American History

[ccp]

William Sheldon MD PHD , famed for the terms "ectomorph", "endomorph", "mesomorph"
 and the modern grading scale in coin collecting

also took nude photos of college students in the 50s through 60s at Ivy League Schools
for his "research":

Atlas of Women
Sheldon had preceded him in death by 16 years, in eclipse after the scandals that had disrupted his ongoing network of nude photography. He was never accused of sexual offenses, and publication of his Atlas of Men had proceeded without a hitch in 1952. Generations of elite college freshmen had undergone the bizarre process that was supposed to have continued with the publication of a companion effort to be entitled Atlas of Women.

A fatal bump in the road was provided by the University of Washington in Seattle in 1950 when a female freshman complained vigorously to her parents at having to undergo a nude photo session. Well-connected and thoroughly perturbed, her parents raised a firestorm of angry protest that resulted in Sheldon’s ouster from campus and the burning of his assembled photos. Soon school after school joined in, though several colleges continued the process through the 1970s, photographing such subjects as the youthful Hillary Rodham (later Clinton), Nora Ephron, George W. Bush, George Pataki, and Diane Sawyer.


MY understanding these nudes still exist and are under lock and key at the Smithsonian Institute.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.voltairenet.org/article169488.html

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BWIZYkIxUg&t=7s

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfH7AJOkuIA&t=3s

[ccp]

To Sgt Alvin York:

from wikipedia :
A consistent Democrat – "I'm a Democrat first, last, and all the time",[74] he said – in January 1941 he praised FDR's support for Great Britain and in an address at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day of that year he attacked isolationists and said that veterans understood that "liberty and freedom are so very precious that you do not fight and win them once and stop." They are "prizes awarded only to those peoples who fight to win them and then keep fighting eternally to hold them!"[75] At times he was blunt: "I think any man who talks against the interests of his own country ought to be arrested and put in jail, not excepting senators and colonels." Everyone knew that the colonel in question was Charles Lindbergh.[76]

[Crafty_Dog]

By Mark G. Spencer
May 16, 2021 3:44 pm ET
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The military historian Patrick O’Donnell is known for his books on 20th-century elite units, including “First SEALs.” In “The Indispensables,” his second foray into the American Revolution, he does for the soldier-mariners of Marblehead, Mass., what he earlier accomplished for the Continental Army’s First Maryland Regiment in “Washington’s Immortals.” Readers who have enjoyed Mr. O’Donnell’s earlier books will not be disappointed with this one, his 12th.

The climax of Mr. O’Donnell’s novel-like account unfolds on Christmas night, 1776, when the “weathered, salty” men of the Marblehead Regiment—many of them veterans of the French and Indian War—rowed George Washington, his 2,400 troops and their artillery across the “fast-flowing, ice chunk-filled” Delaware River. By facilitating the Continental Army’s surprise attack on Hessian and British forces at Trenton, N.J., they turned the tide of the war. Washington is typically the focal point of that momentous scene, as he is in Emanuel Leutze’s painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” But Mr. O’Donnell’s gaze remains fixed on the valiant men who delivered him.


*** ONE-TIME USE ***
THE INDISPENSABLES
By Patrick K. O’Donnell
(Atlantic Monthly, 415 pages, $28)

The author begins their story on the Atlantic Ocean in 1769, off Massachussetts’ Cape Ann, where the Royal Navy has stopped the Pitt Packet. Boarding the Marblehead-based brig under pretense of searching for contraband, a British press-gang is instead intent on kidnapping colonists and compelling them into service for Britain. The American sailors are not fooled. Mayhem ensues. One of the Marbleheaders, Michael Corbett, hurls “his harpoon with the practiced skill of an experience mariner,” impaling and instantly killing Henry Panton, a British lieutenant. Corbett, writes Mr. O’Donnell, was one of the first to offer “deadly defiance against the Crown.” He epitomizes the sea-hardened men of Marblehead.


Not all Marbleheaders were as obscure as Corbett. Elbridge Gerry, an “ardent abolitionist” and the “intellectual mainspring behind Marblehead’s revolutionary movement,” signed the Declaration of Independence and later became vice president under James Madison. (Today he is remembered mostly for the term “gerrymandering.”) John Glover, “short, scrappy, and tenacious,” was commander of the Marblehead Regiment and instrumental in forming Washington’s navy. Capt. John Manley—who captured the British brigantine Nancy, one of the war’s greatest prize ships—was celebrated in prose and song. Caleb Gibbs led Washington’s Life Guard, “a small, hand-picked, elite unit.” Nor were those associated with Marblehead all revolutionaries. We also meet the treacherous Dr. Benjamin Church, whose mistress lived in Marblehead, and the loyalist Ashley Bowen, a Marblehead sail-rigger and “prolific diarist” of the Revolution.

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Some of the events in this history are not well known. The Redcoat seizure of gunpowder from the magazine on Quarry Hill, in present-day Somerville, Mass., in September 1774, for instance, led to the “forgotten first shots of the Revolutionary War,” fired when Marbleheaders stormed Fort William and Mary to get the powder back. Battles at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill are more famous, as is the siege of Boston and, later, the battles of Brooklyn, Trenton and Princeton. But even when retelling those renowned encounters, Mr. O’Donnell remains focused on the men of Marblehead, whose actions often decided outcomes.

Mr. O’Donnell draws upon a variety of primary sources: diaries, letters, orderly books, manuscripts and period newspapers. Secondary sources, old and new, are scoured for apt quotation. Often Mr. O’Donnell draws comparisons with more recent times. His Marbleheaders operate “SEAL-like.” Their evacuation of the Continental Army out of Brooklyn and across the East River in August 1776 was a “miraculous American Dunkirk.” And Washington’s Life Guard was “a precursor to the Secret Service.” “The Indispensables,” he tells us, is a “ ‘Band of Brothers’-style history.”

Mr. O’Donnell’s prose is efficient. The book’s 40 snappy chapters complement his fast-paced writing. He is at his best when it comes to warfare and its apparatus, on land and at sea. Maps help situate the action, as does additional context, such as what we learn about gunpowder: its history, ingredients (sulfur, charcoal, saltpeter), scarcity (“the Achilles’ heel of the army”) and procurement (sometimes, aboard Marblehead’s ships, from the Caribbean and Spain), how to load it into muskets, and how much of it cannons, of various sizes, devoured.


Outside the theater of war, occasional inconsistencies and minor errors creep in. Too many are labeled “Renaissance men” (Loammi Baldwin, Benjamin Church, Joseph Warren), whose 18th-century interests are better described as enlightened—indeed, any discussion of the Patriots’ intellectual concerns in the book is perfunctory. The Sugar Act was passed in 1764, not 1765 (the year of the Stamp Act). Still, those seeking a detailed, reliable account of the War for American Independence’s earliest years—one that embraces its nautical dimensions—will find it here.

“The Indispensables” shows that the ardent men of the Marblehead Regiment were the diverse soldier-mariners who not only rowed Washington across the Delaware but “saved the Continental Army multiple times.” In 1903 the British historian George Trevelyan wrote of them: “It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater or more lasting results upon the history of the world.” Many of them, Mr. O’Donnell reminds us, “fought for no monetary gain and became broken men” in the process. But these indispensable men from Marblehead “enabled the birth of a new country” and “serve as a shining example for future generations.”

Mr. Spencer, a professor of history at Brock University, is the author of “David Hume and Eighteenth-Century America.”

[DougMacG]

https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/sports/hawaiian-surfers-olympics

What country is Hawaii?  Strange story. It's the Olympics, should be a simple question.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.manilatimes.net/2014/06/29/sports/juramentados-and-the-development-of-the-colt-45-caliber-model-1911/107609?fbclid=IwAR2nWky5y5-hq_U9FEBi2fhecCmbm5iVzKh5uskkAurT1aczieaHiJpNeAI

[Crafty_Dog]

https://amgreatness.com/2021/06/16/recalling-the-men-of-bunker-hill-and-the-american-founding/

[Crafty_Dog]

Thought in and around geopolitics.
By: George Friedman
As the week of meetings in Europe ends, many wonder what the varied personalities have brought us. In particular, we wonder whether U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin discovered that they were soul mates, and whether each redirected his nation’s course in a way that reinforces all that Russia and the United States have in common. There is a great deal of focus on the personal relationships between leaders. There shouldn’t be. The fate of nations does not rest on the relationships between leaders. The realities of the nation and the world it exists in define what must happen.

Consider the relationship – partnership, even – between two men who saw the world the same way and had particular affection for each other, and then consider how little all that mattered. For Winston Churchill, the British interest was in defeating Hitler and saving the British Empire. For Franklin Roosevelt, the American interest was in defeating Hitler and dismantling the British Empire. Their mutual desire to defeat Germany was real. If Hitler won the war, he would have had the resources to challenge both for control of the Atlantic. German control of the Atlantic would isolate Britain from the rest of the world and its empire, and inevitably force it into a position where Germany would dominate Britain. The United States, facing war with Japan, needed Britain to serve as the cork, bottling up a future German navy.

