My Chastain immigrant ancestor, Pierre, arrived in Virginia in July of 1700. The ship he and his family (and some more of my ancestors) arrived on was a cargo vessel rated at 250 tons. That vessel, as well as I can reconstruct by comparing it to other sailing ships of similar tonnage, was about 80-90 feet long and 20-24 feet wide with no heat, cooking or sanitary facilities and no way of calling for help if it ran into trouble. It's hold was sectioned off into tiny cubicles where the 207 passengers were jammed in for a 13 week crossing. The food consisted of hard tack and salt pork. The water they drank during those 13 weeks was contained in wooden barrels. A letter written by the governor of Virginia at the time said that many of the passengers were too weak to walk when they arrived.
Pierre was born in a small French town 30 miles from Bourges. His family had earlier been driven out of Bourges where they had gone still earlier from Langedoc (An independent country with it's own language, incorporated into Southern France, after it was destroyed by Catholic thugs) . Around the time that Louis 14th ordered that everyone in France become catholic or face prison (if female) or slavery rowing French Navy ships (if male), Pierre and his family fled to Switzerland where they lived for several years. From Switzerland they went to The Netherlands and from there to England where they were allowed to board a ship for The new World.
Of their eight children, only one (or possibly two) survived to adulthood. His wife also died during the first year and he then married Anne Soblet, another Huguenot immigrant, my ancestress. If anybody thinks those folks went through all that trauma just to make money or for any reason other than a profound religious faith they are not thinking clearly.
Most of the immigrants arriving in that era had similar life stories. Those were the folks who started this country. They were of various Christian groups (and some Jewish). But, nearly all came because of persecution in Europe. Their determination, stamina and above all their faith, allowed them to beat off the most powerful military and naval force in the western world and establish a country with a unique form of government that has been the wonder and envy of the rest of the world.
Some say this only proves that religion is bad because it prompts oppression. Evil men use any excuse to do evil, including religion, but also race, gender, economic status and a whole litany of other factors. But, the message of Jesus includes no compulsion. God seeks volunteers - not draftees. When compulsion is part of something, it is not Christian. Folks of all beliefs or no belief at all, need to understand that. The founders were well aware of the dangers of concentrated power so they fashioned a government where power was not all vested in one individual, while providing a single head of government empowered to act when necessary.
Today, evil people seek to destroy our way of life and institute ideals that are anti-Christian. One should not forget that "anti-Christian" is also anti-American. When the ACLU wants to force the Boy Scouts to accept it's homosexual promoters, that effort is anti-American. When a judge orders a plaque showing the ten commandments, out of a public place, that is anti-American. As our government and culture move away from Judeo-Christian ideals, so we move toward more concentration of power and more crime and corruption, a country foreign to the one that God and our founders created.
And, make no mistake - some current politicians are obsessed with the lust for power and the ability to get their will by force. One identifying mark of them is that they fear guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens. They know very well that the American revolution could not have happened without without privately owned guns. It's a scary thought that B.Hussein Obama, Hillary Rodham C, and Juan McCain all belong to that club. If America is to remain "free" (or something like it), we citizens must continually do our best to ride herd on those in government and restain them. GOD Bless America.
Marv Chastain