Today is officially Ratification Day, the anniversary of the day in 1784 when members of the Confederation Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War and formally recognized the independence of the United States from Great Britain.
Holy smokes, Heather ! This is one of the most interesting letters you’ve written thus far (my opinion). Such history, which we weren’t taught in school. Thank you !!
I was carried back with your descriptions to that time. Amazing to think about the frigid winter and the difficult journey between England and the new country, ours. I loved your final comment about the Brits refusing to pose for the painting to memorialize our freedom and the historic Treaty....and thus it was only half-finished by the artist. Heather, you are an awesome historian, teacher and have become a “friend” to thousands of your readers. Thank you for being so wonderful!
Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West (1783), Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware, image in public domain. This is the American delegation; the British delegation refused to pose for the painter, who could not complete the work.] “ thank you for posting this image .
American democracy is much like this unfinished painting waiting to be worked on by those who stand in the light of justice and the rule of law, even as muddy as it gets. Much has been gained and lost over the years. There is still much work to do if this great experiment is to hold, not only for this country, but for those who believe in humanity’s best efforts to save itself.
Thank you for this wonderful history lesson! I wonder how much the travel times - within North America and also to Europe and England - allowed for thoughtful, civil, and responsible deliberations by the negotiators. No social media, Fox News, or AI algorithms to mess it all up. Whew!
So interesting about how the 13 colonies became independent and how they almost didn’t. The fact that their last representative who had been ill, showed up to sign the treaty, has a strong resemblance to the recent Dems’ House member, David Trone. Trone had surgery and rushed back to the House to cast his vote for Hakeem Jeffries. I guess when there’s a will, there’s a way. I just wish we had more Dems in the House.
Heather, I’m a 71 year old man, with a college degree (2 year criminal justice) and I can honestly tell you that I don’t ever remember this being taught in school from elementary all the way through. We had American History, but I didn’t have anything like this.
This is quite interesting and I really appreciate you bringing this out and ‘teaching’ all of us a part of this country’s history.
It should also be noted that, pursuant to Article VII of the Treaty of Paris, the British were precluded from “carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants.” This provision, which was inserted into the Treaty at the insistence of the American treaty negotiators, led to concerted efforts for the return of the many thousands of slaves who had escaped to the British during the American Revolution. However, these efforts were rebuffed by the British who claimed that the slaves who had accepted British protection before the 1783 treaty was signed were not covered by Article VII. The British facilitated safe haven for these escaped slaves in places such as England, Nova Scotia, and Sierra Leone, a colony established on the west African coast. With the signing of a treaty in November 1794 to resolve various outstanding issues between the United States and Great Britain in November 1794, efforts by the United States to obtain compensation in lieu of the return of escaped slaves were also abandoned. In a debate on the 1794 treaty in the House of Representatives on 15 April 1796, James Madison complained that its result was that Great Britain was “wholly absolved from the obligation to fulfil one of the articles [of the Treaty of Paris of 1783], viz: that relating to the negroes.” He also complained about the “very extraordinary abandonment of the compensation due for the negroes.” For Madison, these matters meant that the treaty was “frequently wanting in both justice and reciprocity.”
My K-12 history units never taught me that the American Revolution was part of a more complicated global picture than us and Great Britain. ( Or I have forgotten all of it) Of course it makes sense such would be the case. Thank you for the lessons!
The history of the US is so amazing! How little we the people, all tied up in our getting thru our daily lives, know about what happend way back then. Think, if you will, a head 50 or 75 years and consider how much of the present time, today's government, the list of men (and we hope soon women) who made the decisions and wrote the legislation will be known. Sad, for me, to say I won't be around 50 years from now but I'd like to come back to see what the presidential historians have to say and what is being taught to the students of the Class of 2073.
Oh my gosh!!! This was absolutely incredible for me ~ I can’t tell you how much I learned in such a brilliantly concise recounting of the Ratification.
Thank you, thank you for lifting my spirits on a night of unceasing rain in the Sierra foothills of California ~ which of course was not yet a gleam in the eye of the new republic…
This is the first that either I or my husband have heard how close the US came to not being. I can’t help thinking of the past two weeks and whether those representatives could have agreed quickly enough. In our history courses, the struggles after the battles were ignored. Thank you for filling in the gaps with prose equal to that of the best novels.
Now, THIS history article is home run writing. Absolutely no doubt.
Thank you ever so much for taking the time to educate.
PS - I saw an article in the NY Times by another historian, Daniel Bessner, that might interest you, and everyone here on this reflector. Given that I discouraged my own son from pursuing a history degree (and recommended engineering), I guess, in a small way, I contributed to the problem, however, reading Daniel's essay yesterday I felt good that my son redirected to Mechanical Engineering.
