Walt Whitman finds the Gadsden Flag ridiculous
The posture of patriotism, backed by the convictions of blind goldfish
I hear Americans posturing, patriot carols I hear,
Those of mechanics’ landlords, gouging their tenants,
with noxious, forceful song.
The cashier’s silence as she measures her boss’s daily profit,
The culinary worker’s silence as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The janitor is silent, his closet is not his own —
Shoemaker’s at their benches? Hatters? Wood-cutters?
Unheard, unsung delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing.
Yet a song, the song, still heard, treads upon those treading on others
Makes the posture of patriotism, backed by convictions of blind goldfish,
stumble and fester.
Singing through bullhorns loud, they strive to block out better melodies —
But better carols resonate, and all those silent voices are still singing.
Apologies to Walt Whitman (“I Hear America Singing”), by which this alternative is inspired.
The worst defeat to the rebellious colonies during the American Revolutionary War was the fall of Charleston, South Carolina in 1780. The British captured 3,000 “rebels” — having only lost 250 of their own troops in the process. Having completely destroyed the only meaningful ‘Continental Army’ in the South, the bulk of the British forces turned north to finally crush the rebellion.
Luckily for Washington — and for the formation of the United States of America, French came to the rescue. Even better, Washington’s intelligence network (which depended immensely on slaves) verified that the British didn’t know the French were coming, making a decisive trap possible…
Christopher Gadsden had been placed in charge of building southern military forces in 1776. Washington had a debacle nearly as bad in 1776 with the fall of Fort Washington in New York, but Gadsden had four years to prepare South Carolina, and the forces they mustered were crushed more conclusively than those fighting Washington’s early, ill-trained, ill-provisioned irregulars in the earlier days of the revolution.
After the fall of Fort Washington, and during the struggles at Valley Forge, Washington (or was it Hamilton?) begrudgingly acknowledged the benefits of arming and emancipating slaves who fought against the British. The Continental Congress urged South Carolina to arm slaves and promise emancipation, and Washington (reluctantly) encouraged Brigadier General Christopher Gadsden to do so as well. Gadsden refused.
We are much disgusted here at Congress recommending us to arm our slaves, it was received with great resentment, as a very dangerous and impolitic step.”
- “The Tragedy of Henry Laurens,” Journal of the American Revolution (Aug. 2019)
The catastrophic failure of such racist resentment culminated in Gadsden himself being captured, imprisoned by the British, and the entire military force of the South being destroyed (sorry Mel Gibson…’The Patriot’ is even less historical than Braveheart).
As a brigadier general and as a senior civilian leader — Gadsden is among the greatest failures in American history. However, he designed an interesting flag, so modern proponents of Gadsden tend to overlook the abject failure of the man who concocted the whole thing. The posture of patriotism, backed by the convictions of blind goldfish.
Re the Poem
Walt Whitman wrote “I Hear America Singing” just before the American Civil War. His views on race are…complex. How could he hear these songs while so many were in bondage? Yet in choosing to hear these songs, Whitman exalted the humanity of the very sorts of people who would soon be marching to war.
There is indeed something fundamentally amazing in human beings. Not because of what we do, not because of the songs we sing, but because we are human beings. We also sing. Or at least, we should try. Even when we think our world sucks. Because it’s a whole lot better today than the world of 1860.
