This is a story about a time of contrast when the character of the nation was formed as a newly born country, needing to find its own identity. Born in war, it now needed to grow and mature until every American would say, "I am, and I can."
New emigrants casting off the negativity of the Old World encouraged by the wide expanse of this New World began to, hope, to dream, to create. New possibilities were invented. Encouraged by this new freedom, they continued to investigate and create. What emerged was a period of growth as well as failure. Entrepreneurs grew rich in the country. Such a man was Gerard Phillips. We follow his career, and the growth of his company through the troublesome years of the nineteenth century, the new democracy becoming a beacon of hope.
Some recognized this union was not a perfect union. This newborn nation had faults that needed to be corrected. The dream of freedom was not for all. It was as insecure as the flip of a coin. Brother against brother, each felt sure in their own mind that this was our nation's character--the freedom to suppress freedom, for others while keeping their own intact. Freedom is as tenuous as a flip of the coin. A choice, if you will, between freedom and racism. Fighting for expansion or containment, through relocation, is a flip of a coin.
Justice on the one side and greed on the other. Thus, the new nation entered its adolescence. It struggled with growing pains.
Each year a flip of the coin changed America until most Americans could say by the end of the Century, "I am, and I can." Most, but not all. Still not perfect. As the nation continues to grow, it takes only the flip of a coin to improve or undo what we have accomplished.
This is the story of a family and a growing business. It's the story of a generation forming the character of a nation. It is the story that is the mission of each new generation, in each new century.
Who we are decided by the flip of a coin or the ballot box.
