"Little love lost between the Boston colonists and the soldiers newly arrived from England...."
In all places at all times, in virtually every country on earth, people generally prefer to be ruled by their own councils and governments -- even if badly -- than surrender to the whims or bombs of a foreign power who comes as thief and occupier, making up one pretense after another to explain why war or occupation arrives on their shores.
Wise people -- those who actually think about the consequences of their behavior, those who spend sleepless nights contemplating the what-ifs of war *before* launching one -- don't need to be reminded of this. Yet it never once crosses the minds of deranged, shrieking idiots.
True, but if those of us, for whom this nation was built, stand together and deny the rule of the incompetent, evil people in government at this time, we can revert to a nation that offers prosperity to all. It can be done, but only if we safeguard our elections from the traitors who know they will not prevail and will do everything to cheat to stay in power. It really is up to us to protect what so many people have died for in the past...our freedom. Let's get it done.
Perhaps, we'll be able to witness, the New Nuremberg Trials of this 47th cabinet and staff. That's my wish and I am just a few years shy of your age...it keeps me alive with HOPE!
I certainly hope that Democrats pound the message that the DOGE cuts ended up costing us all, and all those programs could be funded by the ridiculously obscene price of this needless war!!
Let's hope the midterms take place without trump's intervention to subvert them, and that the 30% who still support trump will crawl out of their disillusion, disconnection with the rest of society and experience a moment of moral honesty and stand up for decency and relinquish their support for trump's totalitarian ambitions.
Wee need more than hope. The elections in '26 and '28 are not a given, despite the disapproval of Trump. As it says in front of the Massachusetts statehouse, "Vigilance, the eternal price of liberty." And the willingness to act.
Protests do send a message but they are not strong enough to bring about a change as attested to by the story of the Revolution. More action is required.
Trump promised wealth to the non-oligarchs and he has failed to deliver on a single promise. He has hung his hat on the belief that if you tell a lie or lies often enough people will believe him rather than their own eyes and ears.
Will the non-oligarchs who have received nothing from Trump except empty promises and lies, ever turn against him? Help is not coming so join the rest of us protesting and working against him.
Those non-oligarchs who accepted Trump’s promises are just as lacking in morals as the oligarchs….the same apart from the $$$$$. People of no character and no account.
But neither of you explain how the "what-ifs of war *before* launching one" could ever cross the "mind" of a deranged, shrieking idiot when his head is essentially an Orange Basketball with a Golden Meringue Pie on top. It has no mind but only pressurized air, a "windbag." If it could think it would know the only way to open the Strait of Hormuz is to send Barron with ICE to fight off those Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. I am serious.
I heard someone say he was too tall. David Robinson was 6'11" and went into the Navy. I think he could work it out, otherwise, they could remove a few inches from each leg.
…and to them ..it is time to realign having seen the truth no other way than lies cast and friends murdered ..to stand for the country we wish to declare again FREE OF KINGS whether imagined wanna be’s or elected by such folly.
Tell that to the Native Americans those brave freedom-fighting Founding Fathers forcibly evicted from their land just as soon as the British had bunked off.
I disagree with your assessment that Ken Burn’s documentary “The American Revolution” is “surprisingly solid”. I am a sustaining member of my state PBS affiliate SDPB and have been an avid fan of Ken Burns for decades. The only one of his documentaries I have not watched is the one about jazz, a music genre that agitates my ear drums and my cranial grey matter. As a lover of human history world wide, and colonial America in particular, his work, and Rick Steves European travel shows, always present a buffet of historical facts for me to nosh on.
Ken was a guest on “The View” today. His documentaries put flesh on the bones of many aspects of American history. He worked on The American Revolution for 10 years. I enjoyed all six episodes, but the first episode, covering our nation’s history, warts and all, from the early 1600’s until the years leading up to the war of independence and beyond, is an incredibly accurate, all encompassing gathering of facts, Masterpiece. It’s just a damn shame that so many of today’s voters don’t know the real facts about how and why the United States of America came into being.
(there are many, many facets to jazz, Nyleen. I don't want this to become a thread so I'll briefly recommend Keith Jarrett's, Koln concert...if you'd like, PM me and I can suggest more that you might enjoy)
Agreed! I’m sure Isaac can give you a great list of very listenable albums.
Here are a few of mine: In addition to Jarrett’s solo piano (especially his concert encores), try his Standards series with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. Also Jarrett’s Jarrett/Garbarek "My Song" and "Belonging". Also check out other albums by Jan Garbarek (including the astonishing Officium), Mari Boine, Anouar Brahem, Pat Metheny...
And please do give Miles Davis’ "Kind of Blue" a try.
i prob should have just PMd her to make suggestions if i didn't want this to become a thread and distract from the main topics...? will do that next time...
I, too, have read several reviews which were quite negative re Burn's documentary, including one from a legal scholar I know, who noted a number of inaccuracies and the complaint that it focused too much on one battle after another, while leaving out other important characters and events.
I was repeating what I read. Frankly, I found the series rather boring, because the concentration was on military strategy, and paintings which depicted same. But I watched it until the end.
Indeed. Native Americans were "used" by both sides. The documentary should be required viewing in every U.S. school. The complexity of the rebellion and war are on full display in stark contrast to the simplistic versions presented in history classes.
I suspect all here would have been "Patriots" but some of the actions of these rebels were despicable. All should watch and learn. There were multiple points of view. It was not simple.
The "Manifest Destiny" driven usurpation of land was a driving force. Life is messy. The creation of "America" is a tale of greed, thievery and abuse. A fight for the freedom to pound our chests as we annexed a continent.
Maybe, some of the ghosts of that period are haunting us now....
Bill, I did not learn the true history of our country until I was in grad school and I am still learning along with my husband who is fortunate to have Lakota ancestry. We are in touch with some of them.
The tale of America is a mixed one. It blends both greed, thievery and abuse with startlingly generous concepts of freedom, liberty and freedom of conscience. You cannot lose sight of one for the other.
I know of no other government in history that not only fought secessionist traitors, but went to war to free a people from slavery, with hundreds of thousands of dead on both sides. I know of no other army that landed on Normandy, stormed through France, Belgium and Germany, liberating scores of concentration camps along the way, to free *other* people, not just themselves. Or another government that, on its own, launched the Marshall Plan to rebuild a destroyed continent, changing the rules of international conduct to prevent war in the future.
Ken’s “The American Revolution” was not in any way surprising. His lifetime of documentaries reflect a lot of research and effort to get it right, watching his programs, even ones that I have a personal relationship with, always leave me with a better understanding of the material, which is always about America. He has become our national storyteller, and as someone who made movies for over 30 years, I honor his efforts. There will always be points of view that are not seen, that in no way detracts from his efforts. He made choices over and over during the 10 years that project was developing, never with the idea of hiding the truth, he is a truth teller at heart. I was in no way disappointed with his efforts, my hat’s off to the guy and everyone who worked with him on it. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙏
Also tell it to the African Americans who were classified as slaves in a race based system that has endured for more than 250 years. They represent generations originating from more than 4 million people who faced untold violence, rape and forced labor to build the country while families were separated.
These people (who according to law were property) were used as collateral to produce wealth for slaveholders’ families and the national economy. America has much to atone for including allowing a convicted felon to exert power over the world.
They might get it out of our museums and school texts but they will never erase the effects of it from the souls of the abused, enslaved peoples and in the souls of us descended from abusers and enslavers, even it it was many generations ago.
"...just as soon as the British had bunked off."??? No! Being WOKE about the American Indian Wars you must begin by grasping that the concept of “property lines” came across the Atlantic from Europe. American Indians had no cultural experience of such cutting up the face of Mother Earth with fences. It was those European “settlements” where the forcible eviction of Native Americans all began. My getting old I sometimes do forget things but maybe you, Russell John Netto, know which European settlers were the worst. The killing began immediately upon their arrival in May 1607. They began building a fort rampart (a high fence) and named their town after their KING - James somebody, hence “Jamestown.” The American Founding Fathers told KING - George somebody, to stick it on July 4, 1776. But unfortunately what you learn first you learn best and the property line culture stuck deeply in the inherited culture of laws of the Founding Fathers. Perhaps it comes from John Locke’s views on the foundational natural rights of individuals: "life, liberty, and estate” (property).
Slavery and genocide are the original sins of this nation, and our inability to come to terms them, fully acknowledge wrongs and make them right, continues to hold us back. And both go a long way to explaining why we are where we are in this current moment. When this terrible time finally ends, we need to come clean and make this nation truly one where equal justice for all is the foundational principle above all others. Until we do history will continue repeating itself and our nation will never be its best self.
well...if you don't mind, Chris, i'd like to add the ongoing lack of respect for women. which may be THE original sin and a serious detriment to 'man'kind...not that women are not capable of heinous activities/possessing unhealthy qualities just like men...i wonder how many of those would've manifested if they were, throughout time, given the proper respect/acknowledgement? ps...i'm not saying this to gain admiration. i'm saying it because it couldn't be more obvious that it's the truth...and SOMEone should say it...