It sounds like Academia is using outsourcing of poorly paid "adjuncts" much like American corporations use India and China, so that, of course, white male administrators can obtain giant bonuses while history education declines and falls.
Same exact thing is happening in engineering and software in big corporations, on a scale akin to slavery where work is outsourced to India and China, but, no worries, a very small number of fairly incompetent white men are getting gigantic bonuses on these outsourcing strategies so it's all good right?
NY Times Gift Link: On the sad state of historians in the US
Holy smokes, Heather ! This is one of the most interesting letters you’ve written thus far (my opinion). Such history, which we weren’t taught in school. Thank you !!
I was carried back with your descriptions to that time. Amazing to think about the frigid winter and the difficult journey between England and the new country, ours. I loved your final comment about the Brits refusing to pose for the painting to memorialize our freedom and the historic Treaty....and thus it was only half-finished by the artist. Heather, you are an awesome historian, teacher and have become a “friend” to thousands of your readers. Thank you for being so wonderful!
Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West (1783), Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware, image in public domain. This is the American delegation; the British delegation refused to pose for the painter, who could not complete the work.] “ thank you for posting this image .
American democracy is much like this unfinished painting waiting to be worked on by those who stand in the light of justice and the rule of law, even as muddy as it gets. Much has been gained and lost over the years. There is still much work to do if this great experiment is to hold, not only for this country, but for those who believe in humanity’s best efforts to save itself.
Thank you for this wonderful history lesson! I wonder how much the travel times - within North America and also to Europe and England - allowed for thoughtful, civil, and responsible deliberations by the negotiators. No social media, Fox News, or AI algorithms to mess it all up. Whew!
So interesting about how the 13 colonies became independent and how they almost didn’t. The fact that their last representative who had been ill, showed up to sign the treaty, has a strong resemblance to the recent Dems’ House member, David Trone. Trone had surgery and rushed back to the House to cast his vote for Hakeem Jeffries. I guess when there’s a will, there’s a way. I just wish we had more Dems in the House.
Heather, I’m a 71 year old man, with a college degree (2 year criminal justice) and I can honestly tell you that I don’t ever remember this being taught in school from elementary all the way through. We had American History, but I didn’t have anything like this.
This is quite interesting and I really appreciate you bringing this out and ‘teaching’ all of us a part of this country’s history.
It should also be noted that, pursuant to Article VII of the Treaty of Paris, the British were precluded from “carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants.” This provision, which was inserted into the Treaty at the insistence of the American treaty negotiators, led to concerted efforts for the return of the many thousands of slaves who had escaped to the British during the American Revolution. However, these efforts were rebuffed by the British who claimed that the slaves who had accepted British protection before the 1783 treaty was signed were not covered by Article VII. The British facilitated safe haven for these escaped slaves in places such as England, Nova Scotia, and Sierra Leone, a colony established on the west African coast. With the signing of a treaty in November 1794 to resolve various outstanding issues between the United States and Great Britain in November 1794, efforts by the United States to obtain compensation in lieu of the return of escaped slaves were also abandoned. In a debate on the 1794 treaty in the House of Representatives on 15 April 1796, James Madison complained that its result was that Great Britain was “wholly absolved from the obligation to fulfil one of the articles [of the Treaty of Paris of 1783], viz: that relating to the negroes.” He also complained about the “very extraordinary abandonment of the compensation due for the negroes.” For Madison, these matters meant that the treaty was “frequently wanting in both justice and reciprocity.”
My K-12 history units never taught me that the American Revolution was part of a more complicated global picture than us and Great Britain. ( Or I have forgotten all of it) Of course it makes sense such would be the case. Thank you for the lessons!
Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
Song by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQt1RRW_xv0
LyricsListenVideos
The battle of Yorktown, 1781
Monsieur Hamilton
Monsieur Lafayette
In command where you belong
How you say, no sweat
Finally on the field, we've had quite a run
Immigrants, we get the job done
So what happens if we win?
I go back to France
I bring freedom to my people
If I'm given the chance
We'll be with you when you do
Go lead your men
I see you on the other side
'Til we meet again, let's go!
I am not throwin' away my shot!
I am not throwin' away my shot!
Hey yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot!
I am not throwin' away my shot!
'Til the world turns upside down
'Til the world turns upside down!
