I imagine there are listeners who, like me, read the professor’s letters each day, too. So you may know there was a bonus lesson (of sorts) in the written version last night. For anyone who has or hasn’t already seen it (via Letters from an American or directly, on YouTube), forgive my desire to share, “The Declaration of Independence | Journey to American Democracy,” by Heather Cox Richardson via this link:
It's hard to celebrate July 4 since so much of the Constitution had been "obliterated " by Trump , Republicans and Supreme Court. There are no more separation of powers. Trump is King. I kept hoping legislative and judicial branches will wake up and actually do something
Continue to - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️🩹🤍💙
HCR: This might be my very favorite of all of your posts. Thank you for the moving reminder of what we are fighting for and in whose steps we are following.
t's easy to sound patriotic on the 4 the of July, most Americans, including our Professor, remind us of the noble intent of the Declaration of Independence. REALLY?
I say that if the British had proved victorious against the colonial rebels and had hung the lot of them including James, George and Jefferson our country would have been far, far better off.
WHY? The British offered freedom to those slaves who rebelled against slavery. And, they did it too.
And, again in the War of 1812, there was another opportunity for the slaves to gain freedom, those who dared join the Royal Marines, thousands of slaves did and fought bravely against their slave masters.
Our so-called national anthem is really a condemnation of those Black Royal Marines who fought for their freedom. The writer of that anthem was a slave trader himself. He was really pissed at the rebellion against slavery.
So, to be brief, if the new US government had been defeated by the British, slavery would have been banned in all British territories by at 1835. (It would have been banned earlier in the New England.) Which it was. The Royal Marines who fought the slavers were given safe passage to Canada by the British and they remained free.
So, just think if the British had won there would have been no Civil War, no slavery, no war,no Jim Crow, no KKK, no " southern strategy." In addition, the 2 ND Amendment would not exist, imagine that, freedom from random mass shootings and gun suicides.
There are all sorts of potential benefits to our current society if that rag tag army had been soundly beaten at Valley Forge. For one we would have Universal Health Care. Just imagine how much better life would be with out a Fourth of July.
I think you paint too sweet a picture of the Brits offering slaves freedom if they fought with them. Once defeat was obvious, the British soldiers forgot all their promises and high tailed it. Some of those slaves did make it to Nova Scotia, but only as runaways.
The ragtag colonists fought against autocratic rule, against the superpower of their time. The down side is that they used the promise of “liberty” from the British monarchy to create an uneasy union of those who practiced slavery and those who opposed it. I would not have wanted to remain a part of the British (imperial) Empire, who committed uncountable crimes against the people they conquered (along with other colonial powers such as Spain, Portugal, Denmark, France, Belgium, and so on). The civil war and all the strife since then was created by the enslavers; perhaps that is the unavoidable consequence of the initial uneasy alliance against Britain. Even now, we would rather have all these internal divisions than be subjects of Britain. It no longer matters much, since the GOP and the Supreme Republican Court of the U.S. (SCROTUS) otherwise known as the Roberts Court has made Co-King divorcee Humpty Donald J. (for Judas) Trumpty into a pseudo-king, otherwise known as a dictator, now with unlimited legal cover to build a gulag system, and also to de-nationalize almost anyone and send them into a prison or into an active war zone anywhere in the world.
The robber barons have tried to dismantle the American democracy one-brick-at a time. Let there be no doubt, they have not succeeded. The life blood of individual freedom is still flowing full. It took them over 100 years to team up and mostly in the last 50 years they gained muscles. Their foot soldiers Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, Elec, Citizens United and Mega Right-wing Churches have gained stronger foothold since Nixon and Reagon. This is the first time in memory; however, they have succeeded in controlling both houses and SC. The common thread is the flow of dark money. This methodology is as old as the history of oligarchies and one-man rule. Money follows the power. The challenge to us is to defeat every one of these foot soldiers with the power of diversity, mind work and AI technology. Simply stated, they are all idiots like the man in the oval office. They cannot win in the long run. Read, "Trojan Horse - Democracy Hijacked", soon to be released.