Isaac, this has gone on for millennia and thank you for saying it. I would say that males at the top have made everyone miserable. Many times if they won, they would kill all the males and take the women and children as slaves. I recently learned that women in ancient times were also malnourished as men got the meat and the most food. So when women became pregnant, they were at a disadvantage. Women should remember that it is relatively recent that they could vote here and have a credit card in their own name and any number of other things. I should add that I am reading about civilizations in the ancient middle east and western civilization in general.
it's part of why i never considered America a true democracy, Michele...a true democracy should be 'all inclusive'...maybe this is naive...or idealistic...but it's an ideal worth striving for...
we either outgrow what's holding us back or we will perish, eventually...
100% correct. White male supremacy, an ideology and social system deeply rooted in the slave economy, is the reason Trump won against Clinton and Harris. He is the least qualified candidate to ever run for the Presidency and those two women each are perhaps the most educated and experienced to ever run for the Presidency. As for the 2025 election, He is a convicted felon and Harris is a former Attorney General of the most populated State in the country.
Chris, Agreed. My husband also has Indian fighters as well as Native Americans in his maternal lineage. His grandmother knew about the Native American ancestry, but did not tell his mother who died before one of the cousins contacted us. On his paternal side, his grandmother had prejudice against both Native Americans and blacks. We were married in Sierra Leone while in the Peace Corps and she was afraid I was black. When she finally met me, she commented that I could not have fit into his mother's wedding dress. I was amused; he was furious. And I was much thinner then. He nicknamed her Bogrumpus.
..the truth be told, the past uncovered…but theirs is a nation that stood the tests of time …grand reverence to the mother , elegant in traditions, music, and that which we can all learn from ….patience.
It's really hard to absorb that our great country is being ruled by a combination of rapacious scoundrels like Stephen Miller and JD Vance and Media mongers like those on FOX News and "influencers" like Laura Loomer.
One might fairly ask: "How has our nation been brought so low?"
And one answer would be: by the power of the almighty $$$$. And we can thank the Roberts' Courts' misguided and evil Citizens United ruling in 2010 for ensuring that the "Haves" have more and the "Have Nots" stay that way.
Citizens United tilted the scales in favor of wealthy corporate interests but that didn't create the problem. Big Money in US politics has been a problem for...well probably forever. It's a problem that's never been addressed effectively.
Yes, but with "Corporations are People" and Elon Musk being personally able to spend over $250mio on electing DJT, I think it is fair to say that our democracy is not at all as our founders' envisioned.
No, I doubt that very much. Imagine Chief Justice John Marshall in 1801, holding The East India Co., which owned those three ships loaded with tea in Boston Harbor in 1773, is a person with equal protection of the laws. The Court probably would have been tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail by the Sons of Liberty. I discuss all of this in my Memorandum w/ a model amendment at UnitedWeAmend.org.
Donna-It’s possible that if America had truly a participatory democracy in the beginning our history, present and future would be so different. The decision to establish a capitalistic system that depends on exploiting labor, disenfranchising voters and dividing people by skin color, gender and religion is haunting us now.
The Evil Citizens United doctrine (Court created B.S.) is based upon another doctrine created in 1886, known today as corporate personhood. It began in Santa “Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company”, 118 US 394 (hereinafter, “Santa Clara”). The Court arrogantly refused to hear arguments against its decision of one of the most important matters to ever come before the Court, whether the Equal Protection Clause secures a corporation as a person with equal protection of the laws. Moreover, it dared not leave any analysis of the facts, legal issues, applicable laws or any citations of case law supporting its decision (there was none), or any explanation whatsoever that guided its publication of its decision written as a mere headnote of a case decided on a totally different issue. That headnote reads, “The Court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution which forbids a state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws applies to these corporations. We are all of opinion that it does.” In all truth, the Fourteenth Amendment was a direct response to the Court’s 1857, holding in “Dred Scott v. Sandford”, 60 U.S. 393 (hereinafter, “Dred Scott”) which pushed America into Civil War. In “Dred Scott" the Court held that Mr. Scott, a person, was property with no rights. In “Santa Clara” the Court held that a corporation, property, is a person with rights. The court has a sick obsession with "property." I discuss all that plus a remedy in my Memorandum to We the people at UnitedWeAmend.org.
I read through your excellent document rather quickly (and your biography as well… an interesting, but challenging life story, you have done very well for many people). One conclusion for me is that “Citizens United” is all BS, (as I have always thought) but to learn more of the racist beginnings was enlightening and makes me even more angry. It’s a twisted conclusion on the basics of humanity. Corporations are not people, they are a group of people with a common purpose (primarily to make money - though some may have altruistic motives as well) who want to have the “freedom” to circumvent regulatory controls that protect society from such pesky things as environmental pollution, worker safety (think of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911), etc. Citizens United makes a group of people with a common purpose (corporations) and magnifies their interests over individual’s rights primarily through wealth of the corporations (their ability to “buy” political power) but also because of their power over their workers. All this weakens democracy and the power of “We the people.”
Thank you for reading my Memorandum. You sure have clear grasp of what is going on here. It goes far beyond only that one Court doctrine of Citizens United. In my model amendment at the end I address over two dozen holes which the corporatist fascist Courts have punched into our Constitution since the end of the Civil War. We must Unite to win back control of the Federal government and to Amend our Constitution. Please download the posters and use them at the No Kings march. Again, My Thanks.
Yep. After the Revolutionary War within Massachusetts farmers like Minuteman Captain Daniel Shays, who served under George Washington at the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga, the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill, both Battles of Saratoga, and later the Battle of Stony Point was, as were many heroes like him, forced into financial ruin from high taxes, creditors and the courts which were sentencing people to debtors’ prisons. An uprising involving approximately 4,000 farmers and veterans ensued. Captain Shays led armed groups to close State courthouses from August 1786 to February 1787, thus stopping the foreclosures of farms. The United States government had no standing army to help Massachusetts quash what came to be known as “Shays’ Rebellion.” In May, after the snow melted, a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia drafted our current Constitution. I suppose those who attended the Convention had some money. The preamble states that its purpose is to guarantee “domestic tranquility.” The U.S. Constitution guarantees domestic peace in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, declares: “... the President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States...” So if any former Minutemen try to close the banks in their State they will face the guns of the U.S. Army. I discuss all this in my Memorandum and close with model amendment language which would create a more perfect union in a way that "perfect" means "We the People," not only white land owning adult males.
The Nixon era included the Powell Memo. That is the guide still in use today by the corporatst fascist to takeover the country. Part of the plot is the creation of think tanks and public speakers to sell the BS of those "thinkers." One think tank grew as The Heritage Foundation whose policies included the “Mandate for Leadership”, a 3,000 page blueprint for the incoming administration of President Ronald Reagan. His often-used phrase “get the government off of our backs” is directly related to that report and it means deregulations and lowering taxes of the rich and powerful corporations. Nixon appointed Powell to the Supreme Court. Powell later wrote the opinion which the Roberts' 5 based the Citizens United opinion upon. The tile of the Powell Memo is “Attack On American Free Enterprise System”. In my Memorandum I answer, Yes, there certainly is. The American Revolution, now in its 250th year, is a war challenging The System.
Swbv, the Roberts Court has certainly contributed to our problems. However, death star and the cabal speak to the many prejudices that some people have. Carte blanche for being their worst ugliest selves.
What gives Americans hope is not the fantasy that authoritarian ambition will politely disappear, but the hard American truth that it has been resisted before. Hope does not come from denial. It does not come from pretending anti-democratic movements are harmless, or that power always corrects itself. It comes from history, memory, and the repeated proof that ordinary people can resist concentrated power when they act with courage, discipline, and solidarity.
That is one of the central lessons of the American founding. The struggle against British rule was not won by wishful thinking, nor by one heroic figure alone. It was carried by citizens, printers, laborers, soldiers, organizers, and communities that refused permanent subordination. They faced a global empire and still discovered that entrenched power has limits when people withdraw their consent and stand together.
That lesson matters now. Americans today are not confronting a king, but many are confronting a political movement that admires domination, mocks restraint, and treats democracy as an inconvenience. When leaders flirt with dictatorship, threaten opponents, and speak of public institutions as personal instruments, citizens have every reason to be alarmed. But alarm is not surrender.
Democracy does not live only in the Oval Office, or in the hands of billionaires, party machines, and media demagogues. It also lives in the habits of a free people. It lives in voters who refuse intimidation, judges who honor the Constitution, public servants who do their jobs honestly, journalists who keep telling the truth, teachers who preserve civic memory, and organizers who keep building coalitions strong enough to resist fear.
Hope, then, is not optimism. It is not passivity. It is not the shallow belief that everything will somehow be fine. Hope is civic discipline. It is the refusal to normalize corruption, cruelty, political violence, or contempt for constitutional order. It is the decision to keep showing up because self-government is still worth defending.
