“Renegades made illicit joys not only possible but real. They didn’t intend their actions as gifts to us. But now is our chance to accept them as gifts, take the side of the renegades when the guardians of social order try to keep them down, and take more.”
– A Renegade History of the United States
“Only a virtuous people are compatible with freedom,” said Benjamin Franklin as he encouraged the teaching of morality to citizens of his young nation. Sacrifice and responsibilities were necessary for people to control themselves and thus, have no need to be controlled by others. Our history has almost always been defined by this metric. And why not, it seemed our early ancestors held these values high.
It was the Pilgrims who fled England over religious persecution to arrive at a place where they could practice their faith in peace. Likewise, the Puritans, reformers from England in the 17th century, came to establish a society modeled after them, of high moral standards, and void of depravity. These were the kinds of people our Founders and ancestors became and then embodied in the Constitution. Liberty meant hard work, and self-restraint, after all. Freedom would require not only these important disciplines but also a level of conformity. But not all would consent, in the new frontier.
Refusing to line the seats of the churches on Sunday morning, they were the counterculture of hedonists, putting pleasure before duty, with their own set of norms and values. Far from suitable, they were often filthy and depraved, and far outside the boundaries of genteel society. Inhospitable to the strait-laced prudes, they knew how to let their hair down. They were the prostitutes, the blacks, the gays, the drug dealers, the gamblers, and much worse. Living on the margins of society, they never fit our predecessor's standards and therefore didn’t submit to their part of the societal bargain.
So, who gave America her freedoms? The Founders, the statesmen, the entrepreneurs, the churchgoers? No, says, Thaddeus Russell, in his 2010 book, A Renegade History of the United States. That honor goes largely to the prostitute, the slave, and the immigrant who helped shape our early republic. Russell proceeds to turn America’s past on its head by viewing history through the lens of the gutter. He credits those outside the usual power structure, who were ahead of their time. These cast-offs popularized sexual freedom, interracial relationships, bawdy behavior, and more. Russell’s heavily narrated book will take you on a journey you’ve never heard and open your eyes to the real heroes of American lore.
Women, not so long ago, served as adoring domestic serfs to their husbands and rarely owned property. There were few other options for the well-bred and the average. Low-brow women, on the other hand, had no such constraints. Prostitutes, ironically, were the highest paid, owned many businesses, and had enormous freedoms. These unconventional women were the first to openly mix with blacks, whether to dance, to drink, or to fornicate. Acquiring luxuries, at the time, was also considered improper with makeup limited to the working girls. Yet, it was only a matter of time before society women started to come around. They too started working, living alone, and avoiding marriage. Ahead of their time, prostitutes were feminists before feminism was even a thing.
Blacks turned out to be rather likely renegades. At first, as slaves, they were considered nothing more than property. They were mostly ignored by society, exempt from laws, and never viewed in the same light as even the most reviled immigrants. This gave them unusual freedom from the conventionality of society. Following emancipation, however, there would be many attempts to pull blacks into the same oppression already enjoyed by whites. Instead, some of black libertine-ness would begin to infect society. While MLK would qualify as one of the good blacks, respectable and polite, others wouldn’t. They were the ones who owned illegal businesses and refused to pay taxes. Black music would traverse the color lines, with R&B and hip hop afflicting many a white youth.
Russell, however, would not be the only intellectual to acknowledge the benefits of undesirables in society. Loyola Professor and libertarian philosopher, Walter Block defended such villains in his book “Defending the Undefendable”, by championing the economic merit of all occupations, noting how the market was always friendly to voluntary transactions, despite one’s morality or lack of. Russell’s renegades were not always guilty of breaking laws, or wrongdoing, nor did they pursue violence towards anyone. They simply traded their unique services for money. Unseemly or immoral acts did not make them criminals. Block, in fact, shows how pimps are really no different than Hollywood agents, matching customers to suppliers. For these reasons, the government should never intrude on any voluntary trade, whether it be gambling, prostitution, drugs, or cigarettes.
This is not to dismiss the significant role that moral, hardworking people played in influencing our country. They most certainly did. Yet, there remains a disconnect in America between the respectable and the irredeemable. When citizenship was repressive, the renegades opened doors for others who initially resisted. By refusing compliance, they unknowingly expanded our freedoms. They were resilient individualists and nonconformers. They took the great experiment that our Founders won for us and made the life they gave us worth living. And a reason we should always recognize the contributions of the renegades, old and new.
Comments