I imagine death so much, it feels more like a memory
This is where it gets me, on my feet the enemy ahead of me
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
Weapon in my hand, a command, and my men with me
Then I remember my Eliza's expecting me
Not only that, my Eliza's expecting
We gotta go, gotta get the job done
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!
Take the bullets out your gun! (What?)
The bullets out your gun! (What?)
We move undercover and we move as one
Through the night, we have one shot to live
Another day
We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away
We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in it
It's either that or meet the business end of a bayonet
The code word is "Rochambeau", dig me? (Rochambeau!)
You have your orders now, go, man, go!
And so the American experiment begins
With my friends all scattered to the winds
Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining bravery
We'll never be free until we end slavery!
When we finally drive the British away
Lafayette is there waiting in Chesapeake Bay!
How did we know that this plan would work?
We had a spy on the inside, that's right
Hercules Mulligan!
A tailor spyin' on the British government!
I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it! (Up)
To my brother's revolutionary covenant
I'm runnin' with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin' it!
See, that's what happens when you up against the ruffians
We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!
Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction
When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again!
Left! Right! Hold!
Go!
What! What! What!
After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet
We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief
And just like that, it's over, we tend to our wounded, we count our dead
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom
Not yet
We negotiate the terms of surrender
I see George Washington smile
We escort their men out of Yorktown
They stagger home single file
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets
There are screams and church bells ringing
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they're singing
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
Down, down, down, down
Freedom for America, freedom for France!
Down, down, down
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son
Down, down, down
We won!
We won!
We won!
We won!
The world turned upside down!
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Lin-manuel Miranda
Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) lyrics © 5000 Broadway Music
The history of the US is so amazing! How little we the people, all tied up in our getting thru our daily lives, know about what happend way back then. Think, if you will, a head 50 or 75 years and consider how much of the present time, today's government, the list of men (and we hope soon women) who made the decisions and wrote the legislation will be known. Sad, for me, to say I won't be around 50 years from now but I'd like to come back to see what the presidential historians have to say and what is being taught to the students of the Class of 2073.
Oh my gosh!!! This was absolutely incredible for me ~ I can’t tell you how much I learned in such a brilliantly concise recounting of the Ratification.
Thank you, thank you for lifting my spirits on a night of unceasing rain in the Sierra foothills of California ~ which of course was not yet a gleam in the eye of the new republic…
This is the first that either I or my husband have heard how close the US came to not being. I can’t help thinking of the past two weeks and whether those representatives could have agreed quickly enough. In our history courses, the struggles after the battles were ignored. Thank you for filling in the gaps with prose equal to that of the best novels.
From left to right: John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin.
Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Provided to YouTube by Atlantic Records
Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) · Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Hamilton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQt1RRW_xv0
Fascinating. I never knew why one side of the painting was white.
Dr. Richardson.
Now, THIS history article is home run writing. Absolutely no doubt.
Thank you ever so much for taking the time to educate.
PS - I saw an article in the NY Times by another historian, Daniel Bessner, that might interest you, and everyone here on this reflector. Given that I discouraged my own son from pursuing a history degree (and recommended engineering), I guess, in a small way, I contributed to the problem, however, reading Daniel's essay yesterday I felt good that my son redirected to Mechanical Engineering.
It sounds like Academia is using outsourcing of poorly paid "adjuncts" much like American corporations use India and China, so that, of course, white male administrators can obtain giant bonuses while history education declines and falls.
Same exact thing is happening in engineering and software in big corporations, on a scale akin to slavery where work is outsourced to India and China, but, no worries, a very small number of fairly incompetent white men are getting gigantic bonuses on these outsourcing strategies so it's all good right?
NY Times Gift Link: On the sad state of historians in the US
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/opinion/american-history-college-university-academia.html?unlocked_article_code=_aRLM7A3IT-Mh12zXL0Di_-sZBIAzXq1AidGMeeuqTxQDKZfSjUaOYCY_90AxVN6Cb4erS6nsHqXp4rjYuCB-7noBFARWU6OshSrXqMmmWwP9UYQjtFFad0IMi-Dr9OkfAZmMtOmXrfjfdmmSQkfjaWu28JZfjzat0zB5UK_IQmKYVcvDfJvNJZvYwIpsWL6_QvZEA3lnMvKXcM-GTmt1ZfP6w2MEBUuOfUhbgGHKftrOTIIxxnuvqNfg9hk2bUIQ0ZG39FiKN_GjhiadskQPv_l3lneMus4ATvCKhBiQl2J9xhmq1wdCcrsgz7p9ZnkkILtSmm-I2f3jnk0gw6Db61mlsDP25cDu3Ca2KbCpcTLOcbe60M&smid=share-url