by Jim Blasingame
Reasonable people disagree on the exact origins of what is now called Memorial Day. But most accept that the practice of decorating the graves of Americans who died defending their country began in earnest by women of the South during and following the Civil War.
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, National Commander of the Army of the Republic, was the first to make Memorial Day official. With General Order No. 11, he stated in part that “the 30th day of May 1868 is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.”
Since then, other than Congress making it a national holiday and changing the date to the last Monday in May, America has honored its fallen heroes from all conflicts in pretty much the manner that General Logan anticipated in the language of his order, whereby “posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.”
When America issued its first call to arms – before it was a country with a professional army – the call went to the militia, which was identified as “all able-bodied men.” Calling themselves the “Minutemen,” because they could be ready to fight on a minute’s notice, they were primarily shopkeepers, craftsmen, farmers, etc. Today, we call them small business owners and employees.
From as far away as Scotland, America’s Minutemen were impressive. Writing about the colonies’ quest for independence from England in his seminal work The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith predicted America would prevail against the king thanks to its militia, which “turns from its primary citizen character into a standing army.”
Apparently, there was something very compelling about what those citizens were willing to fight for, even to the death. Was it freedom? Perhaps. But freedom is found all over the world.
The Founders knew what was so compelling. It was their New World word that represents an ideal they infused into essentially every document, speech, and action. That ideal was – and still is – liberty.
Freedom is from God. Liberty is a contract Americans give to each other. And it’s become both explicit and implicit.
American liberty first appeared explicitly as early as the Mayflower Compact. Then it was codified in the secular red letters of our beloved and immortal U.S. Constitution, which guarantees to all Americans specific rights so precious that a dozen American generations have volunteered to defend it with their lives.
For over 250 years, millions of Americans have risked their lives to stand up liberty. And post-Revolution, they’ve raised their right hand and sworn an oath to “…support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That’s a vow to defend the liberty of all Americans “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” To defend you and me.
This contract of liberty has been implicitly codified with the blood of those whom we honor today – 740,582 of the best of us. Not only today but every day that liberty allows us to be self-determined citizens, pursuing our lives as we wish.
This weekend in America – as we partake of the quiet enjoyment of liberty – is a national holiday. Amidst the picnics and other gatherings, each one conducted with the unspoken expectation of safety and rights as citizens, we honor those who made all of this possible. Those who died while standing a post, in harm’s way, to preserve that contract of liberty. Those who, as Lincoln so ably prayed in his immortal Gettysburg Address, “…poured out their last full measure of devotion” on behalf of a grateful nation.
Write this on a rock ... Memorial Day in America is about something so precious that, for many – the best of us – it was worth everything. Liberty.
JIM BLASINGAME is one of the world's foremost thought-leaders on business and entrepreneurship. Jim is a marketplace futurist helping businesses anticipate what’s coming at them over the horizon. And he helps them get out of their own way. Jim’s last two books have won multiple international awards: The 3rd Ingredient -- the Journey of Analog Ethics into the World of Digital Fear and Greed and The Age of the Customer – Prepare for the Moment of Relevance. http://www.jimblasingame.com/