This led to the lend-lease agreement. The “lend” part saw the United States lending Britain badly needed destroyers to allow supplies from the United States to flow to Britain. The ideal outcome of the war would have been Britain remaining intact and unconquerable without direct U.S. intervention. The U.S. could not afford the fall of Britain and would supply it with enough material to fight its war without U.S. casualties.

The “lease” side is by far the more interesting. In exchange for lending Britain destroyers, the British leased to the U.S. most of their naval bases in the vicinity of the United States. The British had maintained naval bases in and around what would become the United States for centuries. The U.S. had fought the British in multiple wars and skirmishes from its founding. After World War I, the United States drew up plans for wars with Japan, Germany and other countries, including Britain. The prospect of invasion from Canada was never considered a real threat, but it is important to note that as late as 1920, Britain was on the U.S. list of potentially hostile nations. The U.S. feared that Britain might use its naval bases to blockade U.S. ports. The acquisition of Britain’s bases increased U.S. security and diminished Britain’s geopolitical power.

Churchill was Roosevelt’s guest in the White House for a month. They drank together, and Churchill kept pointing out he was half American, and Roosevelt agreed that they were two nations united. And then Roosevelt screwed Churchill and England but good. In exchange for some warships that would fight the fight America wanted Britain to win so the U.S. didn’t have to get in, he forced Churchill to surrender Britain’s maritime position in the Atlantic. I have no idea if the two had a deep friendship or not, nor does it matter. When it came time for the summit, Roosevelt ruthlessly pursued American interests, and Churchill had to smile and say thank you.

This continued throughout the war. Churchill wanted to focus on the Mediterranean rather than invade France. He had to secure the Suez Canal if he was to maintain control of India, and Saudi oil as well. Roosevelt wanted to defeat Germany the fastest way possible, both because Japan was next on the agenda and because he did not want to see Britain come out of the war with its empire intact. The American Revolution was the first blow to the British Empire, and I strongly believe that Roosevelt wanted to strike the last blow. Roosevelt’s goal was to avoid a third European war that the United States would be forced to participate in, and for that, he did not want the U.S. bailing out an empire of little value to the United States. His idealistic goal was a United Nations that made war obsolete. His fallback position was the U.S. controlling the world’s oceans. Roosevelt wanted to invade France as soon as possible, and Churchill had no choice. Britain was too weak to hold the empire, and it unraveled.

I think that Churchill and Roosevelt enjoyed each other’s company. But Roosevelt saw from the beginning that Churchill’s declarations of unity had more to do with the U.S. doing Britain’s bidding. I don’t know whether Churchill realized just how clear-headed and ruthless Roosevelt was, but if he did, Churchill’s strategy of maintaining a close personal relationship with Roosevelt was at best a desperate last hope. Roosevelt understood with the same clarity as Churchill how the war would play out, and that Columbia, not Britannia, would rule the seas.

A monthlong stay together was the mother of all summits. Whether they liked each other or not, they shared an interest in defeating Germany, but Britain wanted to hold its place in the world, and since it was too weak to do so, the U.S. intended to replace it. This was a historical necessity, and personal rapport and charm, which was likely there, did not change what Churchill had to ask for, nor what Roosevelt was going to do.

Nor will the relationship or lack of it between the American president and the Russian president, or Chinese president, or German chancellor change the course of history. History is unsentimental. There is power or lack of power, interest or lack of interest, and what is said at a summit are the lies that must be told as reality plays itself out.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/08/black-soldiers-union-mackubin-thomas-owens/?fbclid=IwAR1c0hll9xLewqojk01BNFZOqhGgBpTemmNOgbAtm9Esw6t98XpdaQZ0CBA

[Crafty_Dog]

Second post

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/06/let-juneteenth-be-juneteenth/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%20New%202021-06-19&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart

[ccp]

".Let Juneteenth Be Juneteenth "

do you want to pay reparations?

I don't

that is what this is all about

with the left it is one thing leads to more

 

[ccp]

I always thought this resemblance a bit creepy -

*Look at Denzel Washington from the movie  "Glory"*:

https://www.google.com/search?q=denzel+washington+glory&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=8sPWkRpfuduG1M%252CLuHZEE8MMNWJKM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQSMA8_LkIDo10FCEbqwCtIJ7jaug&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2hI_x2afxAhUCTN8KHVq8BGwQ_h16BAguEAE&biw=1440&bih=789#imgrc=8sPWkRpfuduG1M

*Now look the the real Black Civil War soldier in center of this photo

https://sites.google.com/a/oswego.edu/troops/

[DougMacG]

https://youtu.be/CNmnmdtcdcg
Two entertainers but this is clearly a political interview. Both try to be non-partisan, though Reagan is a presumed-retired Republican politician and Carson is a presumed moderate Dem who keeps his politics off the show. Reagan let's slip a few trial balloons for his future runs such as "Government IS the problem", and shows some mastery of foreign affairs, more interest and passion than expected from a retired former governor.

The elephant in the room is whether Reagan will run in two years against his own party's incumbent, before Ford even has a record to support or oppose.  Of course Reagan loves the idea being put out there to a national audience for him to not completely rule out multiple times.

[ccp]

Good interview

Carson was and still is the best IMHO

Watching the old reruns occasionally
he would be totally politically incorrect today ->. mysogyny - a word I never heard of but is now used to label someone like "racist" "homophobe" etc
to ruin their reputation their profession etc.

I was very disappointed when it was finally revealed Johnny  was a flaming partisan democrat

as I was with all the news casters such as Cronkite etc.

which they did keep concealed in those days.

now it is a badge of honor and courage and nobility
of course.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z97_qDsrqgU

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_morningbrief/ulysses-s-grant-and-the-forgotten-presidency_4078166.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mb-2021-11-01&mktids=ddc736e6695fdd3d131bd248f9e6ad5d&est=cEK8nuc6dU08lB7UG%2FXH3yZpP9PzuCMVQMNMHb4LTMOrt9YDz0wWLbl3JZgMY6s%2BSf3o

[ccp]

1912 campaign speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVNwLzUcPYk

a bit of a long winded blow hard if you ask me

sometimes he sounds conservative other times a lib

[Crafty_Dog]

https://allthatsinteresting.com/red-cloud?fbclid=IwAR2zivgEXbFtfbsqzUVlz52HfkqKE9e5nFLtj-TKcAiX94RzNetAwyHEYY4

[Crafty_Dog]

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina’s 250th celebration tells revolution story, warts and all

BY JEFFREY COLLINS ASSOCIATED PRESS CAMDEN, S.C. | South Carolina sees the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution as a chance to remind people that the state played a huge part in winning the nation’s independence, even if it did try later to tear the United States apart in the Civil War.

The state has opened a new Revolutionary War center, and released an app for mobile devices that explores some 200 sites of battles and other key events, including remote swamps where patriots and loyalists skirmished in the War of Independence.

Organizers promise this anniversary won’t all involve hero worship of the Founding Fathers, and won’t turn a blind eye to the slavery that steered South Carolina’s history for 400 years.

“The 250th commission is dedicated to telling the story of the American Revolution as it exists — the beauty and the warts and the terror of it all,” said Charles Baxley, chairman of the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission. “And they are dedicated to the idea — which is a radical and new idea — of telling it from all points of view.”

Or, as South Carolina’s preeminent historian Walter Edgar said: “It’s important to tell everyone’s story. It’s not just the people in the fancy knee britches and the powdered wigs.”

Congress commissioned the America250 Foundation five years ago to throw the “biggest, most inclusive commemoration in our nation’s history” on July 4, 2026, 250 years after the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

Inclusiveness is already evident in Massachusetts, which honored the anniversary of 1770s Boston Massacre with “Reflecting Attucks,” an exhibit examining the life and legacy of Crispus Attucks. The son of a slave and an American Indian was the first to die when occupying British soldiers fired on angry colonists.

Anniversary organizers in South Carolina, which is often remembered more for leading the Confederacy into secession, say the state can be proud of its role in turning a stalemated war into victory against the British, but it’s a story that can’t fully be told without including its treatment of enslaved people.

Many slaves fought for the British, who promised them freedom. Others stayed with their owners, who rewarded some by releasing them from bondage.

Slaves were often used as spies and messengers, and South Carolina militias fighting for independence from Britain allowed up to one-third of their units to be slaves, but only in support roles like engineers or sailors and not as front-line armed troops, according to Mr. Edgar’s book, “South Carolina: A History.”

For most Black people, the founders’ soaring proclamation in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” did little to change their reality of oppressive servitude in the new United States.