Authoritarian movements depend on surrender, silence, and exhaustion. They need people to believe resistance is useless. They need cynicism. They need despair. A democratic people does not have to give them those victories.
What gives Americans hope is what has always given hope in dangerous times: the capacity of ordinary citizens to see clearly, stand together, and hold the line. That is how a republic survives. That is how democracy endures. And that is why the American story is not finished yet.
I don't think the story of the United States of America will ever stop being written, and it shouldn't be.
It is not a fairy tale, nor a scary tale, it is the blunt reality of humanity oft times acting inhumanely. With introspection, honest observation, and an unyielding will to do better, we can persevere and continue the experiment of a democratic republic. Participation is power - stay informed and engaged.
Capturing a fort 300 miles away and transporting its cannon to surround Boston and force the British out would be a mighty feat today with modern transportation. Yet it was conceived and carried out 250 years ago by people from various colonies working together. We have a Congress of one country that cannot cooperate to rein in one tyrant attacking people and countries around the globe ruining our reputation and the peace of the world. Modern communication has misled people into thinking they know what is happening based on lies and misplaced loyalty. The 18th century patriots were not perfect and their treatment of slaves and native cultures is a precursor to our problem activities today. But they worked together to overcome the world’s mightiest armed force and one man rule. Now we need to break out of our daily routines to control our own armed forces and stop following the demented whims of an aging tyrant supported by men of unbelievable wealth and sycophants with evil agendas. We need to pull up our patriotic socks and work together to reclaim and improve our national purpose. Vote Blue.
Janis-Too bad people didn’t want to embrace Hillary Clinton’s slogan that “we’re stronger together”. We can’t keep letting them divide us based on superficial differences. We need to highlight more of the stories like the one HCR told today about how people can come together even when a task seems impossible.
When you have one autocrat who has no values in common with most of humanity who are these morons supposed to follow. They actually think the Republican Party of Reagan still exists.
It's not like he 'created' them, though...they were there already...he just gave them a prominent voice...so what will become of THEM in this 'new nation' some are proposing?
We realize you could also be speaking of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Venezuela, or multiple other countries.
When will we learn that democracy cannot be successfully shoved down the throats of people, especially when those doing the shoving are widely known as coarse and ignorant bullies.
Must we take up arms again? 💪💪💪 Declare in 4 months the liberation needed for NewAmerica..and banish the Torrids ..those aligning with/proclaiming “the hottest country “?
Howe rather fitting , to dump the ‘T’ in effigy, correct?
Dear Professor, I know the American Revolution is not your time period. This article states that only 2000 British soldiers arrived after the Boston Tea Party. The figure of 10,000 sounded suspect to me, because I know how cheap the British were. They didn't want to go to expense of sending any more soldiers than were absolutely necessary. Later on, this policy of economy led to the description of British colonial armies as the Thin Red Line.
And now we have a modern-day Tory in not red but big butt Orange face assemble traitor waiting for the Traitor’s inglorious ending. He scraped together just enough supporting official-like government trash with no shame to speak of. And they too shall reach an inglorious end. How did this poison seep into the body politic is anyone’s guess but it shall soon be exorcised.
''What Gives Americans Hope on Evacuation Day: A Revolutionary Lesson for Resisting Authoritarian Rule Today''
On Evacuation Day, Americans should remember that concentrated power is not invincible. The British retreat from Boston in 1776 still offers a democratic lesson for our own time: ordinary citizens, acting with courage and resolve, can resist domination, defend self-government, and force arrogant power to yield.... >> https://essayx.substack.com/p/what-gives-americans-hope-on-evacuation
"Throughout 1774 and into 1775, thousands of British troops, led by General Thomas Gage would take over the city, putting them on a collision course with revolutionary fervor both in town and the countryside."
Note that Prof. Richardson did not say that there were 10,000 troops quartered in Boston in early 1775.
Heather notes the same buildup that Braisted noted, following the Tea Party, until the evacuation in March 1776.
Both are correct if you follow the progression of history and the year-long buildup following the Tea Party that Lord Howe and General Gage thought would be sufficient to suppress the Patriots.
"After the Patriots had thrown more than 300 chests of valuable tea into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, to protest Parliament’s claim that it had the right to tax the colonists without their consent, officials from the British government had set out to make the Patriots do as they were told.
They sent 10,000 soldiers and their families to Boston, ..."
I assumed that she meant that 10,000 soldiers were sent soon after the Boston Tea Party. When reading the historical account, one assumes that events are presented in chronological order unless something is clearly marked as a summary. Every other event in the article flows in a chronological order.
Later, she points out that 4500 additional troops were sent. This seems to imply a total of 14,500. That would be a larger number of soldiers than were ever gathered in one place during the entire Revolutionary War!
You can read "soon" into it if you want, but that's what you infer and hence assume, not what Prof. Richardson wrote.
In fact ~10,000, built up in the year following the Tea Party, occupied Boston between December 1773 and February 1776.
Braisted definitely does not say that only 2,000 occupied Boston when the March 1776 evacuation took place.
Braisted's reference to 2,000 appears to be even earlier, ca. 1768.
"Things remained thus until 1768, when an attack on customs commissioners in town led Major General Thomas Gage in New York to order British troops to Boston.
"The first troops would be the 14th and 29th Regiments of Foot, along with the Grenadier Company of the 59th and some Royal Artillery. These troops were already in North America. A further two regiments, the 64th and 65th, would be ordered from Ireland to supplement them. This total force would be under 2,000 officers and men, but it was hoped the mere presence of armed soldiers would dissuade mobs and enforce royal authority. Ironically, the first enforcement of royal authority would be administered on Richard Ames, a private of the 14th Regiment, who was executed for desertion by firing squad in front of the regiments then in town."
''What Gives Americans Hope on Evacuation Day: A Revolutionary Lesson for Resisting Authoritarian Rule Today''
On Evacuation Day, Americans should remember that concentrated power is not invincible. The British retreat from Boston in 1776 still offers a democratic lesson for our own time: ordinary citizens, acting with courage and resolve, can resist domination, defend self-government, and force arrogant power to yield.... >> https://essayx.substack.com/p/what-gives-americans-hope-on-evacuation
What magnificent stories of patience and determination and ingenuity! These are the stories that should be told as part of a joyous national celebration of the 250th anniversary of our democracy's birth.
My wish for the 300th anniversary year in 2076 is that my daughter and all our children and grandchildren will have that kind of tribute as they remember our beginnings and our fight now.
We are the patriots of today, ordinary people who are committed to action against a tyrant.
And no, I will not be watching the cage fights on the White House lawn next to the hole in the ground on July 4, 2026.
As a reminder of what Trump has planned for us: Garden of Heroes? Year-long traveling state fair? Patriot Games? Buildings patriotically decorated?
Oh wait, that must be why those giant banners with Trump's strongman face are starting to appear on federal buildings in DC. And the bronze statues of Trump and Epstein that appear on the mall must be the first of the statues in the Garden of Heroes. I was afraid Trump had forgotten about his Big Party!
But maybe he is very, very sad that no one came to his big military parade last year, and he has decided to cancel most of the festivities as a peevish retribution against the American people. That's why all those banners looking down on us have that stern disapproving look.
I hope MLK was right and that peaceful protests will stop the insanity.
I am also hoping that Orban is voted out in Hungary as an example to MAGA and Trump and the oligarchs that authoritarians don’t stay in power forever.
But I am not sure whether it will motivate them to more suppression of dissent in the short run. Stephen Miller will certainly push for maximizing suppression out of sheer cruelty, as will Thiel, out of his weird ideology. Trump is a psychopath with no empathy or remorse whatsoever, so he will do whatever he thinks will save his skin.
Orban consolidated his power in a slow coup. Trump is moving much faster. Hence the worries.
The best way to commemorate our nation’s 250th birthday is with trump’s removal from office, be it through the 25th amendment or otherwise. I can only imagine the fireworks and celebrations worldwide when that day finally arrives.
But that brings us rule by JD, who is so much more aligned with Peter Thiel and has drunk that madman’s Kool-Aid.
It will take until 2028 at the earliest to climb out of the pit we are in. But at least with majorities in both chambers, we can prevent further harm. But any new legislation will be vetoed. Republicans will try to sabotage everything in terms of repair and reform because their only chance of getting back in power will be to claim that a reform government was ineffectual.
Still one nemesis down should be a cause for jubiliation.
That's how they hope the cookie will crumble, but having lived through Watergate, I recall how Vice President Spiro Agnew folded when faced with corruption charges from his time in Maryland. Attorney General John Mitchell, Nixon aides Haldeman and Erlichman, John Dean, and Chuck Colson all went to jail along with 40 other government employes. Russell Vought is tied up with demolishing the Colorado facility that tracks climate change, and I hope those working there are gathering information to protect their work. The disintegration of our Constitutional, evidence based government that Vought trusts is inevitable is not. When we remember that, it gives us courage and resolve.
