TODAY’S Consumer Concerns was faced with the dilemma of focusing either on the Independence Day of the United States or on CARICOM Day, both of which are being celebrated tomorrow, July 4. Both anniversaries are important to Guyana.  CARICOM, with its support for Democracy in Guyana, its offer to Guyana to supply its lucrative food market and the close relationships which have grown up among the leaders, has engaged more attention from the media over the last several months than the United States.  We will therefore focus on the United States.

At the end of the Seven Years War (1756 -1763) Britain had won control of the whole of the North American continent after the French had ceded Quebec.  The war had been very costly, and the British Exchequer tried to raise money by new forms of taxation and even extended their tax net to the English colonies in America.  Two of these taxes particularly annoyed the colonists – The Stamp Act, whereby revenue stamps had to be appended to legal documents and a tax on tea.  The colonists began to oppose these taxes with the cry “No taxation without representation”, and eventually, this led to clashes between the colonial militias and the British army.  The first such clash occurred at Bunker’s Hill in Boston and thereafter escalated until the battle of Yorktown in 1781, when the American army led by General George Washington defeated Lord Cornwallis, thus ending the war.  In 1783, the British formally recognised American Independence.

We will not go into the details of the war but only point out that it was a civil war far less bitter than the American Civil War of the 1850s. In the Independence War, a large section of the American population wished to remain in the British Empire, and tens of thousands emigrated from the new Republic and settled in Canada, which had remained British.  In Britain, a large section of the population sympathised with the colonists, and it was difficult to enlist soldiers. Hence, the British Army had to use German mercenaries.  In fact, the use of foreign troops was one of the reasons the Revolutionaries gave for their declaration of Independence.

The newly established Republic called its citizens “Americans” which was the term used by the British to describe all white colonials, irrespective of the colony from which they came. The new Republic maintained all the colonial institutions: They jealously maintained the English language; they kept the English Common Law, and adopted the 18th century Constitution of England as Montesquieu, the French Philosopher, accurately described it. They kept the social and educational institutions they shared with the Mother Country.  For example, Harvard University was modelled after Emmanuel College of Cambridge, from which John Harvard came.  Most of the Revolutionaries were Freemasons, and General Washington and Lord Cornwallis were both Freemasons.  Indeed Washington, as President, had his Masonic Lodge lay the foundations of the Capitol and the American dollar note has several Masonic symbols.

Pre-Independence America, as part of the British Empire, shared close relations with the Caribbean.  Many of the American upper classes holidayed in the Caribbean, and Barbados was a favourite island.  There was much trade, but during the War of Independence, trade was disrupted, and the West Indies suffered great hardships from a lack of food imports and other goods. There was also always movement of people between America and the West Indies; for example, Alexander Hamilton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the new Republic’s Finance Minister, was a West Indian from the small island of Bequia.

In the 19th century, relations became less close than they were in the 18th century, but in the 20th century, close relations between the USA and Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean were resuscitated.  More trade came about and a steady stream of West Indians settled in America. In World War II, thousands of American servicemen were stationed in the Caribbean.  In Guyana, for instance, they built their first International Airport at Atkinson, later Timheri/Cheddi Jagan International Airport.  During this period, American culture became pervasive.

From the 1960s and especially in the 1970s and 1980s thousands of Guyanese fleeing dictatorial government, increasing crime and severe shortages of food and consumer goods found refuge in the USA, especially in the New York area and made their contributions to American life.  American developmental Aid was an important feature of Guyana-America relations.
Guyana-America relations have been immensely strengthened with the massive investment by Exxon in the Oil Industry, the revenues of which are laying the foundations of transforming Guyana into a First World-type country. Even more important, US foreign policy appears to be committed to establishing and maintaining the Americas as a zone of Democracy, just as the Munroe Doctrine did in the 19th century with respect to Colonialism.  This was manifested in Guyana’s recent history, where the US took the lead in institutionalising democracy and Democratic values and the Caribbean and the wider world applauded.  In this process, the American Ambassador, Madame Sarah Ann Lynch, played an extraordinary role and stood out as one of the most distinguished Ambassadors who had served in Guyana.
Guyana is the only English-speaking country in a sea of Latin speakers and shares numerous historical and cultural commonalities with the USA. The two countries should develop a Special Relationship analogous to Israel, which is in the heart of an Arab-speaking region. The world is rapidly changing into a multi-polar world with the rise of China and it is in Guyana’s interest to partner with the US and Britain in the emerging new World Order.
All of Guyana wish America a Happy Birthday and pray that this bastion of democracy and freedom continues to grow in strength and prosperity.