A quarter-century later, more than 100,000 people remained enslaved in South Carolina, even after 25,000 slaves were freed by the British. Some 5,000 more just disappeared. There were about 142,000 White men, women and children in the state in 1790.

The plight of slaves is acknowledged at the Revolutionary War Visitor Center, along with American Indians on both sides of the conflict. Other displays show major players like the “Swamp Fox” Francis Marion, who thwarted plans by British Gen. Banastre Tarleton to decisively end the war. Marion’s men exhausted “Bloody” Tarleton’s troops, leading them on fruitless swampland chases, before French allies arrived and together they drove the British to surrender.

“It’s a case of trying to touch lightly on everything and then send people if they are really interested in the Revolutionary War to other sites that are going to go into more detail,” said the center’s director, Rickie Good.

There are thousands of stories to tell, and Ms. Good said the center’s goal is to open the door to as many of them as possible, by combining battlefield heroics with stories of common men and women who had to decide whether to join the revolution.

“A lot of people don’t want their heroes besmirched, I guess,” she said. “We call them heroes. They didn’t call themselves that. They were people. And they were good and they were bad and they did the best they could in impossible situations and in many ways I think they were just like we are.”

[Crafty_Dog]

10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Revolutionary War

"The American Revolution took place between 1775 until 1783. Also known as the Revolutionary War as well as the U.S. War of Independence, the war came about from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 colonies situated in North America and the colonial government that represented the British crown. A fight between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord back in April 1775 started the armed conflict. When it was finally summer, the rebels were waging an all out war to claim their independence. France then entered the American Revolution to side with the colonists in 1778. This move by France turned what had initially been a civil war into an international conflict. After French officials helped the Continental Army defeat the British and have them surrender at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781, the Americans had won their independence. The fighting formally ended two years later after the signing of the Treaty of Paris 1783. Here are 10 more things you didn’t know about the Revolutionary War:

Fact 1: The experienced British army was gunning down the Americans fast. Geroge Washington barely had an army left. About 25,000 Americans died on the battle field, while 9,000 other suffered from serious injuries. Contrary to popular belief, George Washington’s dentures weren’t made out of wood! They were made from hippopotamus ivory and cow’s teeth, held together by metal springs.

Fact 2: It was the Battle of Saratoga that gave the Americans their first ever taste of victory. Their triumph during this battle signaled the beginning of Britain’s downfall.

Fact 3: Benjamin Franklin was able to receive foreign support from his connections in France, Spain, and the Netherlands. This furthered the decline of British power.

Fact 4: One-third of Americans actually supported the colonial rule and supported the King. They thought of themselves as Loyalists and even went as far as fleeing to Canada, England, and the Bahamas when the war was coming to an end.

Fact 5: Although the Cornwallis had surrendered to the Americans in Yorktown back in 1781, all the hatred and fighting did not cease until two years later when the Treaty of Paris was signed. The battles finally stopped in 1783.

Fact 6: Those who supported the Americans were called Patriots, while those who rooted for the Britons were called Loyalists. It was common practice for the Patriots to soak the captured Britons in tar and coat them in feathers, while the Daughters of Liberty went for a much sweeter route and opted to use molasses and flowers instead.

Fact 7: During 1782, a woman by the name of Deborah Sampson went under the disguise of a man and called herself Robert Shurtlieff Sampson after her deceased brother. She enlisted herself under the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army and served for a year until she got injured in battle. When she sought for medical treatment the doctor discovered her secret. She was discharged with full honors.

Fact 8: The first man that was shot during the Boston Massacre was an African American by the name of Crispus Attucks. He went on to become the first martyr of the American Revolution, and even became the icon of anti-slavery movements during the 18th century.

Fact 9: A Boston silversmith by the name of Paul Revere was famous for sounding the alarm that signaled the British invasion. Accompanied by 40 other men, they rode on horseback at the dead of night in order to alert the American troops.

Fact 10: 2 years later, a colonel’s daughter named Sybil Ludington rode the 40 miles all by herself from 9pm until dawn to inform New York militia that the red coats were burning down Danbury, Connecticut. She was only 16 years old."

[Crafty_Dog]

Merry Christmas!  James Monroe, soldier, later, a founding father and president, was one of the first to cross the Delaware, he had with him, a piece of artillery. Monroe was wounded in the shoulder by a ball which cut an artery. It was his left shoulder, and the ball remained there as long as he lived. Following is his Christmas story:
Overshadowed perhaps by his great accomplishments in later life, it is not generally known that James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, was seriously wounded at the Battle of Trenton while serving under Gen. George Washington, and that he carried the bullet in his left shoulder during the rest of his life.

James Monroe possessed all the requisites of the soldier, including courage, strength, skill, and robust health. Although barely out of his teens, this famous American patriot participated in the furious Battles of Harlem Heights, White Plains, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, and took a leading part in each of them.

It was at the age of 17 that he left his home in Westmoreland County, Va., for William and Mary College, at which time, it is stated, there were only about 60 students there. Most of them, however, represented the most distinguished families of colonial Virginia, and they shared with each other the never to be forgotten experiences of the spring and winter of 1775 and the first half of the year 1776.

James Monroe joined the Third Virginia Regiment on June 24, 1776. Two months later he marched North under the command of Capt. William Washington, a kinsman of the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. At this time Monroe, who was barely 18 years old, acted as a first lieutenant.

The march to New York was a long one, and the Third Virginia Regiment arrived just in time to participate in the Battle of Harlem Heights. This was Monroe's "baptism of fire," fought in what is now the very heart of New York City, and it was the beginning for him of a series of battles at the rate of one a month.

At the Battle of Trenton he played a highly creditable and even heroic part. It was on this memorable Christmas Eve that the American troops under the command of General Washington crossed the Delaware during a severe snowstorm. Col. William Washington's men from time to time had been used for scout duty, and it is generally conceded by historians that his young lieutenant, James Monroe, was the first man to cross the Delaware. There is a record in existence which states that "Lieutenant Monroe, with a piece of artillery, was sent across the river to Pennington's Road, but joined the army the next morning." After rejoining his company, he found himself among the first in the fight. In capturing some Hessian guns both Captain Washington and Lieutenant Monroe were wounded, the captain being shot in both hands, and Monroe in the shoulder by a ball which cut an artery. It was his left shoulder, and the ball remained there as long as he lived. This gallant act on the part of these two officers helped materially to demoralize the enemy at a most critical time, and materially hastened the victory of the Americans at the battle of Trenton. For "bravery under fire" Monroe was promoted by Gen. George Washington on the field to the rank of captain.

Special news releases relating to the life and time of George Washington, as prepared and issued by the United States George Washington bicentennial commission. vol. I, United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission, 1932.

Photo: Lieutenant Colonel James Monroe, Citizen Soldier, Department of Defense, National Guard.
© 2020-2021 Clifford Olsen/250Years America’s Founding

[Crafty_Dog]

Have not watched this yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82ofNCJjpXM

[Crafty_Dog]

General Washington resigns as Commander in Chief to Congress in Annapolis, Maryland, December 23, 1783. "I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commanding the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping."

American artist Benjamin West told King George III of England that General George Washington was going to resign and go back to his farm, Mt. Vernon. The King said "that act closing and finishing what had gone before and viewed in connection with it, placed him in a light the most distinguished of any man living, and that he thought him the greatest character of the age." I wonder what he said when later, as President, George Washington again resigned a position of power after two terms?

From George Washington to United States Congress
23 December 1783

The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place; I have now the honor of offering my sincere Congratulations to Congress & of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the Service of my Country.

Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the oppertunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence—A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.

The successful termination of the War has verified the more sanguine expectations—and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my Countrymen, encreases with every review of the momentous Contest.

While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge in this place the peculiar Services and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the War. It was impossible the choice of confidential Officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me Sir, to recommend in particular those, who have continued in Service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice & patronage of Congress.

I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commanding the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.

Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action—and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.

https://founders.archives.gov/.../Washington/99-01-02-12223
Photo: George Washington resigning his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army to the Congress, by John Trumbull, 1817.

© 2019-2021 Clifford Olsen/250YearsofLiberty
#OTD #AmericanHistory #liberty #250America #250YearsofLiberty

[Crafty_Dog]

The Root Causes of the American Revolution

"The American Revolution began in 1775 as an open conflict between the United Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain. Many factors played a role in the colonists' desires to fight for their independence. Not only did these issues lead to war, but they also shaped the foundation of the United States of America.

* The Cause of the American Revolution

No single event caused the revolution. It was, instead, a series of events that led to the war. Essentially, it began as a disagreement over the way Great Britain governed the colonies and the way the colonies thought they should be treated. Americans felt they deserved all the rights of Englishmen. The British, on the other hand, thought that the colonies were created to be used in ways that best suited the Crown and Parliament. This conflict is embodied in one of the rallying cries of the ​American Revolution: "No Taxation Without Representation."