We were lucky that Agnew’s corruption was uncovered first, so that Nixon had to appoint someone with a decent reputation (Gerald Ford) as VP, and it wasn’t until almost a year later that Nixon resigned over Watergate. And then Ford pardoned Nixon for the good of the country.
The problem I see is that Vance was essentially paid in advance while working at Thiel’s hedge fund, and then Thiel donated heavily to Vance’s Senate campaign through a super PAC. On paper, Vance looks clean as a whistle when it comes to corruption scandals. All of the ideology he spews is “political speech”. After listening to John Oliver on Sunday night, Vance is upfront about lying “to make a point.”
If Trump and the bulk of his cabinet are impeached on corruption charges, Vance will still likely be left standing. And he gets to start with a new batch of cabinet officials who will likely be smarter than the clowns Trump picked. I don’t think Vance will kick out Miller and Vought—they have been extremely good at cranking up the cruelty and efficiently dismantling the social safety net and government agencies.
Vance is not impulsive like Trump, so he will switch to a slow coup like Orban crafted in Hungary. He will work hard to appear rational, reasonable, and sane, and he will say he is deeply, deeply saddened by Trump’s disintegration. All of the Epstein files will come out so Vance looks like he cares about justice, and he will see that prosecutions start under a reformed DOJ and FBI. He will be playing to people’s sense of relief and lean into the story of Trump’s dementia. I can just see Vance now pardoning Trump for the good of the country.
Georgia-Remember the meme when he was flying above and sh.. on the American people? That tells us all we need to know about how he will treat Americans desire for a true celebration that doesn’t involve a focus on his ego.
Two years ago, I was really looking forward to July 4th this year. I won’t be alive for the 300th. Maybe all of us wise elders can make a commitment to do whatever we can to see that there is a 300th anniversary for America as a democracy.
Counterprogramming for Trump’s garish 4th—Commitment to restoring democracy ceremonies in every town across America.
I had a fantastic AP US History teacher my junior year in high school -- for about 6 weeks.
He was 24 years old and had avoided the draft by going to college. Out of all of the wonderful teachers and professors I was privileged to have, he was definitely top 10.
Of course our fucking military, thought that we would be better served by having him learn how to crawl on his belly through the mud and shoot a gun, than to teach a bunch of high school kids US history so he was drafted in the Fall of 1971 in the 3rd to the last draft.
His replacement was a joke who was more or less drafted himself as our teacher. We learned almost nothing about US History from him.
After basic training our teacher returned to meet with all of his classes. He told us about the idiocy of the Army trainers and how they lied to them and treated them like shit.
And like Trump's retribution tour, I want the conscription to return so we can shame the sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters and nieces and nephews of the Congresscritters and Senators into serving. Barron, Tiffany, Kai get your affairs in order, we're coming for you.
I'm a big fan of some sort of "universal service" for ALL young people. Could be working in hospitals, building infrastructure...or the Marines. Something in the way of contribution and working alongside people from different cultures. A lot of my stereotypes and prejudices fell away in the 70's by bunking with guys from around the country.
I remember the cascading loss of "deferments". At first, I thought I would be safe as a college student, then as a father. Then they started coming for us all. I ended up in the Army National Guard. Such units were just beginning to be called up as my 6 year stint was expiring. I literally dodged a bullet. But, I think we might have moved to Canada if my unit was activated. Not sure. Desertion is a big deal. But so is killing innocent Vietnamese.
Wow! What a story! Never read so detailed an introduction to US. Thank you, Professor. May it give us courage at this moment for the work we have ahead. Somehow the tories (mafia) must be sent out of town and country.
I have seen or been aware of a ton of movies about WWII, and a few about the Civil War, but very few, and not so much in evidence, movies about the Revolutionary War, and the founding of our system of government. Strange, is it not, when you think about it?
Perhaps it has something to do with how, in the past, our founding history has been packaged? I mean, it's not due to any actual fact lack of drama, novelty, or passion; and it is materially relevant to our lives today.
See if you can get your hands on a copy of The Crossing, an A&E movie from 2000, starring Jeff Daniels as Washington. It’s got a few historical issues (like putting Alexander Hamilton on Washington’s staff earlier than he actually was) but for capturing the essence of what Washington’s army was facing in December 1776 it is absolutely first-rate. I showed it to my 8th grade U.S. history classes every year and they were transfixed.
Must do shoutout to my first history book. Maybe it was second grade. Drawing of Nathan Hale, American spy, caught by British, about to be hanged: “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
Probably saw it the same year as Pearl Harbor. Can never forget either.
By now, we're familiar with the beginning of Thomas Paine's "American Crisis:" "These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot, will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the thanks of man and woman."
Another passage struck me today. I thought it was applicable, so I've changed one term -- Tory -- in Paine's text to another one familiar in today's discourse.
"And what is a MAGA? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with an hundred Whigs against a thousand MAGA, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every MAGA is a coward, for a servile slavish, self-interested fear, is the foundation of MAGA: and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, can never be brave."
The last part of the last line regarding cruelty vs bravery is so bitingly accurate. That distinction is so clear in everything from their legislation to the behavior of ICE in any given American city. Astonishing how words written centuries ago still tell the tale best.
Same here...both knees. Please know that surgery is just the first step. Without rigorous post-op physical therapy, the results will not be the best. Then stay active. Joint replacements perform best for those who stay active...well documented.
Cheeto: Leader of Nothing But His Own Self Interests
One gets apoplectic when MSM(mainstream media) casually depicts Cheeto as “leader of the free world” What fabricated gibberish is that? Consciously or unconsciously admitted Cheeto is far from a leader of anything but his own immoral crazed sociopathic self who pretends to make decisions for the country but in actuality is only making decisions that make him $$$
As his term wears on, one would consider that the adept and insightful Canadian PM Carney is precise in saying that Cheeto has created a “new world order” which places the US in the middle of the pack just like all the other countries and that America has become an also ran, like it or not In other words, Cheeto is a leader of nothing but himself His self aggrandizement has done and will do nothing for the world let alone his own country which he carelessly and fascistically wants to control
So stop calling this POS “leader of the free world” It’s just an egregious insult to any sane viewer of this American president Day by day Cheeto continues to show us and the rest of the world that he is not a leader Just a self obsessed lunatic like Hitler
My politically involved Canadian son-in-law (who is visiting) tells me that Americans are unaware of the extent to which Canada is seeking to establish new long term partnerships with other nations that offer more reliable relationships than its involvements with the USA have proved to be.
Much of the northern and Alaska border would be a nightmare to build a wall on. I would think North Dakota might have some of the easiest wall building area compared to say Montana, Idaho or the UP in Michigan. What say you Craig?
In the Handmaid’s Tale, Canada was a refuge for Americans and they helped to “liberate” us from the “White Christian nationalists” who instituted a repressive male hierarchy.
We can be grateful that our neighboring nation can see the light. Carney’s message of a “rupture” in the world must be taken seriously.
Canada's leadership wisely received Trump's "terrifying message" early on. They could no longer trust their once close friend. They are wise and have been working to protect themselves, their country and their people.
Canada cannot trust their once close "friend"! What a horrible realization!
Our allies no doubt are horrified about the sledgehammer Trump and his accomplices have taken to the international order, but at the same time many of them are not displeased at the opportunity it presents to get out from under the US’s often crude dominance.
Deborah, in the same way my elders tried to convince me that evangelicalism is the only path to righteousness, my elders tried to convince me that U.S. dominance is the only path to world peace. On both counts, my elders were wrong.
I look forward to the day when U.S. citizens accept that we are average, not exceptional; that we have many good points and many problems that must be corrected; that other nations have found better solutions to problems and we could learn from their experiences; that we are fellow travelers and not saviors.
I long for the U.S. to be a neighbor, not an enforcer.
You are right, Dr. Bill. "Leader of the free world"?? He thinks NATO should obey him and supply warships to Hormuz. Why should they do that when "Leader" didn't even bother to consult NATO countries before beginning his illegal "excursion" (as he called it -- but he is so ignorant he can't express himself properly...).
Trump would be a doofus if this illegal war wasn't tragic. We all know what Trump is.
Do you suppose they rented oxen and draft horses to move the cannons? My sixth great grandparents were in the Berkshires by 1776, some family had been scouts during the French and Indian war. What a wilderness that must have been!
Bravery, devotion to duty, to something bigger than "self" is the reason "why" as did those men who came off the ships into waters that swallowed some of their buddies up before even reaching the French shores. Patriots followed even as they saw their beloved brothers die...they went forward towards likely death...BUT the fight for freedom was more important. They pledged their lives so that their loved ones at home and abroad could live in FREEDOM. They went forward for those who gave their all and did not return to their loved ones.
War is exchanging one "hell" so that loved ones do NOT have to live in another "hell".
