In Noah Hawley’s Fargo, a fictional tale of pervasive crime and tested loyalty, Kansas City mafia hitman Mike Milligan ponders the following:
"Ironically, in astronomy, the word 'revolution' means 'a celestial object that comes full circle.' Which, if you think about it, is pretty funny, considering here on earth it means change."
As our nation marches toward its 250th anniversary next year, some of today’s social and political dynamics continue to shift—and not for the better.
A self-proclaimed democratic socialist mayoral candidate in New York City is poised to advance a slew of anti-capitalist and racially divisive policies. Last month, anti-deportation activists in Los Angeles torched police cars, raided storefronts, and assaulted agents enforcing immigration policy.
Milligan’s distinction exposes the fallibility of domestic movements today. Most are so caught up in constant self-reflection and adjustment that they’ve lost their sense of direction and origin. These actions also destabilize the self-governing American experiment by tearing down the existing social order.
We have a civic imperative to protect ourselves from destructive practices and seek wisdom in avenues that teach, not distract or disturb. For the best advice, we have to start at the beginning and look up. Astronomy’s under-discussed role in the American Founding can reconnect us to our sociopolitical roots and restore the awe that true revolutions ought to inspire.
The American republic’s branch of astronomy predated its declaration of independence from Britain. The sole professor at Harvard College in 1639 taught his students ancient understandings of moon phases and planetary positions, engaging in disputes and applying abstract science for educational distribution. Closer to the Founding in 1743, Benjamin Franklin established the American Philosophical Society to “promote useful knowledge,” attracting scientists and educators to develop new theories and calculate the stars. The quest for clarity of the cosmos emboldened inventor David Rittenhouse to construct the first telescope to observe the transit of Venus in 1769 and other mechanical models of the solar system.
These loose collections of fascinations would emerge as worthy tactics in America’s breakaway from Britain. Almanac author Benjamin Banneker utilized science to survey lands for federal district planning. General George Washington communicated a solar eclipse to Continental Army troops to cement a victory at the Battle of Monmouth. Similarly, George Rogers Clark, a military officer in the Virginia militia, rallied his troops around the good omens of stargazing, capturing the city of Kaskaskia in 1778 without a shot. Established port cities employed astronomy to help the embattled colony navigate trade routes, and Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon used celestial objects to fix a boundary line that would ultimately split Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Astronomy shaped our nation’s Founders into polymaths, requiring and rewarding a blend of scientific, technical, and civic skills. Early American revolutionaries were motivated by their curiosity to create a new nation in pursuit of interdisciplinary knowledge. Well-rounded intellect on both ethereal and earthly matters would link back to and enhance the soulcraft in motion. In seeking what lay beyond our skies, the American Revolution and its subsequent Founding didn’t enforce skepticism of tradition; they ensured that change is anchored in continuity.
Notable revolutions today prioritize single issues over vast knowledge, and revolt over refinement. They erupt from specific grievances, such as Black Lives Matter’s calls and campaigns to dismantle law enforcement, rather than appreciating existing frameworks and working to excel within them. Disruptive rioting, looting, and other forms of violence have replaced the bedrock of unified long-term goals—just look at the LA anti-ICE riots—and the lack of shared vision leads to the same ambiguous or limited results modern revolutionaries detest. Thus, there is a cycle of cultural angst that, in attempting to grant freedom, banishes the awe that our Founding Fathers extolled.
America is in constant upheaval because we value agendas more than nurturing better citizens. It is a state incompatible with our country’s earliest endeavours with astronomy and doesn’t reconcile with Milligan’s juxtaposed definitions of revolution.
However, our Founders understood that preserving their discoveries would always entail a return to foundational principles.
In the Constitution, the system of checks and balances was deliberately modeled to reflect Newtonian physics, the motion of everyday objects at speeds and scales, and the harmonious order of the cosmos. Effective government demanded a republican and gravitational balance between parts, bolstered by the belief that, as free particles are equal under natural law, manmade law must champion free and equal citizens.
Their encounters with planetary bodies also supplemented the cause for inalienable rights, such as freedom of association and expression, to foster future exploration, public debate, and democratic decision-making. Moreover, astronomy helped secure, in writing and the national ethos, the rights and liberties they believed were already theirs as Englishmen.
The American Founding was not a rupture or a reckless leap into the unknown; it was a conservative homage to the social and celestial principles that made prosperity possible. Astronomy empowered the revolutionaries to create change while upholding reason and tradition, allowing them to “understand… the natural world and the moral improvement of mankind through new and more rational forms of government.” A true revolution of both senses had been achieved.
If modern-day movements wish to succeed, they must not be reactionary or antithetical to order, but lead the charge through empirical observation and open knowledge. Balance innovation with stability, and be ready to shift the paradigm. However, knocking anything out of orbit risks consequences of astronomical proportions. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “the Earth belongs always to the living generation.” Now, it is our turn to uphold the Founders’ ideals and look to the stars for guidance in America’s next 250 years.
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