* America's Independent Way of Thinking

In order to understand what led to the rebellion, it's important to look at the mindset of the founding fathers. It should also be noted that this mindset was not that of the majority of colonists. There were no pollsters during the American revolution, but it's safe to say its popularity rose and fell over the course of the war. Historian Robert M. Calhoon estimated that only about 40–45% of the free population supported the revolution, while about 15–20% of the free white males remained loyal.1 2
The 18th century is known historically as the age of Enlightenment. It was a period when thinkers, philosophers, statesman, and artists began to question the politics of government, the role of the church, and other fundamental and ethical questions of society as a whole. The period was also known as the Age of Reason, and many colonists followed this new way of thinking.
A number of the revolutionary leaders had studied major writings of the Enlightenment, including those of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the Baron de Montesquieu. From these thinkers, the founders gleaned such new political concepts as the social contract, limited government, the consent of the governed, and the separation of powers.
Locke's writings, in particular, struck a chord. His books helped to raise questions about the rights of the governed and the overreach of the British government. They spurred the "republican" ideology that stood up in opposition to those viewed as tyrants.

Men such as Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were also influenced by the teachings of the Puritans and Presbyterians. These teachings included such new radical ideas as the principle that all men are created equal and the belief that a king has no divine rights. Together, these innovative ways of thinking led many in this era to consider it their duty to rebel against laws they viewed as unjust.

* The Freedoms and Restrictions of Location

The geography of the colonies also contributed to the revolution. Their distance from Great Britain naturally created a sense of independence that was hard to overcome. Those willing to colonize the new world generally had a strong independent streak with a profound desire for new opportunities and more freedom.

The Proclamation of 1763 played its own role. After the French and Indian War, King George III issued the royal decree that prevented further colonization west of the Appalachian Mountains. The intent was to normalize relations with the Indigenous peoples, many of whom fought with the French.

A number of settlers had purchased land in the now forbidden area or had received land grants. The crown's proclamation was largely ignored as settlers moved anyway and the "Proclamation Line" eventually moved after much lobbying. Despite this concession, the affair left another stain on the relationship between the colonies and Britain.

* The Control of Government

The existence of colonial legislatures meant that the colonies were in many ways independent of the crown. The legislatures were allowed to levy taxes, muster troops, and pass laws. Over time, these powers became rights in the eyes of many colonists.

The British government had different ideas and attempted to curtail the powers of these newly elected bodies. There were numerous measures designed to ensure the colonial legislatures did not achieve autonomy, although many had nothing to do with the larger British Empire. In the minds of colonists, they were a matter of local concern.

From these small, rebellious legislative bodies that represented the colonists, the future leaders of the United States were born.

* The Economic Troubles

Even though the British believed in mercantilism, Prime Minister Robert Walpole espoused a view of "salutary neglect." This system was in place from 1607 through 1763, during which the British were lax on enforcement of external trade relations. Walpole believed this enhanced freedom would stimulate commerce.

The French and Indian War led to considerable economic trouble for the British government. Its cost was significant, and the British were determined to make up for the lack of funds. They levied new taxes on the colonists and increased trade regulations. These actions were not well received by the colonists.

New taxes were enforced, including the Sugar Act and the Currency Act, both in 1764. The Sugar Act increased already considerable taxes on molasses and restricted certain export goods to Britain alone. The Currency Act prohibited the printing of money in the colonies, making businesses rely more on the crippled British economy.

Feeling underrepresented, overtaxed, and unable to engage in free trade, the colonists rallied to the slogan, "No Taxation Without Representation." This discontent became very apparent in 1773 with the events that later became known as the Boston Tea Party.

* The Corruption and Control

The British government's presence became increasingly more visible in the years leading to the revolution. British officials and soldiers were given more control over the colonists and this led to widespread corruption.

Among the most glaring of these issues were the "Writs of Assistance." These were general search warrants that gave British soldiers the right to search and seize any property they deemed to be smuggled or illegal goods. Designed to assist the British in enforcing trade laws, these documents allowed British soldiers to enter, search, and seize warehouses, private homes, and ships whenever necessary. However, many abused this power.

In 1761, Boston lawyer James Otis fought for the constitutional rights of the colonists in this matter but lost. The defeat only inflamed the level of defiance and ultimately led to the Fourth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution.

The Third Amendment was also inspired by the overreach of the British government. Forcing colonists to house British soldiers in their homes infuriated the population. It was inconvenient and costly to the colonists, and many also found it a traumatic experience after events like the Boston Massacre in 1770.

* The Criminal Justice System

Trade and commerce were overly controlled, the British Army made its presence known, and the local colonial government was limited by a power far across the Atlantic Ocean. If these affronts to the colonists' dignity were not enough to ignite the fires of rebellion, American colonists also had to endure a corrupt justice system.

Political protests became a regular occurrence as these realities set in. In 1769, Alexander McDougall was imprisoned for libel when his work "To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York" was published. His imprisonment and the Boston Massacre were just two infamous examples of the measures the British took to crack down on protesters.

After six British soldiers were acquitted and two dishonorably discharged for the Boston Massacre—ironically enough, they were defended by John Adams—the British government changed the rules. From then on, officers accused of any offense in the colonies would be sent to England for trial. This meant that fewer witnesses would be on hand to give their accounts of events and it led to even fewer convictions.

To make matters even worse, jury trials were replaced with verdicts and punishments handed down directly by colonial judges. Over time, the colonial authorities lost power over this as well because the judges were known to be chosen, paid, and supervised by the British government. The right to a fair trial by a jury of their peers was no longer possible for many colonists.

* Grievances That Led to Revolution and the Constitution

All of these grievances that colonists had with the British government led to the events of the American Revolution. And many of these grievances directly affected what the founding fathers wrote into the U.S. Constitution. These constitutional rights and principles reflect the hopes of the framers that the new American government would not subject their citizens to the same loss of freedoms that the colonists had experienced under Britain's rule."

[ccp]

If one were to listen to many of today's "professors"

the root cause was so white people could continue slavery......

[ccp]

https://www.c-span.org/video/?516382-1/rise-fall-thomas-paine

[Crafty_Dog]

On This Day in History > January 2, 1776:
Congress publishes the Tory Act

"The Continental Congress publishes the “Tory Act” resolution on January 2, 1776, which describes how colonies should handle those Americans who remain loyal to the British and King George.

The act called on colonial committees to indoctrinate those “honest and well-meaning, but uninformed people” by enlightening them as to the “origin, nature and extent of the present controversy.” The Congress remained “fully persuaded that the more our right to the enjoyment of our ancient liberties and privileges is examined, the more just and necessary our present opposition to ministerial tyranny will appear.”

However, those “unworthy Americans,” who had “taken part with our oppressors” with the aim of gathering “ignominious rewards,” were left to the relevant bodies, some ominously named “councils of safety,” to decide their fate. Congress merely offered its “opinion” that dedicated Tories “ought to be disarmed, and the more dangerous among them either kept in safe custody, or bound with sufficient sureties to their good behavior.”

The lengths Congress and lesser colonial bodies would go to in order to repress Loyalists took a darker tone later in the act. Listing examples of the “execrable barbarity with which this unhappy war has been conducted on the part of our enemies,” Congress vowed to act “whenever retaliation may be necessary” although it might prove a “disagreeable task.”

In the face of such hostility, some Loyalists chose not to remain in the American colonies. During the war, between 60,000 and 70,000 free persons and 20,000 enslaved people abandoned the rebellious 13 colonies for other destinations within the British empire. The Revolution effectively created two countries: Patriots formed the new United States, while fleeing Loyalists populated Canada."

History.com Editors

[Crafty_Dog]

On This Day in History > January 3, 1777:
American victory at the Battle of Princeton

"The American victory at the Battle of Princeton causes the British to withdraw from most of New Jersey, after this third decisive victory in ten days. George Washington surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton on December 26 and took 1,000 captives. This was followed up on January 2 with a victory at the Battle of Assunpink Creek, where Washington was able to drive back three assaults from General Charles Cornwallis.

After this failure, Cornwallis decided to call off the attack until morning, even though some of his officers believed Washington would try to escape in the night. Washington took advantage of the decision, but rather than running, he decided to attack the British rear guard left at Princeton. He took his army east and then to the north in utter silence during the night, approaching Princeton at dawn.

In the morning, Washington dispatched Brigadier General Hugh Mercer to destroy a bridge on the post road between Trenton and Princeton to delay Cornwallis' pursuit. When General Mercer arrived at the post road, he ran straight into 800 men under the command of Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood, marching south from Princeton. Mawhood ordered a charge on the rebels, who were mostly equipped with rifles and no bayonets. Unable to defend themselves against a bayonet charge, they were quickly overrun, trapping General Mercer. Thinking they had cornered George Washington, the British soldiers shouted, "Surrender you damn rebel!" When Mercer refused and charged them instead, he was bayoneted and left for dead, causing the rest of his men to scatter. Another 1100 militia appeared just then, but when they saw Mercer's men fleeing, they began to flee as well.

