Free Republic

“I feel myself unequal to this business” confessed John Adams, of the “grand scene open before me—a Congress.” In the fall of 1774, Adams and 55 other delegates journeyed all manner of distances by foot, horseback and carriage to Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. Before now, few of “the wisest men upon the continent,” as Adams described the delegates in his diary, had ever left their colonies or collaborated with one another, but there was power in numbers—or, at least, they had seen there was weakness without them. In March 1774, British Parliament punished the Massachusetts colony for the...

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” ~ (Benjamin Franklin) “Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you.” ~ (Benjamin Franklin) “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” ~ (Benjamin Franklin) “Common sense without education, is better than education without common sense.” ~ (Benjamin Franklin) “Moderation in all things – including moderation.” ~ (Benjamin Franklin) “Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.” ~ (Benjamin Franklin) “Remember...

On August 17, 1842, protesters burn an effigy of President John Tyler a short distance from the White House. Their actions came in response to Tyler's veto of a second attempt by Congress to re-establish the Bank of the United States. The protestors were composed primarily of members of Tyler’s own political party, the Whigs, who dominated Congress at the time. The first federal U.S. Bank, created by Alexander Hamilton and set into place by George Washington in 1791, provided a repository for federal funds and issued currency. However, beginning with President Thomas Jefferson, who opposed the idea of a...

Today I am happy to highlight that William Cabell Bruce's work Benjamin Franklin: Self-Revealed (v1) has been completed. https://librivox.org/benjamin-franklin-self-revealed-vol1-wc-bruce/This is an example of good things that just drop into your lap. Many moons ago I asked people "Which Founding Father is the most popular who isn't George Washington, isn't Benamin Franklin, isn't Thomas Jefferson, and isn't George Washington?", because in part this small handful of Founders is going to naturally have coverage. These are the Founders that the school systems cannot cover up. So from that standpoint these books are just going to get done anyways. There's no reason to...

The strength of the American Revolution was its respect for the past and its privileging of legal precedent and the rights of Englishman over any ideologies. The same rights they claimed were guaranteed in the royal charters and documents of incorporation that each colony created at their inception. Before some of the charters were signed in America and after others, the English Bill of Rights of 1689 restated the common law rights of Englishmen. Yet, that document isn’t the origin of the rights fought for by British Americans. The Petition of Right of 1628 reaffirmed the controls upon the royal...

Despire their closeness, Jefferson and Adams fought often over their political views. The two disagreed about how the country should be goverened. As a Democratic –Republican, Jefferson advocated for the rights of states, while Adams, a Federalist, supported a strong national government. Both friends ran for president in the 1796 election, and Adams beat Jefferson by just 3 electoral votes. Still, the two remained friends. After receiving the second highest number of votes, Jefferson served as vice-president to Adams for the next four years. How do you think competition like this could hurt a friendship? Four years later, these friends...

Poem penned by U.S. Founding Father discovered in English schoolBy Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service LONDON (CNS) -- A poem written by one of the U.S. Founding Fathers has been discovered in the archives of a Catholic high school in England. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, wrote the poem in Latin in 1754 when he was a student in his final year of high school in Saint-Omer, France. It was found in the archives of Stonyhurst College in Clitheroe, England, by Maurice Whitehead, a professor at the University of Wales, Swansea,...

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation....

We have an amendment, the Second Amendment, because in part when the colonists had no say in how their own societies should be run and what they wanted most was self-government, Britain though it a good idea to confiscate. Mostly the confiscation centered around gunpowder, but there were along with it plots and schemes to take away actual weapons such as guns and cannons. Today we have the story of The Capture of Fort William and Mary, which details a unique and fun chapter in pre-U.S. history in which the colonists said we are going to disarm you before you...

It is better five guilty persons should escape unpunished than one innocent Person should die,” Adams began, quoting Hale’s Pleas of the Crown. He next explained the law as it bore on mob actions, and he reminded the jury of Blackstone’s view of self-defense: it is the “primary Canon of the Law of Nature.” He then moved on to the evidence, masterfully picking apart the weaknesses and inconsistencies in the crown’s case and passing quickly over the damning portions. Instead of challenging the truthfulness of the prosecution’s witnesses, he noted the fallibility of human perception. Honest men could disagree about...

