One of the good things about the occurrence of our nation's bicentennial is that it has given us the opportunity to put the problems of the present into some kind of historical perspective. The political crisis of Wategate, the worldwide energy shortage, the erratic behavior of an economy that once appeared robust and secure somehow seem less cataclysmic when viewed against the background of two full centuries of national life. Every era poses unique problems for those destined to live through it. A nation's history is the story of how its people have responded to the problems thrust upon them in each succeeding era.