Lasting lessons of another revolution

By Steve Frank

The causes of the revolution in Egypt - political oppression, poverty, grossly inequitable distribution of wealth - bear little resemblance to the impulses behind the American Revolution. And, clearly, men who wore knee breeches and powdered their hair inhabited a world very different from that of the demonstrators who gathered in Tahrir Square. But our Revolution does offer lessons for those who want Egypt's to succeed.

The principles for which the Founding Fathers fought kept the American Revolution from ending in tyranny, as so many revolutions do. And the "foundingest" principle of them all - the one codified in the first three words of the Constitution - is that governments should reflect the will of the people. That's a sentiment that Egypt's young revolutionaries clearly share.

President Obama made this point in Cairo in June 2009, when he said "all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. These are not just American ideas; they are human rights."

And to American eyes, at least, one of the most memorable images from the uprising's early days was of a demonstrator carrying a sign that read: "Yes we can, too."

With luck, they can indeed. But as Obama remarked on Friday, Egypt's democratic journey has only just begun. For it to end in lasting liberty - and not a new autocracy - it will have to mirror the American Revolution in a few other key respects.

The brightest lesson of the Revolution is that a severe political crisis like the one unspooling in Egypt can give birth to a polity dedicated to rights, equality, and liberty, even against tremendous odds. Each nation must take its own path toward those ideals, one grounded in its own history and traditions. But at least three ingredients present in the American Revolution seem necessary for success: exceptional leadership, commitment to the rule of law, and national solidarity.

Leadership is indispensable, and Washington has been aptly described as the American Revolution's indispensable man. As the historian Ron Chernow recently noted, he was a remarkably persevering military commander and a political genius who knew how to inspire and motivate others. He surrounded himself with the likes of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, and all of them acknowledged - sometimes grudgingly - his gifts and preeminence as a leader.

But it was not just Washington and those other remarkable leaders who accounted for the Revolution's success, nor was it only because of ordinary Americans' faith in extraordinary men that it did not devolve into anarchy or mob rule. They also adhered to the rule of law, one of those universal values Obama identified in Cairo.

Americans of the Revolutionary era realized that ridding themselves of one form of government necessitated replacing it with another, and to that end they looked to the Continental Congress for guidance. One of the Congress' first acts was to instruct each colony to rewrite its constitution in accordance with republican principles.

That the Egyptians are discussing amending their constitution is a hopeful sign. To succeed in that effort, the diverse band of protesters who gathered in Tahrir Square must embrace opposition leaders who are committed both to democracy and to the rule of law.

But if sectarian strife is to be avoided, one other ingredient will be necessary: national solidarity.

The historian T.H. Breen recently pointed out that even before the first shot was fired on Lexington Green, the American patriots worked hard to forge unity. The boycotts and resistance that preceded the Revolution promoted a common American cause. Without that sense of shared sacrifice and purpose, the inhabitants of 13 squabbling colonies could not have come together to mount an effective military resistance against Great Britain, then the most powerful nation on Earth.

The war itself, especially service in the Continental Army, reinforced those bonds of solidarity. Most of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention did not know one another. But the veterans among them shared a frame of reference - what Hamilton called a "continental vision" - that helped them set aside narrow regional and ideological interests in favor of national goals.

For the uprising in Egypt to succeed, the sacrifices the Egyptian people are now enduring will have to coalesce into similar bonds of solidarity. And if that comes to pass, a movement organized by Egypt's young people on the Internet will in important ways resemble the one organized more than 200 years ago by young Americans with pamphlets and quills. And then the human rights an American president championed in Cairo 19 months ago just might become an Egyptian reality.