God bless the families who have lost/sacrificed loved ones in this senseless war in Iran following the orders of our so called "President" and his bandit sons who have never "broken a nail" for this country or any other countries they can use/deceive and rob!!!!
I had no idea that March 17th had any other significance than St. Patrick's Day. Your historical context makes me even more proud to be Irish-American!!!
Recently traced my ancestors to Revolutionaries from Gloucester and Newton, I did my medical training in Boston while living in Brookline. I never knew downtown Boston was only connected by a spit. It is a great city and a fun one to visit with lots of historical walks and museums. Thank you for this insight into our spirited patriots, in the true sense of the word.
My first ancestors went to Goucester also. When the revolution began their half of the family changed their name from Wallis (English) to Wallace to make sure no one would think they were Tories. The other half went to Canada where they remained.
Some of them participated in the tea dumping. Though I grieve for the Indians, some of my Wallis’ were murdered by the Indians. It was a sparsely populated area. Vulnerability was for both Indians and settlers.
Gloucester the town that has the statue of something and a church with a bell for those lost at sea? Did Captain Courageous take place there the book or the film? And Cape Verde. Many seamen came from there and in the film one can see part of the crew as African or African American.
Most of my wife's ancestors came to the colonies in the 1600's or early 1700's except for the Native American ancestors. She had ancestors that fought for both sides during the Revolutionary War. How many generations does one need to be in a country before you say they are English, Irish, Swedish, etc.? She tells people she is American.
One of the lessons Heather, Ken Burns and others who write and chronicle this seminal moment in our history teach us is how rapidly opinions, moods and sentiments have shifted in our past, with obvious implications for how they will do so again.
In 1774, Joseph Galloway, head of Pennsylvania's delegation to the First Continental Congress declaimed that "I have looked for our rights in the Laws of Nature" but "could not find them" yet asserted that he did find them "in the Constitution of the English Government" (a quote mistakenly given to Benjamin Franklin during the HBO mini-series "John Adams" in 2008). It was the Loyalist argument against independence for Pennsylvania (or any other part of Britain) seceding from the whole.
Two years later, that sentiment had all but vanished, given the clumsiness of both King and Parliament in trying to prevent the natural birth of a new society. When another delegate in 1776 yelled "God Damn the King!" at hearing Britain's refusal even to consider the Olive Branch Petition, Benjamin Franklin retorted: "God bless the King! No one else could have brought us together so!"
Struggle has always been required to change hearts and minds, yet is almost always aided by the stupidity of leaders who push their own followers toward a state of open rebellion. The comparisons are obvious: we are soon approaching such a moment once more. Let us be ready for it when it comes.
So many times while reading your "letters," I have thought, oh, if only I had had a history teacher like this in Junior High and High School.......better late than never.
"Little love lost between the Boston colonists and the soldiers newly arrived from England...."
In all places at all times, in virtually every country on earth, people generally prefer to be ruled by their own councils and governments -- even if badly -- than surrender to the whims or bombs of a foreign power who comes as thief and occupier, making up one pretense after another to explain why war or occupation arrives on their shores.
Wise people -- those who actually think about the consequences of their behavior, those who spend sleepless nights contemplating the what-ifs of war *before* launching one -- don't need to be reminded of this. Yet it never once crosses the minds of deranged, shrieking idiots.
Alas, it is the shrieking idiots who hold power in our current government, put into power by other idiots.
True, but if those of us, for whom this nation was built, stand together and deny the rule of the incompetent, evil people in government at this time, we can revert to a nation that offers prosperity to all. It can be done, but only if we safeguard our elections from the traitors who know they will not prevail and will do everything to cheat to stay in power. It really is up to us to protect what so many people have died for in the past...our freedom. Let's get it done.
Our existential issue is now with the TrumpTories. They must be vanquished before any other nation can trust us again
I have doubt any country will trust us again in my lifetime.
At 83, I won't see it happen.
Can't "like "that Nancy. Wish there was a button that could convey "I feel you, sister!"
Perhaps, we'll be able to witness, the New Nuremberg Trials of this 47th cabinet and staff. That's my wish and I am just a few years shy of your age...it keeps me alive with HOPE!
We need to elect a President anchored in reality
Amen! I hope we can live to see that day! However, for me it is doubtful! I am not sure I want to live that long!
We can choose a nation that offers prosperity to all
WE MUST!
⬆️👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I certainly hope that Democrats pound the message that the DOGE cuts ended up costing us all, and all those programs could be funded by the ridiculously obscene price of this needless war!!
Amen!!!!
Let's hope the midterms take place without trump's intervention to subvert them, and that the 30% who still support trump will crawl out of their disillusion, disconnection with the rest of society and experience a moment of moral honesty and stand up for decency and relinquish their support for trump's totalitarian ambitions.
A lot can and will happen between now and the midterms. Trump is acting out dangerously because he knows the jig is just about up.
Wee need more than hope. The elections in '26 and '28 are not a given, despite the disapproval of Trump. As it says in front of the Massachusetts statehouse, "Vigilance, the eternal price of liberty." And the willingness to act.
Protests do send a message but they are not strong enough to bring about a change as attested to by the story of the Revolution. More action is required.
Self-obsessed scoundrels with a crap-ton of money, that is never, NEVER, enough.
Trump promised wealth to the non-oligarchs and he has failed to deliver on a single promise. He has hung his hat on the belief that if you tell a lie or lies often enough people will believe him rather than their own eyes and ears.
Will the non-oligarchs who have received nothing from Trump except empty promises and lies, ever turn against him? Help is not coming so join the rest of us protesting and working against him.
Those non-oligarchs who accepted Trump’s promises are just as lacking in morals as the oligarchs….the same apart from the $$$$$. People of no character and no account.
What can you and I and other ordinary folks have that is always beyond the billionaires? Enough.
⬆️🎯
But we both repeat ourselves....
But neither of you explain how the "what-ifs of war *before* launching one" could ever cross the "mind" of a deranged, shrieking idiot when his head is essentially an Orange Basketball with a Golden Meringue Pie on top. It has no mind but only pressurized air, a "windbag." If it could think it would know the only way to open the Strait of Hormuz is to send Barron with ICE to fight off those Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. I am serious.
Hey, I'm all in for sending Tiffany and Kai as well.
Didn’t you hear? He just had surgery for a bone spur!
I heard someone say he was too tall. David Robinson was 6'11" and went into the Navy. I think he could work it out, otherwise, they could remove a few inches from each leg.
…and to them ..it is time to realign having seen the truth no other way than lies cast and friends murdered ..to stand for the country we wish to declare again FREE OF KINGS whether imagined wanna be’s or elected by such folly.
Hear! Hear! True Patriots🫶
Tell that to the Native Americans those brave freedom-fighting Founding Fathers forcibly evicted from their land just as soon as the British had bunked off.
This image adorns one of my very-well-worn T-shirts. Granted, I don’t wear it through TSA or when dealing with MAGA-infiltrated bureaucracies.
https://peaceproject.com/wp-content/uploads/PC93-Homeland_Security_fighting_terrorism_since_1492-Postcard-603x400.jpg
Thank You! Sent to my Native relatives.
Love it!
I’ve personally gone through 2 of these shirts. On my third now.
I have that same shirt
Where can I buy a few? And I do NOT "do" Amazon.
Pass it on: Don't do Amazon.
Good thinking. ☺️
Wow! Excellent!!
I love that! And so true!
If you have not seen it, I recommend Ken Burns's 'American Revolution."
Surprisingly solid documentary that includes many of the injustices of the European colonists regarding Native Americans, African slaves and others.
I disagree with your assessment that Ken Burn’s documentary “The American Revolution” is “surprisingly solid”. I am a sustaining member of my state PBS affiliate SDPB and have been an avid fan of Ken Burns for decades. The only one of his documentaries I have not watched is the one about jazz, a music genre that agitates my ear drums and my cranial grey matter. As a lover of human history world wide, and colonial America in particular, his work, and Rick Steves European travel shows, always present a buffet of historical facts for me to nosh on.
Ken was a guest on “The View” today. His documentaries put flesh on the bones of many aspects of American history. He worked on The American Revolution for 10 years. I enjoyed all six episodes, but the first episode, covering our nation’s history, warts and all, from the early 1600’s until the years leading up to the war of independence and beyond, is an incredibly accurate, all encompassing gathering of facts, Masterpiece. It’s just a damn shame that so many of today’s voters don’t know the real facts about how and why the United States of America came into being.
(there are many, many facets to jazz, Nyleen. I don't want this to become a thread so I'll briefly recommend Keith Jarrett's, Koln concert...if you'd like, PM me and I can suggest more that you might enjoy)
Agreed! I’m sure Isaac can give you a great list of very listenable albums.
Here are a few of mine: In addition to Jarrett’s solo piano (especially his concert encores), try his Standards series with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. Also Jarrett’s Jarrett/Garbarek "My Song" and "Belonging". Also check out other albums by Jan Garbarek (including the astonishing Officium), Mari Boine, Anouar Brahem, Pat Metheny...
