Real history

What was peculiar about the West was not that it participated in the worldwide evil of slavery, but that it later abolished that evil, not only in Western societies but also in other societies subject to Western control or influence. This was possible only because the anti-slavery movement coincided with an era in which Western power and hegemony were at their zenith, so that it was essentially European imperialism which ended slavery. This idea might seem shocking, not because it does not fit the facts, but because it does not fit the prevailing vision of our time.

~ Thomas Sowell, Black Rednecks and White Liberals (2005)

Why aren't these books in your local "frequently banned books" display?

Which of these have you read?

The "1619 Project" has been in the news again. Why not this book?

Is it because the "1619 Project" has failed again and the book above has no such provocative record of failure?

They tried to totally obliterate this one from the market. FOR ADULTS

For the kids:

Back on September 25, Ace wrote: Cambridge University: We Have Cancelled Our Promised Investigation Into How Unqualified Fabulist Jason Arday Was Hired. Instead We Will Investigate How We Failed to "Support" Him and Other DEI Incompetents and Plagiarists.

Better idea? Or is Cambridge cooked?

Founding Fathers

A Daily Dose of the American Rev · · “No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”

In June 1776, fifteen years before the ratification of the Bill of Rights, Virginia adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights -- "the basis and foundation of government" in Virginia. The importance of this document to the emergence of liberal democracy in the United States and around the world cannot be overstated. George Mason, principal author of the Declaration, died on this day in 1792.
Below is the Declaration in full.

A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free convention which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government.

Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

Section 2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all times amenable to them.

Section 3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration. And that, when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community has an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal.

Section 4. None of mankind is entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services; which, not being descendible, neither ought the offices of magistrate, legislator, or judge to be hereditary.

Section 5. That the legislative and executive powers of the state should be separate and distinct from the judiciary; and that the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the burdens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, return into that body from which they were originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and regular elections, in which all, or any part, of the former members, to be again eligible, or ineligible, as the laws shall direct.

Section 6. That elections of members to serve as representatives of the people, in assembly ought to be free; and that all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right of suffrage and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for public uses without their own consent or that of their representatives so elected, nor bound by any law to which they have not, in like manner, assented for the public good.

Section 7. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights and ought not to be exercised.

Section 8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a man has a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of twelve men of his vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty; nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; that no man be deprived of his liberty except by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers.

Section 9. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Section 10. That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offense is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive and ought not to be granted.

Section 11. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man and man, the ancient trial by jury is preferable to any other and ought to be held sacred.

Section 12. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.

Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

Section 14. That the people have a right to uniform government; and, therefore, that no government separate from or independent of the government of Virginia ought to be erected or established within the limits thereof.

Section 15. That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

Section 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.

Friends of George Washington · Duane Montague · On October 6, 1776, a Connecticut captain sat down and wrote a letter to his wife. He was exhausted and most of his men were sick. The campaign was not going well.

But the first thing he wanted Priscilla to know was this: “you must not think that Distance & long Absence has weaned in the least degree my Affections from you & my family.”

His name was Jonathan Birge.

Unlike many of the names we remember from 1776, Birge was just an ordinary man who heard the call of liberty and answered. A husband from Bolton, Connecticut, and father of six children, Birge was made captain of a company raised from his neighbors and friends.

When George Washington called for reinforcements in 1776, Birge marched south with Connecticut troops to help defend New York.

The British had already taken Long Island, the Continentals were retreating northward. And nobody knew whether the Revolution itself could survive the year.
From camp at Harlem Heights, Birge wrote home, and the picture he painted was not heroic.

"I never saw a worse place to be sick in for we have not one doctor to our whole Brigade in camp…Our people are some what sickly in camp yet."
The living conditions were miserable. He’d lost his pack in the retreat and asked Priscilla for two blankets. The army had finally obtained tents and straw to sleep on, but Birge admitted: “we fare considerably like hogs.”
And yet he refused to pity himself. After describing sickness, shortages, and hardship, he wrote: “I desire not to complain For I am alive & why should a living man complain."

Birge wanted his wife and children to understand why he remained anyway. It wasn’t money, fame, or glory. “It is not all the commissions or pay...it is for the cause of freedom & love to posterity."

A few paragraphs later, he tried to reassure Priscilla that he was healthy and still performing his duties: “I am the only Cpt in the Regiment that is well."
Three weeks later, he was wounded at the Battle of White Plains. An enemy musket ball went into his shoulder. Jonathan Birge died on November 10, 1776, at age forty-two.

A week after Birge's death, three fellow soldiers wrote to Priscilla to tell her that her husband was gone. They regretted his loss deeply.
On October 6, 1776 a father and husband wrote a simple confession that still stirs hearts, 250 years later. He was just an ordinary American who knew exactly what he was risking “for the cause of freedom…”
Five weeks later, his family learned the price.
——————

I believe history matters because legacy matters. The choices we make, the faith that sustains us, and the families we leave behind all become part of a story larger than ourselves. If you enjoy discovering the people behind the history, follow along as we explore the stories, struggles, and legacies that helped shape America.

A Daily Dose of the American Rev

With the resolution for independence about to voted upon in the Congressional Congress, Delaware delegate Thomas McKean was very concerned. Although he strongly favored independence, his fellow Delawarean George Read was opposed. McKean wanted the states to vote for independence unanimously, and he certainly did not want Delaware to have the dishonor (as he saw it) of being the lone holdout. So, on the evening before the crucial vote, McKean dispatched a courier to Dover, 80 miles away, with a crucial message for Caesar Rodney—get to Philadelphia as fast as you can.