At this point, George Washington arrived with yet more troops. Seeing the fleeing militia, Washington quickly rode his horse straight into the battle, rallying the troops and shouting, "Parade with us my brave fellows! There is but a handful of the enemy and we shall have them directly!" Following their leader, the Americans quickly gained control of the field. Now outnumbered, Mawhood ordered a retreat as his line began to dissolve under heavy fire.

Knowing that Cornwallis was approaching from the south, Washington retreated back to Princeton where his men quickly captured the remaining troops who had holed up in Nassau Hall at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), surrendering themselves to a young Captain Alexander Hamilton.

Washington wished to continue attacking British outposts after three victories in ten days, but Generals Knox and Greene warned him that even though the Continental Army was newly inspired by the recent victories, they were worn out and greatly outnumbered. Following their advice, Washington moved north to Morristown and took up winter quarters. General Cornwallis and Commander-in-Chief William Howe abandoned southern New Jersey after these defeats, removing all of their men to New Brunswick which held substantial supplies and money reserves, taking up winter quarters there until the spring."

Revolutionary-War-and-Beyond.com

[Crafty_Dog]

second post

https://www.theepochtimes.com/nathan-hale-a-patriot-to-remember_4150983.html?utm_source=brightnoe&utm_campaign=bright-2022-1-4&utm_medium=email

INSPIRED
Nathan Hale: A Patriot to Remember
BY Rick Green TIMEDecember 14, 2021
It’s the fall of 1776 and New York City is under attack. The Declaration of Independence had birthed the United States of America barely two months earlier, and there was no turning back for the colonists. General George Washington had freed Boston in March and was slowly turning his army into a genuine fighting force.

All eyes are now on New York City. The British first invaded Staten Island, then defeated the Americans on Long Island, forcing Washington’s retreat to Manhattan. The colonial General is now planning a counterattack to keep from losing all of New York City. As both sides dig in, Washington knows he will lose New York unless he can obtain good intelligence on the troop movements and fortifications of the British.

There is only one way to get that information—General Washington needs a spy! But this is before the days of spies and agents holding a special lore in American culture. In 1776, there is no CIA, no MI6, no Mossad, certainly no loyal American intelligence network at all. In 1776, spies are the lowest of the low, not military heroes. They are hired guns, unsavory and untrustworthy.

Spies are killed upon capture and are respected by none. Washington knows the information he needs cannot be trusted to that type of man. He needs one of his trusted officers for this particular task. But he could not, would not, demand such a dangerous and demeaning mission of just anyone—he wants someone to volunteer.

Late at night, Colonel Tom Knowlton quietly gathers his officers in a tent at a secret location away from prying eyes and ears. But the men in this meeting are no ordinary group of officers. These men are an elite special force group that Washington has recently formed—they are literally the very first American Rangers.

In hushed tones, the Colonel asks for a volunteer to answer the General’s call. His request is met with dead silence. Finally, an older, gruff officer breaks the silence and says, “I am willing to be shot in battle, but I am not willing to be hanged like a dog.” In other words, there is no honor in this mission.

Knowlton tries further to persuade, but eventually gives up. As he is turning to leave and tell General Washington he has failed, a young man, standing in the doorway of the tent, steps forward, and simply says with a steady voice, “I will undertake the mission.” He has arrived at the meeting late, ill with a fever, but eager to serve.

The courageous volunteer at the door is none other than Captain Hale is only 21 years of age, well-educated, and by all accounts of the ladies, a handsome fellow to boot. At the top of his Yale graduating class at the age of 18, Hale is a seriously devoted Christian, planning to become a minister of the gospel.

Fresh out of college, Hale was serving as a teacher when the war broke out. A well-accomplished speaker and debater in college, he argued that the higher education of women was being neglected. Therefore, in addition to serving as teacher for the Union Grammar School in New London, Connecticut, he has been teaching a group of ladies from 5 to 7 o’clock each morning.

After a year of teaching, “the shot heard round the world” was fired at Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775. Hale, still in his teens but enrolled in the local militia, attended the town meeting in New London and stood to speak. “Let us march immediately,” he said, “and never lay down our arms until we obtain independence!”

The word “independence” had not yet been spoken of publicly in his town, but the courage of this young man shook the community from its slumber of colonial submission. He then shook the hand of each of his students, prayed with them, and left for war.

Now Captain Hale finds himself volunteered for the most dangerous and most degrading mission he could imagine. Standing outside Colonel Knowlton’s tent, under cover of darkness, Hale’s good friend from college, Captain William Hull, tries to change his mind. Hull stresses the dangers of the mission, the likelihood of death, and the dishonorable legacy of being a spy. Nathan is unmoved and responds by pointing out that there is honor in a mission so necessary for the cause—his General and his nation need him, and he will do what duty demands!

Hale makes his way behind enemy lines and, with his Yale diploma in hand, poses as a teacher looking for a new job. Over the course of several days, he is able to map out the British troop locations and fortifications. With this extremely valuable information hidden in the sole of his shoe, he is captured before he can make his way back across enemy lines.

The evidence is right there on his person. There is no denying what he was there to do. He is sentenced to hang the next morning. Unable to sleep, as he is contemplating his fate, he begins to come to grips with the fact that he has failed. He has failed his mission, his General, and the cause. Hale requests a member of the clergy but is refused. He requests a Bible and is refused. He is finally given paper and pen to write final words to his family. As he calmly pens this final letter, he purposes within his heart to do the only thing he could still do to help the cause for which he is willing to die.


The next morning, as people gather to watch the hanging, he is given a chance for last words. Summoning his best oratory, and quoting heavily from Joseph Addison’s 1713 play “Cato,” Captain Nathan Hale gives a passionate defense of the American cause of freedom. British soldiers begin heckling and mocking him for dying for what they say is a worthless and hopeless cause, but Hale closes with these immortal and inspiring words, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”

Hale’s composure, passion, determination, and oratory change his ignoble fate, and greatly influence the very concept of patriotism. As women in the crowd weep aloud, and even hardened enemy soldiers are moved by his words, the image of a disgraced traitor is transformed into an honorable patriot, sacrificing for a worthy cause.

Nearly two-and-a-half centuries later, we can now see the tremendous success of what Nathan Hale believed was a failed mission. In voluntarily giving his life, he inspired hope for the cause, stirred conviction and belief in what the Americans were fighting for, and accomplished a far greater purpose than producing the recon maps for which he had left camp to serve General Washington.

This article is adapted from Rick Green’s “Legends of Liberty, Timeless Stories of Courageous Champions.”

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine

[ccp]

"At the top of his Yale graduating class at the age of 18, Hale is a seriously devoted Christian, planning to become a minister of the gospel."


now most Yale grads are Democrat partisans and commies.....

[G M]

"At the top of his Yale graduating class at the age of 18, Hale is a seriously devoted Christian, planning to become a minister of the gospel."


now most Yale grads are Democrat partisans and commies.....

If you go to the Ivy League schools, they at least once used to have walls covered with pictures of their students/alumni that died in WW I and II. At one time, the elites served alongside the sons of what they now sneer at as “flyover country”.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/jfk-assassination-whats-in-the-newest-batch-of-declassified-documents_4194651.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_campaign=breaking-2022-01-08-3&utm_medium=email&est=uY%2Buz%2FjCZ6aKsY53LJB0ThrxWsyHr9rF5vVTxt1SGUOmj0fLMwSMxV9E1Le6Dtz6%2BHDv

[Crafty_Dog]

Light Horse Harry Lee

Henry Lee III, better known as Light Horse Harry Lee, was one of the many heroes of the Revolutionary War. Lee was born in 1756 in Leesylvania, Virginia. He was the son of Henry Lee II and Lucy Grymes. Before marrying Harry's father, Lucy was pursued by none other than a young George Washington.

Harry went to Princeton at the age of fourteen, and graduated at seventeen. It is said that Lee was extremely intelligent and well educated, but that his knowledge could become a terrible bore. Supposedly, it was not unheard of for him to put folks to sleep with his long winded discussions of ancient philosophers and the like.

American Revolution

After graduation, Lee was drawn to the American Independence movement. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he was quick to join. He soon received the position of Captain in a detachment of Virginia Dragoons (light cavalry). In this position, he and his men were attached to General Washington's Army in 1777.

Lee quickly made a name for himself as he and his men raided British supply trains to help provide provisions for the Continental Army. Lee and his men were one of the few bright spots during the brutal winter of 1777-78. While the Army was camped under extremely poor conditions at Valley Forge, Lee and his Dragoons kept up a continual harassment of the British.

Lee Draws the Attention of the Redcoats

Lee's specialty was intercepting British supplies and small detachments of British troops, whenever possible. He made a general nuisance of himself, and soon became a major thorn in the side of the British high command. His exploits eventually became too much for the British authorities in Philadelphia to ignore.