And please do give Miles Davis’ "Kind of Blue" a try.
i prob should have just PMd her to make suggestions if i didn't want this to become a thread and distract from the main topics...? will do that next time...
I, too, have read several reviews which were quite negative re Burn's documentary, including one from a legal scholar I know, who noted a number of inaccuracies and the complaint that it focused too much on one battle after another, while leaving out other important characters and events.
history is, unfortunately, a game of telephone...how often does an accurate message reach the end of the circle...?
I was repeating what I read. Frankly, I found the series rather boring, because the concentration was on military strategy, and paintings which depicted same. But I watched it until the end.
Indeed. Native Americans were "used" by both sides. The documentary should be required viewing in every U.S. school. The complexity of the rebellion and war are on full display in stark contrast to the simplistic versions presented in history classes.
I suspect all here would have been "Patriots" but some of the actions of these rebels were despicable. All should watch and learn. There were multiple points of view. It was not simple.
The "Manifest Destiny" driven usurpation of land was a driving force. Life is messy. The creation of "America" is a tale of greed, thievery and abuse. A fight for the freedom to pound our chests as we annexed a continent.
Maybe, some of the ghosts of that period are haunting us now....
Bill, I did not learn the true history of our country until I was in grad school and I am still learning along with my husband who is fortunate to have Lakota ancestry. We are in touch with some of them.
The tale of America is a mixed one. It blends both greed, thievery and abuse with startlingly generous concepts of freedom, liberty and freedom of conscience. You cannot lose sight of one for the other.
I know of no other government in history that not only fought secessionist traitors, but went to war to free a people from slavery, with hundreds of thousands of dead on both sides. I know of no other army that landed on Normandy, stormed through France, Belgium and Germany, liberating scores of concentration camps along the way, to free *other* people, not just themselves. Or another government that, on its own, launched the Marshall Plan to rebuild a destroyed continent, changing the rules of international conduct to prevent war in the future.
Something to consider.
Agree. The Ken Burns series is excellent. (from an Aussie couple!)
HI, Pete!👏🏼 Your name is new to me here. WELCOME to the herd! I love how our community is GROWING!
I have an Aussie I love dearly, my second. 🐶
Ken’s “The American Revolution” was not in any way surprising. His lifetime of documentaries reflect a lot of research and effort to get it right, watching his programs, even ones that I have a personal relationship with, always leave me with a better understanding of the material, which is always about America. He has become our national storyteller, and as someone who made movies for over 30 years, I honor his efforts. There will always be points of view that are not seen, that in no way detracts from his efforts. He made choices over and over during the 10 years that project was developing, never with the idea of hiding the truth, he is a truth teller at heart. I was in no way disappointed with his efforts, my hat’s off to the guy and everyone who worked with him on it. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙏
Also tell it to the African Americans who were classified as slaves in a race based system that has endured for more than 250 years. They represent generations originating from more than 4 million people who faced untold violence, rape and forced labor to build the country while families were separated.
These people (who according to law were property) were used as collateral to produce wealth for slaveholders’ families and the national economy. America has much to atone for including allowing a convicted felon to exert power over the world.
Gina, yes, slavery, genocide, and stolen land. This part of our foundation is what death star and the cabal seeks to erase.
They might get it out of our museums and school texts but they will never erase the effects of it from the souls of the abused, enslaved peoples and in the souls of us descended from abusers and enslavers, even it it was many generations ago.
No, they cannot. People have long memories.
"...just as soon as the British had bunked off."??? No! Being WOKE about the American Indian Wars you must begin by grasping that the concept of “property lines” came across the Atlantic from Europe. American Indians had no cultural experience of such cutting up the face of Mother Earth with fences. It was those European “settlements” where the forcible eviction of Native Americans all began. My getting old I sometimes do forget things but maybe you, Russell John Netto, know which European settlers were the worst. The killing began immediately upon their arrival in May 1607. They began building a fort rampart (a high fence) and named their town after their KING - James somebody, hence “Jamestown.” The American Founding Fathers told KING - George somebody, to stick it on July 4, 1776. But unfortunately what you learn first you learn best and the property line culture stuck deeply in the inherited culture of laws of the Founding Fathers. Perhaps it comes from John Locke’s views on the foundational natural rights of individuals: "life, liberty, and estate” (property).
Slavery and genocide are the original sins of this nation, and our inability to come to terms them, fully acknowledge wrongs and make them right, continues to hold us back. And both go a long way to explaining why we are where we are in this current moment. When this terrible time finally ends, we need to come clean and make this nation truly one where equal justice for all is the foundational principle above all others. Until we do history will continue repeating itself and our nation will never be its best self.
well...if you don't mind, Chris, i'd like to add the ongoing lack of respect for women. which may be THE original sin and a serious detriment to 'man'kind...not that women are not capable of heinous activities/possessing unhealthy qualities just like men...i wonder how many of those would've manifested if they were, throughout time, given the proper respect/acknowledgement? ps...i'm not saying this to gain admiration. i'm saying it because it couldn't be more obvious that it's the truth...and SOMEone should say it...
Isaac, this has gone on for millennia and thank you for saying it. I would say that males at the top have made everyone miserable. Many times if they won, they would kill all the males and take the women and children as slaves. I recently learned that women in ancient times were also malnourished as men got the meat and the most food. So when women became pregnant, they were at a disadvantage. Women should remember that it is relatively recent that they could vote here and have a credit card in their own name and any number of other things. I should add that I am reading about civilizations in the ancient middle east and western civilization in general.
it's part of why i never considered America a true democracy, Michele...a true democracy should be 'all inclusive'...maybe this is naive...or idealistic...but it's an ideal worth striving for...
we either outgrow what's holding us back or we will perish, eventually...
Since you were recommending music above, may I recommend a book that I think EVERYONE should read? It is FASCINATING!
"America's Women: 400 years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines" by Gail Collins
I have learned SO much from this book. Amazing how woman's roles have gone back and forth over the history of this country!
100% correct. White male supremacy, an ideology and social system deeply rooted in the slave economy, is the reason Trump won against Clinton and Harris. He is the least qualified candidate to ever run for the Presidency and those two women each are perhaps the most educated and experienced to ever run for the Presidency. As for the 2025 election, He is a convicted felon and Harris is a former Attorney General of the most populated State in the country.
Chris, Agreed. My husband also has Indian fighters as well as Native Americans in his maternal lineage. His grandmother knew about the Native American ancestry, but did not tell his mother who died before one of the cousins contacted us. On his paternal side, his grandmother had prejudice against both Native Americans and blacks. We were married in Sierra Leone while in the Peace Corps and she was afraid I was black. When she finally met me, she commented that I could not have fit into his mother's wedding dress. I was amused; he was furious. And I was much thinner then. He nicknamed her Bogrumpus.
Those that weren't massacred...if you're to establish a 'new nation', those that want to should be included...
..the truth be told, the past uncovered…but theirs is a nation that stood the tests of time …grand reverence to the mother , elegant in traditions, music, and that which we can all learn from ….patience.
It's really hard to absorb that our great country is being ruled by a combination of rapacious scoundrels like Stephen Miller and JD Vance and Media mongers like those on FOX News and "influencers" like Laura Loomer.
One might fairly ask: "How has our nation been brought so low?"
And one answer would be: by the power of the almighty $$$$. And we can thank the Roberts' Courts' misguided and evil Citizens United ruling in 2010 for ensuring that the "Haves" have more and the "Have Nots" stay that way.
Citizens United tilted the scales in favor of wealthy corporate interests but that didn't create the problem. Big Money in US politics has been a problem for...well probably forever. It's a problem that's never been addressed effectively.
Yes, but with "Corporations are People" and Elon Musk being personally able to spend over $250mio on electing DJT, I think it is fair to say that our democracy is not at all as our founders' envisioned.
Swbv-IMHO the “founders” would likely have been in favor of corporations as people. They certainly didn’t mind people as property.
No, I doubt that very much. Imagine Chief Justice John Marshall in 1801, holding The East India Co., which owned those three ships loaded with tea in Boston Harbor in 1773, is a person with equal protection of the laws. The Court probably would have been tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail by the Sons of Liberty. I discuss all of this in my Memorandum w/ a model amendment at UnitedWeAmend.org.
Donna-It’s possible that if America had truly a participatory democracy in the beginning our history, present and future would be so different. The decision to establish a capitalistic system that depends on exploiting labor, disenfranchising voters and dividing people by skin color, gender and religion is haunting us now.
Yes. Imagine if we'd let Native Americans have a say!