During patriotic holidays, the news media applaud the Founding Fathers. But rarely does anyone mention some important facts about them: that they were smugglers, tax evaders, and traitors. Not only is this important, it is also praiseworthy; it produced the most advanced civilization ever known. The Revolution is often said to have begun in 1775 at the Battle of Lexgton [sic]. In truth, it began in the 16th century when the first colonists began traveling to the New World. Consider the hardships these people faced. Abandoning their relatives and friends, they boarded small leaky boats like the Mayflower—which was only...

“To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” — George Mason of Virginia In April of 1775, the British Royal Military Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, sent 800 British Army Regulars, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, on a preemptive raid to seize guns from American patriots at Lexington and Concord.

During the first six decades of the eighteenth century, the American colonies were mostly allowed to govern themselves. In exchange, they loyally fought for Great Britain in imperial wars against the French and Spanish. But in 1763, after the British and Americans won the French and Indian War, King George III began working to eliminate American self-government. The succeeding years saw a series of political crises provoked by the king and parliament. What turned the political dispute into a war was arms confiscation at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775.

On April 19, 1775, seventy-eight-year-old Captain Samuel Whittemore crouched behind a stone wall next to his home. Whittemore’s old fingers tightly gripped his musket and his pistol. A sword hung from his belt. A phalanx of Redcoats looted homes as they retreated back to Boston. The senior Patriot, who had resisted tyranny and the rule of the Crown for years, planned to fight to the death to defend his home.When the British troops approached, he blasted away, slaying two Redcoats and wounding or killing a third with his sword. The Redcoats then unleashed their fury on Whittemore, shooting him in...

The teaching of history has become a flashpoint in the culture wars. But while the battle is fierce, it’s not new. An earlier round in the conflict in the 1920s — over the teaching of the American Revolution — indicates that it will be crucial for historians to weigh in loudly and forcefully during the current debate. That will give them the space to continue to teach the most accurate, up-to-date version of U.S. History and prevent forces that fundamentally don’t understand the job of historians from shaping what American children learn about the past. In the late 19th century,...

The Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, The Battles at Lexington and Concord Dramatic narration and authentically recreated scenes, enhanced with an original score, chronicles the settlement of the American Colonies, the formation of colonial governments, and the tension that resulted from the economic strain on Great Britain for its prosecution of the Seven Years War with France. It illustrates how Great Britain’s attempt to make the American colonies pay for its debts, among other issues, brought about the revolt. British Parliament's passage of The Stamp Act, the Sugar Act, the Tea Act, and the Intolerable Acts, and the effects...

On the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, it is worth remembering how America passed its first major test in equal application of the law.It was March 5, 1770. Future President of the United States John Adams was enjoying a local Boston social gathering when the town bells began to ring. Townsmen often rang these bells in case of fire. However, the guests hurried out onto the cobbled streets to discover a different sort of blaze: British soldiers, surrounded by an indignant and pressing mob, had discharged their muskets, hitting 11 civilians. Three died on site. Two more followed in the...

He was the greatest American. Don't settle for less.“First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen. He was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life; pious, just, humane, temperate and sincere; uniform, dignified and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him, as were the effects of that example lasting.“To his equals he was condescending; to his inferiors kind; and to the dear object of his affections exemplarily tender: Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence, and virtue always felt his fostering hand; the purity of his...

Could find nothing in the media to note the anniversay.

CNN — The National Archives in Washington, DC, closed early on Wednesday after two people dumped red powder on the display that protects the US Constitution, Archives officials said in a news release. “The Constitution was unaffected in its encasement. No damage was done to the document itself,” the Archives said in a statement. The individuals were immediately detained by security at the time of the incident, around 2:30 p.m., and officials are investigating, the Archives said