Rodney was Delaware’s third delegate, but he was also a brigadier general of the state’s militia and had been forced to return to Delaware to help put down a Loyalist uprising there. He was also in poor health, suffering from asthma and painful facial cancer. But when McKean’s message arrived, Rodney set out for Philadelphia immediately, riding all night through a powerful thunderstorm. After one of the most famous rides in American history, he arrived at what would come to called Independence Hall in the nick of time, “booted and spurred,” exhausted, and mud-covered, to cast the tiebreaking vote in the Delaware delegation. “As I believe the voice of my constituents and of all sensible and honest men is in favor of independence,” he declared, a green scarf covering his cancer-ravaged face, “my own judgment concurs with them. I vote for independence.”

Caesar Rodney is best remembered for his famous ride, but he served Delaware and the Patriot cause in numerous ways during his life: as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, as a general in the state’s militia, as a delegate to the Continental Congress, as a state Supreme Court justice, and as President (chief executive) of Delaware. Even as his health deteriorated, forcing him to cover his face with bandages and rendering him unable to travel, Rodney was elected to the Delaware General Assembly and was chosen Speaker of the upper house. Knowing that he was unable leave his home, in a gesture of respect and honor the Assembly voted to convene in his house, which they did in April 1784, just weeks before his death at age 55.

Today is the birthday of Delaware Founding Father Caesar Rodney, who was born 298 years ago today.

A Daily Dose of the American Rev ·

In taking up the Patriot cause, at a time when many fellow wealthy South Carolinians were remaining loyal to the crown, Henry Laurens risked both his life and his substantial fortune. Widely respected across America, he was chosen President of the Continental Congress in November 1777, the highest-ranking executive position under the Articles of Confederation.

Laurens was appointed American minister to the Netherlands after his term ended and in August 1780, he was dispatched to Amsterdam about the packet ship Mercury, charged with negotiating a loan to help finance the war effort. Off the coast of Newfoundland, the Mercury was intercepted by the HMS Vestal, a British man of war. When Laurens realized his capture was imminent, he tossed overboard the trunk containing his diplomatic papers.

A sixteen-year-old new recruit aboard the Vestal saw something tumble into the water off the deck of the Mercury. Believing a man had fallen overboard he called out an alarm. Another British sailor aboard the Vestal immediately dived into the water. But what he discovered was not an unfortunate man in need of rescue, but rather Lauren’s trunk, which had not had time to sink. Taken aboard the Vestal and opened, the trunk was found to contain Lauren’s commission to negotiate the Dutch loan, as well as a draft treaty between the United States and the Netherlands. Laurens was carried to England and placed in the Tower of London, charged with high treason, and Great Britain declared war on the Netherlands.

During Lauren’s first day in the Tower, a band outside his cell taunted him with “Yankee Doodle.” Lauren’s later recalled, “The tune played I suppose in derision of me filled my mind with a sublime contempt and rather made me cheerful.”

Laurens remained confined in the Tower for 15 months, refusing numerous offers of release in exchange for renouncing the American cause and requesting a pardon. “Imprisonment and even death…shall not shake me,” Laurens wrote, rejecting one of the offers. “My conscience acquits me, is serene & undisturbed; if I die, let me die in my integrity.”

General Washington sent both Colonel John Laurens (Henry’s son) and the Viscount Noailles (Lafayette’s brother-in-law) to London to attempt to negotiate Laurens’ release, but their efforts were fruitless. Congress offered to exchange General John Burgoyne (who was a paroled prisoner of war captured at Saratoga) for Laurens, but the British refused, saying that Laurens was a prisoner of state not a prisoner of war and therefore ineligible for exchange. But the truth was that the British authorities had no great desire to see Burgoyne released from parole. Their position dramatically reversed when General Cornwallis was taken prisoner at Yorktown. On December 31, 1781, Laurens was finally released, in exchange for a promise to effect the release of Cornwallis from parole.
After his release from the Tower, Laurens finished his much-delayed journey to Holland and there he negotiated the terms of a desperately needed loan. He would go on to be one of the American commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Paris, the peace treaty that ended the Revolutionary War and secured American independence.

Henry Laurens was imprisoned in the Tower of London on October 6, 1780, two hundred forty-six years ago today.

The image is a portrait made while he was being held in the Tower.

WEEKEND

The Week in Pictures: Electile Dysfunction Edition

So Secretary of State Marco Rubio outraged the Woke Industrial Complex by standing up for Western Civilization (gasp!). If he keeps this up, he might be president someday. Meanwhile, in fake news, Missouri’s department of prisons is thinking of hiring some Canadian doctors from Canada’s MAID Service to conduct future death row executions, while Cornell and other universities are thinking about ending their “sex week” offerings that greenlight “consensual” orgies at frat houses. And behold the irony that while South America is turning almost uniformly right-wing in recent elections, American voters seem poised in three weeks to transform the country in to a banana republic. Talk about being “blue-pilled”!

Music

Yankee Doodle

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Last week's thread, Barbarians gonna barbarian

UPDATE: There are rumors that the health education folks at Cornell are thinking about ending their practice of encouraging fun group sex among students.

Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 11:01 AM

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