Free Republic

LIBERTY! The American Revolution is a dramatic documentary about the birth of the American Republic and the struggle of a loosely connected group of states to become a nation. The George Foster Peabody award-winning series brings the people, events and ideas of the revolution to life through military reenactments and dramatic recreations performed by a distinguished cast. _________________________ EPISODE 1: "The Reluctant Revolutionaries" 1763-1774In 1763, the capitol city of America is London, George Washington is lobbying for a post in the British army, and no one thinks of Boston harbor when they hear talk of tea parties. In a dozen...

Top Vatican adviser Jeffrey Sachs says that when Pope Francis visits the United States in September, he will directly challenge the “American idea” of God-given rights embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Sachs, a special advisor to the United Nations and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a media superstar who can always be counted on to pontificate endlessly on such topics as income inequality and global health. This time, writing in a Catholic publication, he may have gone off his rocker, revealing the real global game plan. The United States, Sachs writes in the Jesuit publication,...

"Freedom's Frigate" is the nickname of a sailing ship now on its way to America. It's a replica of the French vessel that helped our country win the war of independence. Before its departure, Mark Phillips went aboard: As memorials to American wars go, this one goes right back to the first one -- the Revolutionary War. And it is certainly among the most handsome and most intricate history lessons ever built. A newly-launched replica of the French frigate, Hermione, is now in mid-Atlantic, ploughing her way westward toward the U.S. East Coast. She's retracing the voyage of the original...

Let me start black history month a few weeks early. Barack Obama has plans of running for President of the United States, But will he be the first Black President or the 8th Black President? I know this posting will stir controversty but George Washington was not the first President of the U.S. Let's take a look at history. A "Black" Man, A Moor, John Hanson Was the First President of the United States! 1781-1782 A.D.??? George Washington was really the 8th President of the United States! George Washington was not the first President of the United States. In fact,...

Don't miss the Season 2 premiere of TURN: Washington's Spies, returning Mon., April 13th. Only on AMC. Go behind the scenes for a look at what's in store in Season 2 of TURN: Washington's Spies. he cast looks back on their characters' journeys through Season 1 of TURN: Washington's Spies.

The third Monday of February is President’s Day, when we celebrate the birthday of George Washington, at least when we’re not pre-occupied with President’s Days sales. This year the holiday fell on the 16th, and predictably the New York Times chose this day to publish a hatchet job on our first President. You see, for the op-ed page editors of the Times, America (or Amerikkk with an A!) is a fundamentally flawed, perhaps uniquely evil country. And so on a regular basis they will print the See How Bad America Was Back Then (And Still Is) op-ed piece. The Times’...

Did You Hear About The Time Ben Franklin Wrote a Column For The National Gazette, Quoting From the Koran, and Calling For The Enslavement of Christians? I bet you think I'm kidding. I'm not. The first thing we need to understand is Ben Franklin was petitioning Congress for the abolition of slavery in the USA: Author, "Theodore Parker" wrote “Historic Americans” in which he describes founding father, Benjamin Franklin, abolitionist extraordinaire, quoting the koran in defending his abolition petition to Congress You see the young nation in its infancy. “Hercules in his cradle, “ said Franklin; but with a...

In 1783, with the Revolutionary War nearly over, the American dream of an independent republic almost died at the hands of the army that fought for it. While Continental Army officers waited in camp at Newburgh, New York, for negotiators to end the conflict, their long-simmering frustration with Congress finally boiled over. Anger swept through the corps from the lieutenants to the generals. These men had had enough—enough of inedible rations, inadequate clothing and supplies, and, most important, years of foregoing pay. A coup was in the making. Even the British knew it. As one of their spies reported, military...

August 16, 2014 College Board Erases the Founding Fathers. By Patrick Jakeway The classic novel Brave New World describes a future in which people have lost all of their liberty and in which they have become drugged robots obedient to a central authority. It also details how this control was first established. First, the rulers had to erase all history and all the people’s memory of a time before their bondage. Today, the history of George Washington's leadership has been erased in the new Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History test/curriculum, taking effect in the fall of 2014. The College Board,...

A little-remembered anniversary occurs this April 30 -- the 225th Anniversary of the U.S. Constitution being put into operation. Many might remember that April 30, 1789 was the day that George Washington took the oath of office and gave his inaugural address. But lest we forget, this very act also marked the launching of the American Constitutional System. Those living at the time knew what a landmark day it was and the details surrounding the events of the day show this depth of understanding. Through the process of time, neglect and the active rewriting of American history, these details have...

