When Everything Changed
American history, or really history in general is not always marked
with outstanding events, stunning personalities or remarkable speeches.
Much of the history of a great nation is slow steady improvement, set
backs and then how a people recovers from those set backs. But in the
context of American history, there are a number of truly phenomenal
moments when everything changed. These are not just one day events,
although some are that sudden. But these are events that once they
transpired, Americans thought of themselves, the world and their place in
the world completely differently. And it’s worth noting what those
events were and how they changed Americans forever.
Obviously the revolution itself and the founding of the country changed a
small group of colonies who thought of themselves as Englishmen far from
home. When the independence of America was done, that vision of ourselves
was completely different. We were now a proud new nation, a new type of
nationality that had its own view of the world and its own hopes and
dreams as well.
World War II was the kind of event that once we underwent the tremendous
trial, struggle and victory that such a war demands of a people, we never
could go back to seeing ourselves again in the same way as we thought
before the war. Our victory against Japan, Germany and their allies gave
us tremendous confidence that we could affect world history for the
better. But it also gave us a tremendous sense of responsibility. When we
dropped those bombs on Japan, everybody on the planet began to understand
the horrible power that was now in the hands of mankind, for a season in
the hands of America and the huge responsibility for the fate of mankind
that came with that kind of power.
Pearl Harbor while part of World War II deserves its own mention because
of the fundamental change to how America viewed itself in relation to the
world. Prior to that attack, America considered itself invulnerable. Like
a teenager that thought they could never be hurt, we had never been
attacked on our homeland before. But Japan proved that they not only could
attack us but that they could hurt us very badly. Yes, we responded with a
fury but from that moment forward, we knew that we, like everybody else in
the world, were vulnerable and we had to start behaving differently in a
world full of both friends and enemies.
Outside of the military world, the famous I Have a Dream Speech by Dr.
Martin Luther King at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963 did not
just change the black community forever. Yes, that speech had a mighty
impact on the way the African American community saw their future and it
gave inspiration and hope to a struggling civil rights movement that
spurred it on to victory. But it also affected all Americans because we
started to see ourselves as a community of many cultures, many races and
many orientations. It was the beginning of acceptance in this country. But
that is a process that is far from over.
In modern times, the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11,
2001 had a drastic effect on the minds and hearts of America and indeed on
the world. We are still learning how that effect will finally show itself
as the ripples of shock, fear, anxiety and reprisals are still going on.
But to be sure, as with Pearl Harbor, the effects on our feelings about
our place in the world and our vulnerability were certainly be changed
forever.
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