Capt. John Parker memorial, Lexington Green
The Minute Man, Concord Bridge
Posted on 07/04/2026 1:28:13 PM PDT by Pelham
The July 4th 1776 Declaration of Independence wasn't the first important Declaration that Jefferson was involved in.
A year earlier, July 6th 1775, the Second Continental Congress had him write what amounts to a Declaration of War, which somehow never gets any attention.
https://grokipedia.com/page/Declaration_of_the_Causes_and_Necessity_of_Taking_Up_Arms
Text of the document:
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/arms.asp
This is a must read for history nerds.
It gets a mention at the 3:30 mark of this clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09A6oY5cb0I
And that could be the most notice that it’s gotten in the following 50 years...
April 19 1775...
.
The Shot Heard around the World ,
Lexington and Concord.
.
The taste of Grape Shot was
Being savored already.
The 13 original colonies were told to write up their Constitutions...all prior to the Federal Constitution.
The Federal Constitution was approved conditionally....pending the addition of the Bill of Rights.
If you’d like an outstanding book about that day, David Hackett Fischer’s ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’ is as good a history as there is.
https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Reveres-David-Hackett-Fischer/dp/0195098315/
“The 13 original colonies were told to write up their Constitutions...all prior to the Federal Constitution.”
One fun bet to make is “How many States were in the Union when the Constitution was ratified and George Washington took office as President?” and let your victim know it wasn’t 13. They will always add one or two more which is the wrong direction.
North Carolina and Rhode Island had reservations about the central government that the Constitution created. (so did George Mason who never endorsed it). And they didn’t ratify and so weren’t in the union when Washington took office. Just 11 States. This caused some consternation among the other States who weren’t sure if NC and RI were independent countries or just what. NC eventually ratified in November 1789 and RI in May 1790.
Bkmk
Thanks-We will check it out.
.
Can’t say how but I Was shown a book years ago that Was a Grade School library type written in the 1950s...since pulled.IIRC
“William Diamonds Drum”
I bought several copies on eBay cheap.
Had the Boston Redcoats marching to The Bridge and running for their Lives Back and many fine Details in between
Revere was only mentioned. The Political aspects were very interesting especially How it was Framed to encourage Patriots.
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I visited The Bridge in 1996.
If Those Patriots could see us NOW
They’d Know it was Worth it- Amigo!
Thanks
Only nine states had to ratify it for it to become effective.
“Only nine states had to ratify it for it to become effective.”
Which is true but irrelevant to what I was discussing.
13 States had been members of the Articles of Confederation government.
But there were only 11 States in the American union when George Washington was elected and took office as President.
The Constitution becoming effective for the 11 that did ratify, did not bring into the American union North Carolina and Rhode Island.
The US Senate was drafting legislation to treat them as foreign nations.
If North Carolina and Rhode Island had continued to reject the Constitution they would have been independent nations, operating under the Articles or whatever else they chose.
Capt. John Parker memorial, Lexington Green
The Minute Man, Concord Bridge
A Very Solemn and Beautiful
Place to visit.
Thanks
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