In early 1778, a detachment of 200 British light cavalry was dispatched to surprise Lee, scatter his small force (probably around 50 men), and capture the troublesome young Captain. The Redcoats did succeed in cornering him with very few of his men about. Here's what happened next...

"The enemy, on the night of the 20th January, set out upon this expedition by a circuitous route of twenty miles, eluded the vigilance of his vedettes, and reached his quarters at daylight. With great activity Lee first secured the doors, which they made fruitless attempts to force; then mustered his garrison, consisting of a corporal and four men, Lieutenant Lindsay, Major Jamieson, and himself, amounting to eight in all; and by judiciously posting them, though not sufficient in number to man each window, he obliged the enemy to retire after an action of half an hour. Lieutenant Lindsay received a slight wound in the hand; four or five of his men, who were out of the house, were captured. Five of the attacking party were killed and several wounded. When foiled in their attempt to force the doors, they endeavored to take off the horses from a stable near the house, which was enfiladed by the end window. To this place Lee immediately drew his force, and, to deceive the enemy, cheered loudly, exclaiming, ‘Fire away, men, here comes our infantry; we will have them all!' This produced a precipitate retreat. He then sallied, mustered his troops, and pursued; but to no purpose."

This action gained Lee even more notoriety in the Continental Army, and impressed Washington so much that he offered Lee a position as his aide-de-camp. Despite the honor, Lee preferred a command position that allowed him to stay in the thick of the action, and graciously declined Washington's offer, telling the General, "I am wedded to my sword."

This did not, however, hurt their working relationship, and Lee soon became a key intelligence gatherer for General Washington. He was highly regarded by Washington for his abilities in that area.

Lee was further honored when he received a promotion to Major, and command of a mixed force of both infantry and cavalry. This force became known as Lee's Legion, and went on to distinguish itself on several occasions.

Lee was well liked among his men, and they soon gave him the nickname, Light Horse Harry Lee, thanks to his skilled horsemanship.
Cloaked in secrecy, Lee's Legion executed the attack that won its young commander his highest praise...

Paulus Hook

In August of 1779, Light Horse Harry Lee and his Legion were sent to execute a surprise attack on the British fort at Paulus Hook, New Jersey. In order for the attack to succeed, the British could have no idea that Lee and his men were approaching. For this reason, it was decided to attack during the night...

Lee ordered his men to maintain absolute silence, and emphasized the point by writing in his orders that he "...pronounces death as the immediate fate of any soldier who may violate in the slightest degree the silence he has ordered..."

He and his men succeeded in reaching the fort undetected, despite getting lost in the woods for a couple hours, and now only needed some way to get into the fort... Lee had an idea:

"The stratagem relied on was to have eight or ten soldiers disguised as countrymen carrying provisions for sale, who procured the gate to be opened by the sentinel, and held it, until the rest of their party, concealed near, rushed in. They were thus enabled to capture all the garrison, except Major Sutherland and about sixty Hessians, who threw themselves into a small block-house on the left of the fort, and opened an irregular fire."

The attack was a great success, with Lee only losing five men (two killed and three wounded), while the British lost 50 men killed and wounded, and 158 captured. Lee intended to burn the barracks, but finding them occupied by sick soldiers, women and children, he decided to leave them.

With alarm guns sounding and daylight approaching, Lee knew that reinforcements couldn't be far away, and he was forced to make a hasty retreat before he had a chance to spike the British guns or damage the fort. The raid was considered a huge success anyway, thanks in part to the many prisoners he took, among whom were found more than half a dozen officers. Despite this, Lee was almost immediately charged with incompetence, and threatened with a court-martial for lying about the seniority of his rank when challenged by a senior officer.

These charges soon went away thanks to General Washington's support for his young favorite. The Second Continental Congress was also duly impressed by the young major's skill and daring, awarding Lee a gold medal for his success at Paulus Hook. He was the only officer with a rank lower than General to receive this award during the war.

Southern Duty

In 1780, at Washington's direction, Lee was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and Lee's Legion was expanded to 300 men, half infantry and half cavalry. All the men and officers were veterans chosen from the main army for their skill and bravery.

Washington sent Lee and his new Legion to the southern army with this recommendation, "Lee's corps will go to the southward. I believe it will be found very useful; the corps is an excellent one, and the officer at the head of it has great resources of genius."

In the southern army, Lee served under Generals Nathanael Greene and Francis "The Swamp Fox" Marion, and saw many successes. Lee's Legion distinguished itself with exemplary service throughout 1781 and 1782. During this time, they participated in the capture of many British outposts, and other small actions. They were also involved in a number of major actions such as the Battle of Guilford Court House.
One of the most unique stories about Light Horse Harry Lee, however, does not even involve the British...

This story begins with General Greene sending Lee and his men to join General Marion. On their way, Lee and his men camped for the night in a swampy area. Suddenly, during the night, a sentry fired his gun and sent word that he heard enemy horsemen moving quietly through the swamp to his front.

The camp was immediately awakened, and Lee prepared his men to defend themselves. Just then a sentry to their rear fired a shot and sent a similar message. The defenses were then shifted, only to have another sentry fire a warning shot, and send word of hearing enemy horsemen in another part of the swamp. Finally, as dawn approached, a fourth sentry sent word of hearing the same sounds coming from the direction of the road they intended to take in the morning.

Lee decided the British must have caught him and were planning to cut him off. Therefore, he prepared his men to attempt to break through at first light. When dawn came, the Legion formed up and headed for the main road, expecting to be attacked at any moment; but no attack came.

When they reached the road, they were able to see the tracks left behind by the "horsemen." They were wolf tracks!

After speaking with the locals, it was determined that there was a pack of wolves in the area that were in the habit of feeding on some spoiled army provisions near the Legion's campsite; but on that particular night, every time they tried to reach their feeding area, they were fired on!

The wolves kept circling the area trying to find a way past these men who were blocking their way. Apparently, a pack of wolves sneaking through the swamp sounds very much like a bunch of cavalry sneaking through a swamp... at least to a nervous sentry at night!

Needless to say, this confusion led to much joking and mockery within the Legion. Lee later wrote of the ribbing that some of the men took during the day's march, "The pickets, the patrols, the sentinels, and the officer of the day, were marked as the peculiar objects of derision. Wonderful that not one of the many could distinguish between the movement of wolves and soldiers! They were charged with disgraceful ignorance, shameful stupor, bordering close upon rank cowardice. Vain was the attempt of the abused individuals to defend their character and conduct. It was the interest of the many to fix the supposed stigma on the few, and the general verdict was against them."

After the Revolution

Light Horse Harry Lee and his Legion participated in the Siege of Yorktown, and were present when Cornwallis surrendered; but Lee decided to resign from the army shortly after the surrender, and headed back home to get married.

After the war, Lee served as governor of Virginia, and as a member of Congress. When his friend and mentor George Washington passed away, Lee was selected to give the eulogy. It was in this eulogy that Lee coined the immortal phrase that is still used to honor Washington, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen..."

Unfortunately, it turned out that Lee was a much better war hero than financial manager. He slowly lost all the money he had on bad land speculations and other ill-advised ventures. During this time, he also faced tragedy, as first his wife, then one of his sons passed away.
He eventually remarried and had more children, but his money problems continued. Finally, he was placed in debtor's prison for a year. After his release, he faced yet more bad luck...

As the War of 1812 was getting underway, Lee went to Baltimore. There he visited a friend of his who published a newspaper that advocated against the war. Lee was also against the war and when a mob tried to attack his friend, Lee came to his defense. The Baltimore authorities rescued the two anti-war men, and some of their associates, and sheltered them in the local jail-house, but that proved to be a poor shelter.
That night, the mob attacked the jail, and beat and tortured the men inside. At least one man was killed, and Lee was severely beaten and left for dead. Miraculously, he recovered, but was never the same. He spent some time in the West Indies trying to recover, but it didn't do him much good. In the end, he attempted to return home to die, but that too failed. Light Horse Harry Lee died on March 25, 1818, at Dungeness (the former home of his old commander Nathanael Greene), on Cumberland Island, Georgia.

Without a doubt, Light Horse Harry Lee was a true Revolutionary War Hero. It is sad that he fell on such hard times after the war, but he certainly did have a lasting impact on his country going forward because his sixth and final son was none other than Robert E. Lee, the future General of the Confederate forces in the American Civil War."
Revolutionary-War-and-Beyond.com 
_____________________________
Henry Lee III
aka Light Horse Harry Lee

[Crafty_Dog]

From "A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms," 1775:

Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable. — We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favour towards us, that his Providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverence, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.

Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish to see restored. — Necessity has not yet driven us into that desperate measure, or induced us to excite any other nation to war against them. — We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great-Britain, and establishing independent states. We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death.

