Frontier -- Then and Now

By JW Ross

Arizona has passed a law enforcing the federal law which makes it a crime for non-citizens to be in the US without "papers" (green card, visa, etc). Most interesting is the fact that the state of AZ felt compelled to "act" because our government has effectively refused to secure the borders from illegal intrusion.

In the 1750's the settlement now know as Mercersburg was on the western "border" of what is now Pennsylvania.

As a British colony the British government was committed to protect settlements like Mercersburg and its citizens who were in fact British subjects. That said, on a regular basis friendly and not so friendly Indians crossed over the "border" - to trade and to terrorize.

One of the most noted events happened near what is now Greencastle. Here 10 school children and a school master were essentially bludgeoned to death and scalped by a raiding war party from "over the border".

The perfect metaphor is not the illegals and the Indians but the remarkably similar lack of the will on the part of either the US government or the British government to protect sovereign borders - both now and then. The reasons for the lack of action, on either part, is the subject of another editorial.

In the case of James Smith and the Black Boys of Mercersburg vs the British government, it lead to the American Revolution.

What the resolution of the citizens of Arizona vs the government in Washington will be, remains to be seen.