.
The one area of American resistance that was moderately successful was, surprisingly, the war at sea. The US had an all-volunteer Navy, of high morale, and while it was tiny, the ships built -- particularly the US frigates of the class of the USS Constitution -- were technologically advanced for the era and could outsail and outfight British ships of similar size in one on one combat.
The idea of a ship to ship duel was still a romantic one embraced by many naval officers of the day, despite its lack of strategic usefulness to a broad war where one party ultimately dominated the other. Following a series of embarrassing single ship combat defeats, the British Navy, particularly its frigate commanders, longed for revenge that would restore their prestige and honor.
Captain James Lawrence had been a successful commander of smaller ships in the war when he was given the command of USS Chesapeake, a 44-gun frigate, in 1813. Chesapeake was based in Boston, which was heavily blockaded by a superior British fleet. For Chesapeake to be successful in inflicting damage on the British, she had to evade this blockade and escape to wear it could harass British merchant shipping and smaller military operations.
Lawrence made a mistake of pride: he accepted a challenge to single ship combat from the slightly smaller British Vessel HMS Shannon, part of the blockading squadron. He took Chesapeake out to sea with a rusty crew that had been stranded ashore for months, into conditions essentially chosen by the British. Shannon disabled Chesapeake quickly and ultimately captured the ship, but not before Lawrence was mortally wounded.
Lawrence's final instructions to his officers are not exactly recorded. The accounts of the day suggest they were either "Don't give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks," or "Tell them to fire faster, don't give up the ship." That say, such instructions were for naught, as Chesapeake became a humiliating -- and unnecessary -- loss.
But Lawrence's dying words had redolence for a nation beaten down and in the midst of an identity crisis. In particular they struck home with Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, a friend of Lawrence and the newly-appointed Commodore of a fleet -- of sorts -- on America's Western frontier, Lake Erie.
Neither the United States nor Great Britain had a naval fleet on Lake Erie at the outset of the war, for the simple fact that at the time there was no way for a vessel to get to Lake Erie from the open ocean. (There's now a canal-seaway system, but back then, you'd've had to go up Niagara Falls.) The Ohio-Michigan-Ontario frontier was one of several fronts in the war, one with small numbers of troops but high commercial and strategic importance for the fur trade and commerce into the the North American interior, including ultimately access to America's First Superhighway, the Mississippi. Because water was the only way to transport goods -- and troops -- in an era with almost no roads -- it became clear that whoever ultimately won control of the great lakes would control the West.
The US had endured a series of defeats in this theater, including a traumatic loss at Detroit in 1812 that gave the British undisputed control of the West early on. But the British forces had to be supplied by water, through Lake Erie. So Navies were built from scratch, for both the Americans and British, on opposite sides of the lake, with shipwrights and materials transported at great cost and effort from the east. The Americans had to disassemble some ships built on Lake Ontario and ship them overland to Presque Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania), one of the great feats of military logistics of the era. Cannons were transported from the eastern seaboard over very rough interior roads, men were recruited from as far away as New York City to build the ships and then man them. Most of these men had to be trained in how to operate a ship, and were completely new to naval warfare.
Perry assembled a fleet -- a small fleet, by Napoleonic war standard, but a fleet. He named his heaviest ship, a 110' brig with 20 guns, after his old friend - the Lawrence. And to say to the British, but moreover his own crew, you cannot defeat us because this is our country, not yours, he ordered a large flag to be made with the words "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP" to mark his flagship.
The fleet action that followed on September 10, 1813, did not go well initially for the Americans. Initially there was poor communication among the American captains, and the brig Niagara, the other large ship in the American fleet, was slow to come into action with the British ships as the Lawrence engaged them. Lawrence was reduced to a wreck, with eighty percent of her men killed or wounded, and the balance of the battle in terms of guns and ships was clearly in the favor of the British.
Perry did not surrender his fleet, even though Lawrence was taken after its last gun was disabled. He rowed from Lawrence to Niagara, taking the Don't Give Up the Ship banner with him. What followed was the ultimate comeback from the jaws of defeat. Taking advantage of confusion aboard the two principle British vessels, which had taken damage from Lawrence and got their rigging fouled, he sailed Niagara back into close contact, supported by the smaller vessels of the fleet. The British were completely surprised that the Americans were back for a fight; they had expected the Americans to return to safe port and preserve their remaining ships. The tenacity of the fight in the Americans broke the British line, and after capturing the larger ships the Americans picked off the smaller vessels one by one. The entire British fleet was captured -- virtually unheard of in fleet action.
The consequence of this battle was that the British supply lines were broken, and control of the west reverted to the Americans. Now able to concentrate forces in other theaters, the Americans were able to hold off further British advances (and ultimately form the Army that won the Battle of New Orleans, albeit after a peace treaty had been signed).
Lessons I take from this historical episode:
1. Pick Your Ground for the Fight, Don't Let the Opposition Pick It For You
2. Jousting may be romantic, but working as a team is what makes for a successful battle plan
3. Your opponents' arrogance can be used against them
4. Tenacity in a just battle will ultimately triumph over superior firepower
5. As ever, coolness under fire is a greater asset than a rigid battle plan.
History is on our side.
I see
Don't Give Up the Ship as an appropriate rally cry for progressivism -- for America -- in this fractious moment of our history. Let's tell them we're not going to give up on the hopes of America and settle for the oligarchy that so many civilizations ultimately fall into before their collapse. We won't give up on economic justice. We won't give up on the American dream. We won't give up on rule by the majority of the people. We won't give up on basic human rights. We won't give up on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We won't give up the ship of state to the wealthy and powerful to do with it what they want. You sink our flagship, we'll be back on another. We won't give up the ship.