If You Ask Me / By Martha Knight

“Washington: A Life” is a masterful biography of George Washington. Wachington’s life is so tightly interwoven with the birth of this nation that as I listen to the digital Talking Books cartridge I keep thinking of all the ways the revolution could have failed—and we would not have this country!

The revolution succeeded against all odds. Sometimes the cause was saved by a fluke, sometimes by a fortuitous accident, sometimes by a British mistake.

There are so many what-ifs in the story. What if Andre had not been captured? What if the note had not been found? What if the Hessians had not been partying hearty? What if the French had not helped the cause of the break-away colonials?

Just as dramatic is the account of the struggle to create a federation instead of a confederation. The former colonies as 13 sovereign, even competitive and mutually suspicious, states could so easily have separated and become easy prey to European powers. I think of that every time I say the “one nation” part of the pledge of allegiance.

The book makes for suspenseful listening. Yes, I know how it turned out, but it’s still amazing that the ragtag American forces were able to seize victory from the jaws of defeat..

It is hard to exaggerate the role of George Washington in the success of the American Revolution, and in the drafting of the Constitution in that long, sometimes contentious, highly secretive convention in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. He chaired, and sometimes cajoled. and his very presence lent courage, day after sweltering day.

Delegates, sometimes even entire delegations, peeled off. Some went away mad. Some got worn out. What if a few more had quit, and they lost critical mass or a quorum?

And then, what if the Constitution hadn’t been ratified by at least nine states? There was an anxious spell when it looked as if the Carolinas might not go along, and Virginia and others were on the fence too..

A while ago someone was telling me that we really need a certain amount of secrecy in government. “After all, we should have a secret ballot? We wouldn’t make everyone vote in public by raising their hands, or sign their ballots for anyone to see how they voted”

Um, no, because we get to vote our conscience or convictions without fear of retaliation from the incumbents or the boss where we work or our in-laws or anyone else. And because it’s OUR government, government of, by and for the people, and it is accountable to us, not the other way around.

Well, he said, okay, he sort of agreed with that. But he still thinks officials need to do some things in private. “After all, when they were writing the Constitution, they had total secrecy. The Founders didn’t let anyone know what they were up to until they had voted on the final draft.”

True. But that was not necessarily a good thing. And as it turned out, things might have worked out better or ratifications might have come sooner if not for the suspicions generated by the secrecy.

Listening to “Washington: A Life,” I  hear why the Carolinians were so suspicious and reluctant. Why had some of the state legislators not been trusted to know what was happening? Why had the press been barred? Even the essays in “The Federalist” were anonymous!

A genuine reason for secrecy was that the Constitutional Convention wasn’t exactly legal under the Articles of Confederacy! The Articles included an amendment process, but not “amendment by substitution.” By meeting with the purpose of replacing the Articles of Confederacy and the confederacy itself with a totally new governing document and a new form of government, the delegates were operating outside the law, and some of them feared that they could be arrested and even charged with treason.

Some delegates had been involved in the Revolution, and had known then that if their cause was lost, they could be executed for treason. Washington in particular knew that, though once a loyal British colonial and a young officer who had distinguished himself in the French and Indian War, his leadership of the Continental Army would mark him for death if the British managed to subjugate the colonies at last.

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I read a rather querulous lettitor in which a local wrestles with the history of the decline of retail establishments in Port Allegany.

Customers were disloyal, I gather. People owe it to local stores to shop here.

At one time I had a retail business here, and I knew I had to compete with other businesses that sold similar lines of goods in Olean or Bradford.

Sometimes at least one of those distant competitors competed unfairly: that store made deals with school instrumental music teachers and band directors whereby students’ families were steered to that store to rent and buy instruments. “Your kid wants to be in the band? Come to school Thursday when the van will be here and pick out the horn.”

Actually I had “placed” some pianos for that dealer before I had a store. I knew exactly how he did business. But I had lower overhead, and it was augmented by teaching fees and what Western Union paid for my tieline agency service. I didn’t enter into illegal deals with school staff, but I did offer the families a discount on a new instrument, equal to what they had paid in rental to the Bradford dealer. There’s quite a markup on band instruments, pianos and organs.

Many small grocery stores folded because people don’t buy that way anymore. And people don’t buy clothing in small, local shops, as a rule. They want a larger selection. Will they actually get a better deal on every item? Maybe not, but they still like the shopping experience better.

I don’t think our grocery shoppers are such a disloyal lot. In a highly mobile era they’ll buy food close to home if they can.  In general they like bargains and appetizing produce and baked goods, attractively displayed, and helpful staff. Encountering friends is not why we shop here, but it’s a nice extra.

Peace.