[ccp]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_Western

"The first profitable mass literature in America was the dime novel, which emerged in 1860"

[Crafty_Dog]

"My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances." George Washington, Encouraging his men to reenlist in the army, December 31, 1776

***An unidentified sergeant’s account, which apparently was written many years after the event, reads: “While we were at Trenton, on the last of December, 1776, the time for which I and most of my regiment had enlisted expired. At this trying time General Washington, having now but a little handful of men and many of them new recruits in which he could place but little confidence, ordered our regiment to be paraded, and personally addressed us, urging that we should stay a month longer. He alluded to our recent victory at Trenton; told us that our services were greatly needed, and that we could now do more for our country than we ever could at any future period; and in the most affectionate manner entreated us to stay. The drums beat for volunteers, but not a man turned out. The soldiers worn down with fatigue and privations, had their hearts fixed on home and the comforts of the domestic circle, and it was hard to forego the anticipated pleasures of the society of our dearest friends.

“The General wheeled his horse about, rode in front of the regiment, and addressing us again said, ‘My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than could be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses, and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigue and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay only one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably never can do under any other circumstances. The present is emphatically the crisis, which is to decide our destiny.’ The drums beat the second time. The soldiers felt the force of the appeal. One said to another, ‘I will remain if you will.’ Others remarked ‘We cannot go home under such cicumstances.’ A few stepped forth, and their example was immediately followed by nearly all who were fit for duty in the regiment, amounting to about two hundred volunteers. An officer enquired of the General if these men should be enrolled. He replied,—‘No! Men who will volunteer in such a case as this, need no enrolment to keep them to their duty’” (Sergeant R—, “Battle of Princeton,” 515–16; see also Powell, “Bostwick’s Memoirs,” 103; Rau, “Smith’s Diary,” 269–70; Sellers, “Peale’s Journal,” 278; and “Young’s Journal,” 261).

[Crafty_Dog]

 - March 9, 1916, famous Mexican bandit Pancho Villa launched a raid into the United States, attacking the town of Columbus, New Mexico along with several hundred guerillas. The force killed seventeen Americans and laid waste to the town. U.S. Cavalrymen from nearby Fort Furlong pursued the raiders, catching up with and killing dozens of them before the bulk of the bandits were able to escape into Mexico.
Immediately, President Woodrow Wilson mobilized all available forces to apprehend Villa and his men. To search out the bandit nearly 10,000 soldiers entered Mexico. Unfortunately for them, Villa had intimate knowledge of Northern Mexico’s rugged terrain. He was able to elude his pursuers for months, hiding out among a populace that supported him and his activities. On June 21 American troops were still in Mexico and the crisis widened even further.
Mexican troops, fed up with the U.S. for lingering so long in their territory, launched an attack on a detachment of U.S. Cavalry outside Carrizal, Mexico. War would most likely have been declared, but at the time the situation in Europe regarding World War I was becoming critical. In January 1917, all American troops were ordered home, unsuccessful in their quest to catch Pancho Villa.

===========

https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/local/history/2014/07/24/bombing-naco-ariz/13124099/?fbclid=IwAR17b3EBSkQuk8lMtKcYM-SE6IYkKX0V9C-5ubkM0OLcDtBknnOcQPJXdhk

[ccp]

worked with Lewis and Clark as guide

mapped much of the Western US

fought and escaped Indians

was recognized by Thomas Jefferson and took up arms in the War of 1812
  just before he died:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Colter

the story that inspired movies .

[Crafty_Dog]

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2022-03-24/colonel-odoms-chilling-four-am-phone-call?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=fed74777-6c23-4b94-b637-9ed95d838a4b

[Crafty_Dog]

In March 1836, with General Jose de Urrea’s Mexican army advancing on his position, Colonel James Fannin of the Texas Army made the fateful decision to abandon his fortified post at Fort Defiance and retreat. Encumbered by heavy artillery and baggage, Fannin’s greatly outnumbered force was soon overtaken by the Mexicans and surrounded. The battle that followed convinced Fannin that his situation was hopeless, and he opened surrender negotiations. After being led to believe his men would be paroled and deported, Fannin surrendered his army. Fannin’s defeat became the latest in a series of stinging Mexican victories over the Texas revolutionaries.

Supreme Mexican commander General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had no intention, however, of releasing the prisoners. The previous December he had caused the Mexican Congress to pass a law declaring that all captured “foreigners” were to be treated as pirates and executed. So, Santa Ana ordered de Urrea to execute all his prisoners.

At daybreak on Palm Sunday, the captured Texans were marched out of the prison camp under heavy guard, believing that they were being taken to a ship that would carry them to New Orleans. About a half mile from the camp, the Mexican soldiers, halted, turned toward the prisoners, and opened fire at point blank range. Nearly all the Texans were killed immediately. Those who survived the volley were bayoneted or clubbed to death. Back at the camp, the wounded prisoners who had been left behind because they unable to march (including Fannin) were likewise slaughtered. The bodies of the victims, 342 in all, were thrown into a pile and burned, their charred remains left for vultures and coyotes.

The capture and massacre of Fannin’s army came after Mexican victories at San Patricio, Agua Dulce, the Alamo, and Refugio. Before it was captured, Fannin’s command had been the last remaining Texas army in the field. Had Fannin’s men been paroled and deported to New Orleans, their humiliating defeat might have been the end of the Texas Revolution. But twenty-eight of the Texas prisoners escaped during the chaos of the massacre and carried the story of the atrocity to horrified and infuriated Texans and the American press. The massacre established Santa Anna’s reputation for cruelty and stirred the spirit of Texans, while winning support for their cause in the U.S., Great Britain, and France. A month later Sam Houston’s ragtag army defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto, securing Texas independence.
The Goliad Massacre occurred on March 27, 1836, one hundred eighty-six years ago today.

[Crafty_Dog]

On This Day in History > March 28, 1747:
Benjamin Franklin writes about his studies in electricity

"On March 28, 1747, Benjamin Franklin writes about his studies in electricity to his friend Peter Collinson in London. This letter was the first in a series of letters Franklin wrote to Collinson and a few others that were eventually put into a book that made Franklin famous throughout the western world.

Peter Collinson was a merchant and botanist who was also a member of the Royal Society in London. The society's mission was to encourage the study and dissemination of scientific knowledge to make the world a better place. In the 1740s, Collinson became a supporter of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and the Library Company of Philadelphia, both of which were started by Benjamin Franklin. In this role, Collinson was responsible for buying books and equipment for these organizations and sending them to Philadelphia.

In 1743, Benjamin Franklin attended a lecture on electricity in Boston by Scottish doctor Archibald Spencer. Franklin was intrigued with the experiments he saw and wrote to Collinson to find out if he had learned anything about electricity. Collinson responded by sending Franklin an “electric tube,” which was a glass tube that could be used to transfer electrical charge. Franklin commenced a detailed study of electricity and was soon performing “tricks” such as making a woman's hair stand on end, setting alcohol on fire and giving shocks with a kiss.

On March 28, 1747, Franklin wrote the first letter to Collinson mentioning his experiments. In the letter, Franklin says he has become so absorbed with his electrical studies and the crowds coming to see his experiments that he hardly has time for everything else. He also states that he will write further about his studies in future letters.

Over the next few years, Franklin wrote a series of letters about his studies. In them, Franklin talked about discovering such things as positive and negative charge and that pointed objects conducted electricity better than blunt objects, the origin of his lightning rod idea.

Collinson recognized the revolutionary nature of Franklin's studies and put several of them together in a book for others to take advantage of. Experiments and Observations on Electricity Made at Philadelphia in America took Europe by storm and quickly made Franklin a household name, especially in France.

This fame was part of the reason Franklin was later sent to France by the Continental Congress during the American Revolution. Franklin's widespread fame and name recognition caused him to receive open doors by the French government to ask for help for the fledgling United States in its war against Great Britain."

Revolutionary-War-and-Beyond.com

[Crafty_Dog]

Learn Our History Today: On April 15, 1715, a group of South Carolina peace commissioners sent to meet with the Yamasee Indians were ambushed in their sleep by the Native Americans. Four of the commissioners were killed and the rest were sent running to neighboring towns to warn the populace. This attack marked the beginning of what would be known as the Yamasee War, one of Colonial America’s bloodiest conflicts and one whose roots go back to the 1500s. At that time, the Spanish began to arrive in Florida, the traditional Yamasee homeland, forcing them to move further north into what is today, South Carolina.

There also they encountered Europeans after only a few years, this time from England. Unsurprisingly, the two people groups did not get along, as the English continued to expand and encroach on the Yamasee and other Indian tribes. Additionally, the English began to deplete the animal population by frequent hunting, while also dealing unfairly in their trading with the Indians.  The Yamasee and many other tribes banded together to form a confederation against the colonial settlers, prompting the South Carolina government to send commissioners to work out peace.

