When the United States was successful in fulfilling its Declaration of Independence, by winning its war against Great Britain, it later decided to upon its formation of its Constitution, to elect its first President, which was George Washington. At the time of Washington's election, most other established countries were led by royalty, which given that the United States was a republic, presented a problem as to how to properly address the new President. There were many suggestions given, such as "Your Highness", "His Exalted Highness," and "His Majesty, the President," but it was pointed out that the Constitution itself clearly stated that "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States," and further that “No State shall…grant any Title of Nobility.” This meant, that it was imperative that the President of the United States, not be addressed in such a manner that would reflect even a tinge of nobility, of which, nobility, itself, is a class of persons, that are considered to be higher and thereby exalted in status and power simply because they were born or gifted into the right family, and not therefore by the merits of that given individual. The United States, on the other hand, was established so that all would be treated equally in accordance to that all men are created equal by their beneficent Creator, and thereby this is a country of meritocracy and not heredity.
Therefore, today, the President of the United States, is addressed as Mr. President, or President <surname>, and not thereby addressed as "Your Highness", "King", or any other salutation that would imply or signify nobility. This then leads to the question as to why the legal profession, through the use of such terms as Esquire as added to the end of a given lawyer's name, need to do so, when the industry standard for those achieving higher education degrees, is to add so to their last name, for instance, Ph.D, or D.D.S, or J.D, rather than the rather lofty term of Esquire. That is to say, if medical doctors and those achieving doctoral degrees of all sorts, don't add on additional titles such as Esquire, why should lawyers do so? However, Esquire, often simply abbreviated on a business card, as Esq., is relatively innocuous, in the sense, that few lawyers, if any, are ever addressed by their full name, followed by the word: "Esquire". On the other hand, in the courtrooms all over America, for whatever reason, a judge typically and almost without exception, is addressed in the manner of "your honor", and while "your honor", in and of it, is not in actuality a title of nobility, it sure has the very strong tinge of nobility attached to it.
While America can state that the addressing of judges, as "my lord," or "your Excellency" or "your honor" is rather common the world over, that doesn't mean that this particular tradition is right, and in particular, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be changed. If the elected leader of this country is known as President <surname>, you would think that Judge <surname> would be good enough for judges, who aren't even always elected to their post in the first place. While it certainly makes sense that people deal with each other in a civil manner, especially in a court of law, it doesn't necessarily equate that some privileged people, should have salutations that imply that they are more honorable than the common man, of which, it was this common man, that has shed his blood, his life, his sweat, and provided his toil, in order to make this nation free, which, a reasonable person might reflect as being the highest or truest honor that one can provide for his country.