The Evil Citizens United doctrine (Court created B.S.) is based upon another doctrine created in 1886, known today as corporate personhood. It began in Santa “Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company”, 118 US 394 (hereinafter, “Santa Clara”). The Court arrogantly refused to hear arguments against its decision of one of the most important matters to ever come before the Court, whether the Equal Protection Clause secures a corporation as a person with equal protection of the laws. Moreover, it dared not leave any analysis of the facts, legal issues, applicable laws or any citations of case law supporting its decision (there was none), or any explanation whatsoever that guided its publication of its decision written as a mere headnote of a case decided on a totally different issue. That headnote reads, “The Court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution which forbids a state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws applies to these corporations. We are all of opinion that it does.” In all truth, the Fourteenth Amendment was a direct response to the Court’s 1857, holding in “Dred Scott v. Sandford”, 60 U.S. 393 (hereinafter, “Dred Scott”) which pushed America into Civil War. In “Dred Scott" the Court held that Mr. Scott, a person, was property with no rights. In “Santa Clara” the Court held that a corporation, property, is a person with rights. The court has a sick obsession with "property." I discuss all that plus a remedy in my Memorandum to We the people at UnitedWeAmend.org.
I read through your excellent document rather quickly (and your biography as well… an interesting, but challenging life story, you have done very well for many people). One conclusion for me is that “Citizens United” is all BS, (as I have always thought) but to learn more of the racist beginnings was enlightening and makes me even more angry. It’s a twisted conclusion on the basics of humanity. Corporations are not people, they are a group of people with a common purpose (primarily to make money - though some may have altruistic motives as well) who want to have the “freedom” to circumvent regulatory controls that protect society from such pesky things as environmental pollution, worker safety (think of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911), etc. Citizens United makes a group of people with a common purpose (corporations) and magnifies their interests over individual’s rights primarily through wealth of the corporations (their ability to “buy” political power) but also because of their power over their workers. All this weakens democracy and the power of “We the people.”
Thank you for reading my Memorandum. You sure have clear grasp of what is going on here. It goes far beyond only that one Court doctrine of Citizens United. In my model amendment at the end I address over two dozen holes which the corporatist fascist Courts have punched into our Constitution since the end of the Civil War. We must Unite to win back control of the Federal government and to Amend our Constitution. Please download the posters and use them at the No Kings march. Again, My Thanks.
Albert, very useful legal background apparently shoring up the law’s bending in whatever way supports those with money.
Yep. After the Revolutionary War within Massachusetts farmers like Minuteman Captain Daniel Shays, who served under George Washington at the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga, the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill, both Battles of Saratoga, and later the Battle of Stony Point was, as were many heroes like him, forced into financial ruin from high taxes, creditors and the courts which were sentencing people to debtors’ prisons. An uprising involving approximately 4,000 farmers and veterans ensued. Captain Shays led armed groups to close State courthouses from August 1786 to February 1787, thus stopping the foreclosures of farms. The United States government had no standing army to help Massachusetts quash what came to be known as “Shays’ Rebellion.” In May, after the snow melted, a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia drafted our current Constitution. I suppose those who attended the Convention had some money. The preamble states that its purpose is to guarantee “domestic tranquility.” The U.S. Constitution guarantees domestic peace in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, declares: “... the President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States...” So if any former Minutemen try to close the banks in their State they will face the guns of the U.S. Army. I discuss all this in my Memorandum and close with model amendment language which would create a more perfect union in a way that "perfect" means "We the People," not only white land owning adult males.
Thom hartmann taught me about that too
It really began with the lying Nixon and the worse Reagan.
The Nixon era included the Powell Memo. That is the guide still in use today by the corporatst fascist to takeover the country. Part of the plot is the creation of think tanks and public speakers to sell the BS of those "thinkers." One think tank grew as The Heritage Foundation whose policies included the “Mandate for Leadership”, a 3,000 page blueprint for the incoming administration of President Ronald Reagan. His often-used phrase “get the government off of our backs” is directly related to that report and it means deregulations and lowering taxes of the rich and powerful corporations. Nixon appointed Powell to the Supreme Court. Powell later wrote the opinion which the Roberts' 5 based the Citizens United opinion upon. The tile of the Powell Memo is “Attack On American Free Enterprise System”. In my Memorandum I answer, Yes, there certainly is. The American Revolution, now in its 250th year, is a war challenging The System.
Swbv, the Roberts Court has certainly contributed to our problems. However, death star and the cabal speak to the many prejudices that some people have. Carte blanche for being their worst ugliest selves.
'''What Gives Americans Hope''
What gives Americans hope is not the fantasy that authoritarian ambition will politely disappear, but the hard American truth that it has been resisted before. Hope does not come from denial. It does not come from pretending anti-democratic movements are harmless, or that power always corrects itself. It comes from history, memory, and the repeated proof that ordinary people can resist concentrated power when they act with courage, discipline, and solidarity.
That is one of the central lessons of the American founding. The struggle against British rule was not won by wishful thinking, nor by one heroic figure alone. It was carried by citizens, printers, laborers, soldiers, organizers, and communities that refused permanent subordination. They faced a global empire and still discovered that entrenched power has limits when people withdraw their consent and stand together.
That lesson matters now. Americans today are not confronting a king, but many are confronting a political movement that admires domination, mocks restraint, and treats democracy as an inconvenience. When leaders flirt with dictatorship, threaten opponents, and speak of public institutions as personal instruments, citizens have every reason to be alarmed. But alarm is not surrender.
Democracy does not live only in the Oval Office, or in the hands of billionaires, party machines, and media demagogues. It also lives in the habits of a free people. It lives in voters who refuse intimidation, judges who honor the Constitution, public servants who do their jobs honestly, journalists who keep telling the truth, teachers who preserve civic memory, and organizers who keep building coalitions strong enough to resist fear.
Hope, then, is not optimism. It is not passivity. It is not the shallow belief that everything will somehow be fine. Hope is civic discipline. It is the refusal to normalize corruption, cruelty, political violence, or contempt for constitutional order. It is the decision to keep showing up because self-government is still worth defending.
Authoritarian movements depend on surrender, silence, and exhaustion. They need people to believe resistance is useless. They need cynicism. They need despair. A democratic people does not have to give them those victories.
What gives Americans hope is what has always given hope in dangerous times: the capacity of ordinary citizens to see clearly, stand together, and hold the line. That is how a republic survives. That is how democracy endures. And that is why the American story is not finished yet.
I don't think the story of the United States of America will ever stop being written, and it shouldn't be.
It is not a fairy tale, nor a scary tale, it is the blunt reality of humanity oft times acting inhumanely. With introspection, honest observation, and an unyielding will to do better, we can persevere and continue the experiment of a democratic republic. Participation is power - stay informed and engaged.
! ! ! YES ! ! ! Michael Cortell. So well expressed. Thank you.
It’s going to take a lot of courage to withhold taxes, but doesn’t it boil down to the fact that is what we have to do?
Capturing a fort 300 miles away and transporting its cannon to surround Boston and force the British out would be a mighty feat today with modern transportation. Yet it was conceived and carried out 250 years ago by people from various colonies working together. We have a Congress of one country that cannot cooperate to rein in one tyrant attacking people and countries around the globe ruining our reputation and the peace of the world. Modern communication has misled people into thinking they know what is happening based on lies and misplaced loyalty. The 18th century patriots were not perfect and their treatment of slaves and native cultures is a precursor to our problem activities today. But they worked together to overcome the world’s mightiest armed force and one man rule. Now we need to break out of our daily routines to control our own armed forces and stop following the demented whims of an aging tyrant supported by men of unbelievable wealth and sycophants with evil agendas. We need to pull up our patriotic socks and work together to reclaim and improve our national purpose. Vote Blue.
Janis-Too bad people didn’t want to embrace Hillary Clinton’s slogan that “we’re stronger together”. We can’t keep letting them divide us based on superficial differences. We need to highlight more of the stories like the one HCR told today about how people can come together even when a task seems impossible.
He counts on the ignorance of his cult followers.
When you have one autocrat who has no values in common with most of humanity who are these morons supposed to follow. They actually think the Republican Party of Reagan still exists.
It's not like he 'created' them, though...they were there already...he just gave them a prominent voice...so what will become of THEM in this 'new nation' some are proposing?
And on us to lack sufficient purpose, and unity. Guessing purpose will be routinely offered up at some point.
We realize you could also be speaking of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Venezuela, or multiple other countries.
When will we learn that democracy cannot be successfully shoved down the throats of people, especially when those doing the shoving are widely known as coarse and ignorant bullies.
Those who don't study history......
Human nature existed before a word of history was ever written...and who usually gets to write history?
Must we take up arms again? 💪💪💪 Declare in 4 months the liberation needed for NewAmerica..and banish the Torrids ..those aligning with/proclaiming “the hottest country “?
Howe rather fitting , to dump the ‘T’ in effigy, correct?