Unfortunately, the Indians were in no mood for peace, and after the attack on the commissioners, war began in earnest. Indians attacked up and down the South Carolina frontier, killing a staggering percentage of the entire population. Most settlers fled the devastated frontier and moved to Charleston, which became packed with so many people that food began to grow scarce and many starved. The survival of South Carolina as a colony was in question. It was only the timely decision of the Cherokee Indians to join forces with the colonists in 1716 that turned the tide of the war. Together, by 1717, the two drove back the Yamasee and their allies, restoring a hard fought, fragile peace to the colony.

[Crafty_Dog]

The Corruption and Debauchery of Thomas Paine
From Patriot to pariah, the Franco dereliction and demise of a graveless Revolutionary War Founder.

Mark Alexander
"But where says some is the king of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above..." —Thomas Paine (1776)

This week, we observe Patriots' Day, which commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord — and the opening salvo of the American Revolution immortalized in Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" as "The Shot Heard Round the World." The events of that day are a fitting and enduring case study of the consequences when a tyrannical government attempts to disarm the people. In 1775, tyranny was met with defiance and resulted in the dawn of American Liberty and the birth of a new nation.

While this day is always appropriate for studying the heroic figures of the day, it is also a good opportunity to consider the corruption, dereliction, and demise of one of the most influential advocates for independence ahead of the American Revolution and through its conclusion. This historical figure also reminds us of what can happen when one becomes intoxicated with power and detached from his love for Liberty and the unalienable Rights of Man.

We have referenced many times how generations of Beltway politicians and bureaucrats on the Left suffer from "Potomac Fever" — a chronic condition that manifests as an intoxication with, and insatiable desire for, statist power. At no time in American history has the fever-infested Swamp been more dangerous to the future of Liberty than under the reign of Joe Biden and his enemies of Liberty.

So enticing is the allure of power and influence that some on the Right who were elected on a conservative platform devolve into what have perennially been called RINOs, "Republicans in Name Only." I don't toss around that label on occasions when an otherwise reliable conservative votes on the wrong side of an issue — often because of backroom machinations that are never revealed. So much for "sunshine laws."

Of course, no Beltway dwellers are inherently immune to Potomac Fever, including the once-formidable and entertaining conservative writer Jonah Goldberg, formerly in my Top 10 list of political pundits. He fended off Potomac Fever for many years, until his immunity was compromised by Trump Derangement Syndrome.

And on that note, I turn to another writer who, in the context of his original work, still ranks in my Top 10 list of Revolutionary War influencers.

Thomas Paine was an English-born American revolutionary activist, a philosopher and political theorist whose role advocating for Liberty can't be overstated as a cohesive force ahead of the American Revolution. In 1774, the 37-year-old Paine immigrated to the American colonies with the assistance of founding statesman Benjamin Franklin. A year later, he authored a 47-page pamphlet, Common Sense, which you can read among other instrumental founding documents on our Historic Documents page. It was published anonymously in January of 1776 and was read by, or to, virtually every American Patriot of that era.

In Common Sense, Paine framed the revolution by noting: "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. ... The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth."

Of Rule of Law, he wrote: "But where says some is the king of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain. ... Let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is."


This single work was the most persuasive publication making the case for American independence. He was certainly influential on Thomas Jefferson and his drafting of the Declaration of Independence and those who affirmed it by unanimous approval.

Historian Gordon Wood, a Concord, Massachusetts, native and author of the exceptional historical narrative The Radicalism of the American Revolution, described Common Sense as "the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era."

Patriots, we are still a little short of meeting our Patriots' Day Campaign goal. If you have not already done so, please join the ranks of those ensuring our defense of Liberty is fully funded.

We have often quoted his sequel to Common Sense, The American Crisis, which he began in December of 1776 and continued to print until 1783. Of the contest for Liberty, he wrote at length: "Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice. ... These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. ... I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. ... Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. ... If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace."

He observed in the darkest days of the Revolution: "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it. ... Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it."

So, how did a once-revered protagonist of the American Revolution fall from fame to infamy?

As a disclaimer, let me state up front: Subsequent to George Washington's embrace of the Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War, the latter serving with distinction through many battles including the Siege of Yorktown and the surrender of British Gen. Charles Cornwallis in 1781, I have had little use for the Franco gentry, much less the British royalty.

Paine left America and returned to Britain in 1787, but he was charged with treason and fled to France in 1793.

There, he became a protagonist in the French Revolution, a very different affair than its American predecessor. It was a "reign of terror," far from its motto advertisement, "liberté, égalité, fraternité" (liberty, equality, and fraternity).

So esteemed was Paine that the French bestowed upon him honorary French citizenship, and he was elected to the National Assembly. At the time, he had written to Samuel Adams, "The people of France were running headlong into atheism, and I had the work translated into their own language, to stop them in that career, and fix them in the first article of every man's creed, who has any creed at all — I believe in God."

However, he fell afoul of the French government when he objected to the beheading of King Louis XVI. He was jailed, but ahead of his own execution, with the assistance of the U.S. ambassador to France and future American president, James Monroe, he was released.

But in time and under duress, Paine's faith disintegrated into deism, and ultimately the deification of himself. The first part of his treatise, The Age of Reason, exposed this shift: "I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church."

Of Christianity, Paine wrote: "As to the Christian system of faith, it appears to me as a species of Atheism — a sort of religious denial of God. It ... is as near to Atheism as twilight is to darkness. ... The age of ignorance commenced with the Christian system. ... Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself, than this thing called Christianity. ... The study of theology as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and admits of no conclusion."


Paine's views were heavily influenced by the era of "reason" and the errors of reason.

Paine consulted Benjamin Franklin regarding an early draft of his Age of Reason manuscript, and Franklin responded: "I have read your manuscript with some attention. By the argument it contains against a particular Providence ... you strike at the foundations of all religion. ... I will not enter into any discussion of your principles, though you seem to desire it. At present I shall only give you my opinion, that ... the consequence of printing this piece will be, a great deal of odium drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit to others. He that spits against the wind, spits in his own face..."

Franklin added: "I would advise you ... to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification by the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it."

So imbued with French arrogance was Paine, so self-aggrandized had he become, that in 1796 he impugned the character of George Washington in a public letter, declaring, "In what fraudulent light must Mr. Washington's character appear in the world."

In 1802, Paine fled France for America and returned to New York. But so offensive was his arrogance that he was treated as an outcast.

In his last letter to Paine, Samuel Adams wrote: "When I heard you had turned your mind to a defense of infidelity, I felt myself much astounded and more grieved, that you had attempted a measure so injurious to the feelings and so repugnant to the true interest of so great a part of the citizens of the United States. ... Do you think that your pen, or the pen of any other man, can unchristianize the mass of our citizens, or have you hopes of converting a few of them to assist you in so bad a cause."

By the end of his life, Paine was a pauper and drunkard, but his last writings perhaps reflected something of a restoration of his earlier perspective on faith. His last will and testament began with the words, "Reposing confidence in my Creator, God," and ended with, "I die in perfect composure and resignation to the will of my Creator, God."

As historian William Federer observed, "As a tragic lesson, Thomas Paine went from the height of popularity as America's premier pamphleteer to dying a penniless drunk in Manhattan, with only six people attending his funeral. He is memorialized in the rhyme: 'Poor Tom Paine! There he lies, Nobody laughs and nobody cries, Where he has gone or how he fares, Nobody knows and nobody cares.'"

His obituary in the New York Evening Post read in part, "He had lived long, did some good, and much harm."

So despised was Paine at the time of his death in 1809 that no Quaker cemetery would accept him for burial, as per his will. Thus his remains were unceremoniously interred in a field on a farm near New Rochelle, New York, which had, ironically, been given to him years earlier in honor of his Revolutionary War patriotism. Ten years later, his remains were dug up and shipped to England by an agrarian activist, but upon arrival in Liverpool, customs agents refused to allow his corpse on British soil. What was left of him was likely dumped into the sea, though there have been claims that his bones were divided up and sold.

Today, he is the only former founding Patriot with no gravesite — and the earliest American victim of "Potomac Fever," those who have taken leave of Common Sense.

[ccp]

my post #377
1/2/22 is really good lecture on Tom Paine
who went from writer who helped people why the revolution was necessary

to a full blown socialist advocating big government .......

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.history.com/news/chamberlain-kahn-act-std-venereal-disease-imprisonment-women

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDDJF0hHMio&t=3s

[ccp]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

also consider the 1918 Pittman Act
authorizing melting 350,000,000 silver coins

https://www.govmint.com/coin-authority/post/swimming-pool-of-silver-dollars#:~:text=Back%20in%20Washington%2C%20Democratic%20senator,dollar%20per%20ounce%20of%20bullion.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.history.com/news/american-revolution-causes?cmpid=email-hist-inside-history-onequestion-2022-0701-07012022&om_rid=