I want to point out a lovely little historical fact about Lincoln: he was devoted to studying Euclid, whose writings on geometry were for a long time the second most published works in the world (the most published book being the Bible). Lincoln would attempt to work these proofs in his own mind, often by candlelight. Geometry is considered one of the seven original liberal arts and alongside grammar, rhetoric, logic, and music formed the foundation of a classical education, by which a person was grown into a thoughtful and moral leader. When Lincoln uses the word “proposition”, it is likely used with the scent of Euclidean geometry, wherein a proposition is something that can be proven to be true, a methodology that can be considered and tested in the human mind. So when he writes “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”, I believe it is safe to assume that he is thinking a bit like a geometer and pointing out that “all men are created equal” can be demonstrated unquestionably to be true. He’s not just saying “ let’s test this out “. He’s saying that rational humans have considered this, and it has been clearly demonstrated. I think that’s quite lovely.
One wonders why no Democrat stood on camera to powerfully say these words. Rather than making Trump and his team wrong, why did no Democrat remind us of what liberty, justice, and freedom are all about? I long for vision, passion, and value-driven leaders, but they seem to be in short supply.
I imagine there are listeners who, like me, read the professor’s letters each day, too. So you may know there was a bonus lesson (of sorts) in the written version last night. For anyone who has or hasn’t already seen it (via Letters from an American or directly, on YouTube), forgive my desire to share, “The Declaration of Independence | Journey to American Democracy,” by Heather Cox Richardson via this link:
https://youtu.be/gkFxD-CMlZM?si=dHhM2l2uyqKwQwo7
Perhaps you too may find it inspiring, cautionary, and a profound call to pay attention to our history—all at once.
Thank you for sharing.
Wow, I loved that. Thank you for sharing it!
Wow! That was amazing! Thank you, Jean, for letting me know about this.
The YouTube talks are amazing.
“All men/women are created equal” is an important idea to hold onto when ICE is kidnapping people and putting them into prison without due process.
Thank you, Heather, for your work
You’re right. Declaration of Independence is a very good
Stan Freberg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOOQfGWt8Hc
Thank you for reminding me of the great Stan Freburg. A good laugh for hard times…
It's hard to celebrate July 4 since so much of the Constitution had been "obliterated " by Trump , Republicans and Supreme Court. There are no more separation of powers. Trump is King. I kept hoping legislative and judicial branches will wake up and actually do something
Thank you, as always.
Continue to - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️🩹🤍💙
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
HCR: This might be my very favorite of all of your posts. Thank you for the moving reminder of what we are fighting for and in whose steps we are following.
🥰🇺🇸🥰
It’s the most frightening I’ve read 😢😡
Thank you for that reminder.
We do have truth , reason, and responsibility to our founding document. Let us forever hold them in our heart and fight to maintain.
the power of story : )
Thank you Professor Richardson, your words are appreciated and comforting in these difficult days.
Trump said it was about unity and love. It's a damn divorce decree. How could he be almost 80 and not know anything?
Happy 4th of July as we hear the true greatness of America as stated in our founding documents. No Kings!
I
t's easy to sound patriotic on the 4 the of July, most Americans, including our Professor, remind us of the noble intent of the Declaration of Independence. REALLY?
I say that if the British had proved victorious against the colonial rebels and had hung the lot of them including James, George and Jefferson our country would have been far, far better off.
WHY? The British offered freedom to those slaves who rebelled against slavery. And, they did it too.
And, again in the War of 1812, there was another opportunity for the slaves to gain freedom, those who dared join the Royal Marines, thousands of slaves did and fought bravely against their slave masters.
Our so-called national anthem is really a condemnation of those Black Royal Marines who fought for their freedom. The writer of that anthem was a slave trader himself. He was really pissed at the rebellion against slavery.
