“Acknowledges…free, sovereign, and independent States” Twenty-three months after British General Charles Cornwallis (1738–1805) surrendered British forces at Yorktown, Virginia, to American General George Washington (1732–1799) in the last great battle of the War of Independence, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris. England acknowledged the independence of its thirteen former colonies … Continue reading
“To Advance the Interests of the Union” The United States was indeed a crippled ship of state during the time period between the war of independence and the actual formal adoption of the U.S. Constitution. During this same ten year time period, our nation was floundering at home and all but ignored abroad. Our young … Continue reading
On December 21, 1620, the first landing party arrived at the site of what would later become the settlement of Plymouth located in what is today known as the Cape Cod area of the state of Massachusetts. Plans to immediately begin building houses, however, were delayed by inclement weather until December 23. As the building … Continue reading
“Sovereignty, Freedom, and Independence” The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. Its drafting by the Continental Congress began in mid-1776, and an approved … Continue reading
“We hold these truths to be self-evident.” True and real causes are the very basis of all great human movements for new accomplishments or changes in every arena of human endeavor. All causes have to grow and become greater than the dreams that start them before they have a chance to become reality. America’s Revolutionary … Continue reading
“All Power is…Derived From the People” The Virginia Declaration of Rights is a legal document drafted in May 1776 in which was proclaimed the inherent rights of men, including the right to rebel against “inadequate” government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence (1776), the United States Bill … Continue reading
ABIGAIL ADAMS WRITES HER HUSBAND IN 1776 She was born Abigail Smith on November 11, 1744, (by the Gregorian calendar we use today) in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Abigail Adams is known as the wife of President John Adams and for her extensive correspondence. She was also the mother of John Quincy Adams who became the sixth … Continue reading
“Give me liberty, or give me death!” Patrick Henry was born on his family’s farm in Hanover County, Virginia, on May 29, 1736. His father was John Henry, an emigrant from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who had attended King’s College, Aberdeen before emigrating to the Colony of Virginia in the 1720s. Settling in Hanover County in or … Continue reading
The strife, struggle, and bloody wars that have been brought on and fought over the subject of “the tyranny of some form of taxation” have plagued mankind every since the beginning of organized governmental operations and their attempted control of men and money. It all began to raise its ugly head in the 13 North … Continue reading
Benjamin Franklin’s Plan of Union 1754 During the first year of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), delegates from seven of England’s thirteen North American colonies met in Albany, New York. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), of Pennsylvania, proposed a common-cause scheme for uniting the colonies against the Indians and for providing mutual defense. Appealing to what … Continue reading