I recently read with joy a conservative blogger’s attempt to connect the TEA party movement to its historic roots; a topic I have been meaning to write about for months now. The blogger rightly said that the “the historical precedent for the TPM wasn’t the Tea Party event in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773.” I actually uttered an “Amen, brother!” He went on to describe the Continental Association established on October 20, 1774 by the First Continental Congress in response to the Intolerable Acts. That’s when I realized that I have waited long enough to write this article. The...

In June, 1776, with Richard Henry Lee’s proposal for independence from Great Britain awaiting a vote in the Continental Congress, a committee of five – Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson – selected one from among their number to be the key author of a formal Declaration of Independence. While the entire Continental Congress contributed to it, through their helpful editing, the principal author has long been known to be Thomas Jefferson, and he was rightly so proud of it that he wanted his authorship of this document to be on his tombstone rather...

If the Times Covered the American Revolution (We'd still be paying exorbitant taxes on breakfast tea.)If the New York Times had been around to report on the American Revolution, its coverage might have looked something like this... * Dec. 16, 1773: Sons of Liberty to raid East India Company ships BOSTON -- Members of the undergound organization called the Sons of Liberty are plotting to raid three East India Company ships tonight and dump the cargo -- thousands of pounds worth of Darjeeling tea -- into Boston Harbor, the Times has learned. Contacted at his headquarters, Gov. Thomas Hutchinson said,...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

It looks really, really good from the previews/website. I don't want to go beyond crazy here, but it seems to have a slant that Freepers would like. We can only hope...From their website:"Based on Alexander Rose’s book Washington’s Spies, AMC’s TURN tells the untold story of America’s first spy ring. A historical thriller set during the Revolutionary War, TURN centers on Abe Woodhull (Jamie Bell), a farmer living in British-occupied Long Island who bands together with his childhood friends to form the Culper Ring -- an unlikely team of secret agents who not only went on to help George Washington...

Looking to buy a book or books that accurately and honestly cover the life of George Washington. Something I can find on Amazon. Any comments why you liked the book would be appreciated. Thanks

ALEXANDER ROSE: Thankfully, this isn’t a chicken-and-egg question, so the answer is a simple one: Washington’s spies, otherwise known as the Culper Ring. There were five primary members. First in seniority was Benjamin Tallmadge, a dragoons officer who acted as the Ring’s manager in American-held Connecticut and made sure their intelligence was passed on to Washington back at headquarters. The agent who sailed back and forth across Long Island Sound (I prefer the more colorful contemporary description of it, “the Devil’s Belt”), tussling with freebooters and dodging patrol-boats, was Caleb Brewster, a former whaleboatman who really, really liked fighting. Brewster’s...

The new AMC series Turn, which premieres April 6, is bewildering at first. We’re dropped smack in the middle of British-occupied New York. The year is 1776, and Abraham Woodhull (Jamie Bell) is scraping by as a cabbage farmer and sometime innkeeper in Setauket, Long Island. He’s husband to Mary (Meegan Warner), and father to a young child. His father, Richard (Kevin McNally), is a local magistrate loyal to George III. Then the scene shifts. We’re now in New Jersey. A stunning overhead shot reveals a sprawling field of bluecoat rebel bodies lying next to a pool dyed red with...

Today is the traditional birthdate of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Constitution, authored many of the Federalist Papers in support of the Constitution's passage, was Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington, and whose portrait is currently on the U.S. $10 bill. He died in 1804 following a duel with Aaron Burr. "The fabric of American Empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of National power ought to flow immediately from that pure original fountain of all legitimate authority." -Hamilton, Federalist No....

For the Journal of the American Revolution, Todd Andrlik compiled a list of the ages of the key participants in the Revolutionary War as of July 4, 1776. Many of them were surprisingly young: Marquis de Lafayette, 18 James Monroe, 18 Gilbert Stuart, 20 Aaron Burr, 20 Alexander Hamilton, 21 Betsy Ross, 24 James Madison, 25 This is kind of blowing my mind...because of the compression of history, I'd always assumed all these people were around the same age. But in thinking about it, all startups need young people...Hamilton, Lafayette, and Burr were perhaps the Gates, Jobs, and Zuckerberg of...