Greek Indepencence Day

GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 07, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN
OF MARYLAND
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise today and join the millions of my fellow Americans in commemorating Greek Independence Day which, on March 25th celebrated the 184th anniversary of the rebellion and the struggle of the Greek people against the Ottoman Empire.

What makes Greek Independence Day so special here in America is that it reminds us of the strong principles and bonds that the U.S. and Greece share. In looking into the struggles of our two nations, we realize how much our struggles have in common, and how much each country has been influenced by the other.

Greece and the United States are bound by an absolute commitment to the democratic ideals of justice and freedom and continue to be strong allies. By commemorating Greek Independence Day, we also celebrate the strength and the resolve of the human spirit that has been the inspiration of us all.

I am very pleased to place into the record a statement made on this 184th anniversary of Greek independence written by one of my constituents, Constantinos Nicolaou.
The greatness of the human spirit, regardless of any efforts to suppress it, will always rise against tyranny and oppression and will start revolutions where heroism will pay any price, even the ultimate sacrifice of life, in order to gain freedom and independence.
Every time we commemorate heroism such as the one exhibited by the Greeks on March 25, 1821 and during the ensuing struggle for their freedom, we cannot help but think of our great founding fathers, who were so much influenced by the ancient Greeks in their struggles for freedom and the creation of what had become the freest, most democratic country in history, the United States of America.

Thomas Jefferson looked to the ancient Greek philosophers and their teachings as an inspiration in trying to create a fair, strong, democratic state. And it was not accidental that many of the Greek leaders of the 1821 revolution, turned to America for inspiration as they were embarking in their struggle for freedom.

Both nations were faced with seemingly insurmountable struggles, rising against empires to claim their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Both nations became triumphant at the end, because of their love of freedom. The great American Patriot, Patrick Henry, proclaimed, Give me liberty or give me death.'' The Greek patriots went to battle proclaiming, ``Eleftheria I Thanatos'' --liberty or death.

As with the American Revolution, the Greek revolution is filled with stories of heroism and sacrifice. News of such heroism and sacrifice met with strong feelings of support by the American public and by their politicians, including President James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, who expressed their support for the Greek revolution through their annual messages to congress. Henry Clay, our secretary of state in 1825, was very vocal in his support of Greece's fight for independence. Daniel Webster, more often than not, influenced his colleagues in looking into the Greek struggle with sympathetic interests.
It is, of course, no surprise that our Founding Fathers and other prominent Americans were supportive of the Greek struggle for independence. As mentioned, they themselves had been inspired by the ancient Greeks. Thomas Jefferson, of all the Founding Fathers, had a particular affinity for Greece, not only because of its classical republican philosophy but also because of his studies of the origins of languages. He expressed that affinity many times, as in a letter to John Brazier on August 24, 1819. In that letter, Thomas Jefferson address ``Mr. Pickering's Memoir of the Modern Greek,'' and the Memoirs review by Brazier. He tells Brazier, ``I had been much pleased with the memoir, and was much also with your review of it. I have little hope indeed of recovery of the ancient pronunciation of the finest of human languages, but still I rejoice to the attention the subject seems to excite with you, because it is evidence that our country begins to have a taste for something more than merely as much Greek as will pass a candidate for clericalordination . . . Among the values of c1assical learning, I estimate the luxury of learning the Greek and Roman authors in all the beauties of their originals. And why should not this innocent and elegant luxury take its preeminent stand ahead of all those addressed merely to the senses? I think myself more indebted to my father for this that for all other luxuries his cares and affections have placed within my reach.''

Jefferson expressed his empathies with Greece revolting against its Ottoman rulers. In an 1823 letter to Adamantios Coray, the Greek patriot and scholar that he had met in Paris years earlier, he stated:

America as a second Athens was an idea whose moment had come in the nineteenth century ..... In the early 19th century, an era that became known as America's Greek Revival was taking shape. Archaeological discoveries in Greece at the time brought the ancient democracy to mind just as modern Greece began its struggle for freedom from the Turks.

Edward Everett, President of Harvard, founder of Mount Auburn, congressman, Massachusetts's governor, minister to the Court of St. James's in London, senator, secretary of state and principal speaker at Gettysburg years later, was the leader of the Greek Revival. Harvard established its new chair of ancient Greek studies for him. While studying in Germany, Everett went to Greece, ``to walk over the battlefields where the first democracy of the West won its freedom.'' He returned to America convinced that a new Athens was rising here. His appearances, ``prompted rallies for Greek independence''--a favorite cause of Everett.

Everett's prestige influenced others, including historian George Bancroft, whose ``main interest was Greek history.''. . . Bancroft was ahead of the wave of histories that would glorify Periclean Athens in Victorian England. Direct democracy, a flawed system in republican theory, was rehabilitated, for its usefulness in the parliamentary reform movement, by British historians like George Grote. In America, a similar motion toward government by the people, not just for the republic, was signaled by an enthusiasm for Greek symbols. Barcroft became a Jacksonian Democrat when he began to apply historical skills formed on the Attic democracy to America's development. Walter Savage Landor recognized what was happening in America when he dedicated the second volume of his Pericles and Aspasia to President Andrew Jackson.''

Dionisios Solomos was the great poet who transformed in his poetry the unparalleled struggle and the sacrifices of Hellenism in the pursuit of Freedom. The Revolution so much influenced his poetry that he is considered the national poet of Greece. One of his most inspired poems, Hymn to Liberty, has almost become synonymous to that Revolution and it became Greece's National Anthem. The poem was published in 1825, along with translations in Italian, French and English.

The Revolution would have never been the same without Solomos. The enthusiasm of the fighters, as well as the international sympathy among the Philhellenes would have definitely been smaller without the Hymn to Liberty.

Probably nowhere has Solomos's vision of Liberty depicted better than here, in the United States. Here, in the Rotunda of our own Capital Hill, we see a most wonderful painting of Liberty, with the sword in hand chasing her enemies, exactly the way Solomos envisioned her in his Hymn to Liberty. This figure was painted by another son of Greece, one who really grasped Solomos's vision of Liberty, Constantino Brumidi.
And as a tribute to the United States, Solomos envisions our country rejoicing in seeing Greece fighting for Freedom. He describes the American feelings this way:
Most heartily was gladdened

George Washington's brave land:
For the iron bonds remembered,
Her old slavery's cruel brand.

http://thomas.loc.gov