So, to be brief, if the new US government had been defeated by the British, slavery would have been banned in all British territories by at 1835. (It would have been banned earlier in the New England.) Which it was. The Royal Marines who fought the slavers were given safe passage to Canada by the British and they remained free.
So, just think if the British had won there would have been no Civil War, no slavery, no war,no Jim Crow, no KKK, no " southern strategy." In addition, the 2 ND Amendment would not exist, imagine that, freedom from random mass shootings and gun suicides.
There are all sorts of potential benefits to our current society if that rag tag army had been soundly beaten at Valley Forge. For one we would have Universal Health Care. Just imagine how much better life would be with out a Fourth of July.
And we all be speakin' proper englis fer shore.
I think you paint too sweet a picture of the Brits offering slaves freedom if they fought with them. Once defeat was obvious, the British soldiers forgot all their promises and high tailed it. Some of those slaves did make it to Nova Scotia, but only as runaways.
The ragtag colonists fought against autocratic rule, against the superpower of their time. The down side is that they used the promise of “liberty” from the British monarchy to create an uneasy union of those who practiced slavery and those who opposed it. I would not have wanted to remain a part of the British (imperial) Empire, who committed uncountable crimes against the people they conquered (along with other colonial powers such as Spain, Portugal, Denmark, France, Belgium, and so on). The civil war and all the strife since then was created by the enslavers; perhaps that is the unavoidable consequence of the initial uneasy alliance against Britain. Even now, we would rather have all these internal divisions than be subjects of Britain. It no longer matters much, since the GOP and the Supreme Republican Court of the U.S. (SCROTUS) otherwise known as the Roberts Court has made Co-King divorcee Humpty Donald J. (for Judas) Trumpty into a pseudo-king, otherwise known as a dictator, now with unlimited legal cover to build a gulag system, and also to de-nationalize almost anyone and send them into a prison or into an active war zone anywhere in the world.
The robber barons have tried to dismantle the American democracy one-brick-at a time. Let there be no doubt, they have not succeeded. The life blood of individual freedom is still flowing full. It took them over 100 years to team up and mostly in the last 50 years they gained muscles. Their foot soldiers Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, Elec, Citizens United and Mega Right-wing Churches have gained stronger foothold since Nixon and Reagon. This is the first time in memory; however, they have succeeded in controlling both houses and SC. The common thread is the flow of dark money. This methodology is as old as the history of oligarchies and one-man rule. Money follows the power. The challenge to us is to defeat every one of these foot soldiers with the power of diversity, mind work and AI technology. Simply stated, they are all idiots like the man in the oval office. They cannot win in the long run. Read, "Trojan Horse - Democracy Hijacked", soon to be released.
I want to point out a lovely little historical fact about Lincoln: he was devoted to studying Euclid, whose writings on geometry were for a long time the second most published works in the world (the most published book being the Bible). Lincoln would attempt to work these proofs in his own mind, often by candlelight. Geometry is considered one of the seven original liberal arts and alongside grammar, rhetoric, logic, and music formed the foundation of a classical education, by which a person was grown into a thoughtful and moral leader. When Lincoln uses the word “proposition”, it is likely used with the scent of Euclidean geometry, wherein a proposition is something that can be proven to be true, a methodology that can be considered and tested in the human mind. So when he writes “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”, I believe it is safe to assume that he is thinking a bit like a geometer and pointing out that “all men are created equal” can be demonstrated unquestionably to be true. He’s not just saying “ let’s test this out “. He’s saying that rational humans have considered this, and it has been clearly demonstrated. I think that’s quite lovely.
Thanks for that bit of historical insight!
One wonders why no Democrat stood on camera to powerfully say these words. Rather than making Trump and his team wrong, why did no Democrat remind us of what liberty, justice, and freedom are all about? I long for vision, passion, and value-driven leaders, but they seem to be in short supply.