The Pope's no to the People's yes. The tide of British history. (3).

   George III is pulled over a cliff by the twin horses of obstinacy and pride as America burns.
                         The horses trample both constitution and Magna Carta.

    
    As the 18th century reached its mid-point, Britain's empire had cut its way into India and North America. When building any empire, it is vital not to have too much empathy, that is to say, too much communication with those people at the sharp end of your sword. Even though one fruit from the tree of knowledge was the technological ability to go abroad and more easily subjugate others, one simple result of empire building is communicative constipation. You must tell people what to do, rather than engage in discussion. People must take orders, and any insubordination is met with brute force. Information must be controlled and, consequently, ideas become stunted.  
   Britain's policy of mercantilism was an idea designed to enrich the mother country at the expense of the colonies. This desire to control trade would only serve to enflame tensions that would eventually fully combust with the American revolution.
   That the American revolution would bloom directly from England's own tree of knowledge was inevitable. The very tree itself grew from the independence of thought and action gained after Henry VIII took England away from the power of Rome. That same independence would make the country fertile enough for the necessary freedom of thought and action that would lead to the scientific revolution.　
   In this rich new land of communication, new  information and ideas would appear. In 1689, John Locke's Two Treatises of Government would offer such explanations as : "The Ruling Power ought to rule by declared and received laws, and not by extemporary dictates and undetermined resolutions."  Locke's writings would influence the thinking of Americans like  Patrick Henry who would describe George III's interference in American law-making as the actions of a "tyrant."       
    Henry is also supposed to have said: "Give me liberty or give me death." Whether he said these words or not, it is clear that ideas such as these only crystallised after the long period of British communicative heat first sparked by Henry's refusal to go along with the Pope.  
                                
                                                      

                                    
                     Thomas Paine. Corset-maker by trade, liberator by inclination.

    Revolutionary America would be further fanned by the pamphlet entitled Common Sense** . Written by the Englishman Thomas Paine, it communicated its ideas in a simple style that spoke directly to ordinary Americans. Political information and ideas were increasingly becoming the concern and right of the common man. Ideas that had burned out in Britain would fully catch fire in America. The idea of a country of the people, for the people, by the people was now in the air, and everyone would breathe it in.
    The British, drunk on the fermenting fruit of their own enlightenment, could not make out the full strength of the new American tree of knowledge flourishing across the pond. The country that could never quite get rid of its own king, would be eventually usurped by a country that could.

     So it was that, in 1776, The United States declared independence. And the grand experiment of a country controlled by its people  began. Communication was freed in a new environment, and one of the first things that people decided to do was  describe and explain what would constitute their new country. Never before had there been such clarity of purpose in the Constitution of a country.
     The United States, the New England,  was the culmination of the British enlightenment.  It embodied the notion of independence, the freedom from Popes, Kings and masters.* And its founding fathers  would include men of the times like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
    Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States would declare Bacon, Newton and Locke to be the three most important people in history, without exception. Without exception. There would be no mention of Jesus Christ.
      

    Benjamin Franklin would be one of the most accomplished people of any age. He invented bi-focals and stoves, lightning rods and 'armonicas. He established lending libraries so that people could read, and fire brigades to help keep people and property safe. He was working-class and proud of it.

                                                   200 years later....
                            

                  Ronald Reagan- the 40th President of The United States.
              Pretended to be a cowboy. For money.  Major work: Bedtime for Bonzo                 

           Considering the scope and influence of the United States, which of these men would you rather have in government?***
          Benjamin Franklin helped draft the constitution. He had ideas for experiments about lightning.
          Here's some idea of Ronald Reagan's own particular brand of explanation,nicely put into context by Afrika Bambaata and John Lydon:

                                
                                            
               The question needs to be asked: Just how did the United States go from Benjamin Franklin to Ronald Reagan? The answer, as it is always the answer when considering stupidity, is: communication has been diminished.  Once a culture has achieved material success, the ruling elites will want to cement the current system. In order to do that, you must discourage communication.
                The communicative tide will invariably suffer attempts to stem it by various interested powerful parties. Massive amounts of monetary and intellectual expense are expended in order to stifle the only thing we ever do. Considering this anti-human assault on our natural state, It would only be fitting to describe those who attempt to hold back this natural tide as Cnuts.

              Despite Britain's loss of its American colony, the turn of the 19th century would see the British Empire continue to cut across the globe. The British elites would do very well indeed, living off the fat of the land of other people. In terms of money and power the British would win the World.
              It would be appropriate then, that the height of the British Empire would be overseen by the Victorians.



* but only if you were white of course.
** as a great example of how any information  can give very different ideas, I recommend this site, which also offers "common sense."                             
*** or making movies, for that matter.