Thank you Professor. Always. ❤️☮️🌻🇺🇸
The British Army in Boston
By Todd W. Braisted
Dear Professor, I know the American Revolution is not your time period. This article states that only 2000 British soldiers arrived after the Boston Tea Party. The figure of 10,000 sounded suspect to me, because I know how cheap the British were. They didn't want to go to expense of sending any more soldiers than were absolutely necessary. Later on, this policy of economy led to the description of British colonial armies as the Thin Red Line.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/british-army-boston
And now we have a modern-day Tory in not red but big butt Orange face assemble traitor waiting for the Traitor’s inglorious ending. He scraped together just enough supporting official-like government trash with no shame to speak of. And they too shall reach an inglorious end. How did this poison seep into the body politic is anyone’s guess but it shall soon be exorcised.
Rally and march on March 28
''What Gives Americans Hope on Evacuation Day: A Revolutionary Lesson for Resisting Authoritarian Rule Today''
On Evacuation Day, Americans should remember that concentrated power is not invincible. The British retreat from Boston in 1776 still offers a democratic lesson for our own time: ordinary citizens, acting with courage and resolve, can resist domination, defend self-government, and force arrogant power to yield.... >> https://essayx.substack.com/p/what-gives-americans-hope-on-evacuation
Braisted's article notes 2,000 in early 1775.
His article later states:
"Throughout 1774 and into 1775, thousands of British troops, led by General Thomas Gage would take over the city, putting them on a collision course with revolutionary fervor both in town and the countryside."
Note that Prof. Richardson did not say that there were 10,000 troops quartered in Boston in early 1775.
Heather notes the same buildup that Braisted noted, following the Tea Party, until the evacuation in March 1776.
Both are correct if you follow the progression of history and the year-long buildup following the Tea Party that Lord Howe and General Gage thought would be sufficient to suppress the Patriots.
Heather writes:
"After the Patriots had thrown more than 300 chests of valuable tea into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, to protest Parliament’s claim that it had the right to tax the colonists without their consent, officials from the British government had set out to make the Patriots do as they were told.
They sent 10,000 soldiers and their families to Boston, ..."
I assumed that she meant that 10,000 soldiers were sent soon after the Boston Tea Party. When reading the historical account, one assumes that events are presented in chronological order unless something is clearly marked as a summary. Every other event in the article flows in a chronological order.
Later, she points out that 4500 additional troops were sent. This seems to imply a total of 14,500. That would be a larger number of soldiers than were ever gathered in one place during the entire Revolutionary War!
You can read "soon" into it if you want, but that's what you infer and hence assume, not what Prof. Richardson wrote.
In fact ~10,000, built up in the year following the Tea Party, occupied Boston between December 1773 and February 1776.
Braisted definitely does not say that only 2,000 occupied Boston when the March 1776 evacuation took place.
Braisted's reference to 2,000 appears to be even earlier, ca. 1768.
"Things remained thus until 1768, when an attack on customs commissioners in town led Major General Thomas Gage in New York to order British troops to Boston.
"The first troops would be the 14th and 29th Regiments of Foot, along with the Grenadier Company of the 59th and some Royal Artillery. These troops were already in North America. A further two regiments, the 64th and 65th, would be ordered from Ireland to supplement them. This total force would be under 2,000 officers and men, but it was hoped the mere presence of armed soldiers would dissuade mobs and enforce royal authority. Ironically, the first enforcement of royal authority would be administered on Richard Ames, a private of the 14th Regiment, who was executed for desertion by firing squad in front of the regiments then in town."
Keine gut tat, bleibt ungestraft.
Interesting link thanks
''What Gives Americans Hope on Evacuation Day: A Revolutionary Lesson for Resisting Authoritarian Rule Today''
On Evacuation Day, Americans should remember that concentrated power is not invincible. The British retreat from Boston in 1776 still offers a democratic lesson for our own time: ordinary citizens, acting with courage and resolve, can resist domination, defend self-government, and force arrogant power to yield.... >> https://essayx.substack.com/p/what-gives-americans-hope-on-evacuation
What magnificent stories of patience and determination and ingenuity! These are the stories that should be told as part of a joyous national celebration of the 250th anniversary of our democracy's birth.
My wish for the 300th anniversary year in 2076 is that my daughter and all our children and grandchildren will have that kind of tribute as they remember our beginnings and our fight now.
We are the patriots of today, ordinary people who are committed to action against a tyrant.
And no, I will not be watching the cage fights on the White House lawn next to the hole in the ground on July 4, 2026.
As a reminder of what Trump has planned for us: Garden of Heroes? Year-long traveling state fair? Patriot Games? Buildings patriotically decorated?
Oh wait, that must be why those giant banners with Trump's strongman face are starting to appear on federal buildings in DC. And the bronze statues of Trump and Epstein that appear on the mall must be the first of the statues in the Garden of Heroes. I was afraid Trump had forgotten about his Big Party!
But maybe he is very, very sad that no one came to his big military parade last year, and he has decided to cancel most of the festivities as a peevish retribution against the American people. That's why all those banners looking down on us have that stern disapproving look.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/07/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-previews-plans-for-the-grandest-celebration-of-americas-birthday/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/donald-trump-hangs-giant-glorious-leader-flag-with-his-own-face-on-federal-buildings/ar-AA1Lc1vJ
Yes. There is little more to add. We rally on March 28. Our Lexington and Concord forces are massing without out artillery.
I pray we won’t need arms.
I hope MLK was right and that peaceful protests will stop the insanity.
I am also hoping that Orban is voted out in Hungary as an example to MAGA and Trump and the oligarchs that authoritarians don’t stay in power forever.
But I am not sure whether it will motivate them to more suppression of dissent in the short run. Stephen Miller will certainly push for maximizing suppression out of sheer cruelty, as will Thiel, out of his weird ideology. Trump is a psychopath with no empathy or remorse whatsoever, so he will do whatever he thinks will save his skin.
Orban consolidated his power in a slow coup. Trump is moving much faster. Hence the worries.
The best way to commemorate our nation’s 250th birthday is with trump’s removal from office, be it through the 25th amendment or otherwise. I can only imagine the fireworks and celebrations worldwide when that day finally arrives.
Like the otherwise part. We need to take out the king
Excellent idea! At New Year's I watched the crystal-loaded ball drop at Times Square and hoped we'd be able to celebrate our liberation this July.
But that brings us rule by JD, who is so much more aligned with Peter Thiel and has drunk that madman’s Kool-Aid.
It will take until 2028 at the earliest to climb out of the pit we are in. But at least with majorities in both chambers, we can prevent further harm. But any new legislation will be vetoed. Republicans will try to sabotage everything in terms of repair and reform because their only chance of getting back in power will be to claim that a reform government was ineffectual.
Still one nemesis down should be a cause for jubiliation.
That's how they hope the cookie will crumble, but having lived through Watergate, I recall how Vice President Spiro Agnew folded when faced with corruption charges from his time in Maryland. Attorney General John Mitchell, Nixon aides Haldeman and Erlichman, John Dean, and Chuck Colson all went to jail along with 40 other government employes. Russell Vought is tied up with demolishing the Colorado facility that tracks climate change, and I hope those working there are gathering information to protect their work. The disintegration of our Constitutional, evidence based government that Vought trusts is inevitable is not. When we remember that, it gives us courage and resolve.
We were lucky that Agnew’s corruption was uncovered first, so that Nixon had to appoint someone with a decent reputation (Gerald Ford) as VP, and it wasn’t until almost a year later that Nixon resigned over Watergate. And then Ford pardoned Nixon for the good of the country.
The problem I see is that Vance was essentially paid in advance while working at Thiel’s hedge fund, and then Thiel donated heavily to Vance’s Senate campaign through a super PAC. On paper, Vance looks clean as a whistle when it comes to corruption scandals. All of the ideology he spews is “political speech”. After listening to John Oliver on Sunday night, Vance is upfront about lying “to make a point.”
If Trump and the bulk of his cabinet are impeached on corruption charges, Vance will still likely be left standing. And he gets to start with a new batch of cabinet officials who will likely be smarter than the clowns Trump picked. I don’t think Vance will kick out Miller and Vought—they have been extremely good at cranking up the cruelty and efficiently dismantling the social safety net and government agencies.
Vance is not impulsive like Trump, so he will switch to a slow coup like Orban crafted in Hungary. He will work hard to appear rational, reasonable, and sane, and he will say he is deeply, deeply saddened by Trump’s disintegration. All of the Epstein files will come out so Vance looks like he cares about justice, and he will see that prosecutions start under a reformed DOJ and FBI. He will be playing to people’s sense of relief and lean into the story of Trump’s dementia. I can just see Vance now pardoning Trump for the good of the country.
Well said, Georgia; damn well said; exceptionally well said. Thank you.
Yes sir.
Look for a new dollar coin featuring Trump on Mount Rushmore. Tories will buy them and then stamp prison bars over the Trump image.
Georgia-Remember the meme when he was flying above and sh.. on the American people? That tells us all we need to know about how he will treat Americans desire for a true celebration that doesn’t involve a focus on his ego.
Agree 100%
And to bring to fruition a whole nation dedicated to the proposition that all human beings are created equal with respect to fundamental human rights.
Yes Georgia and the 300th anniversary will be honoured with dignity and not a race car rally down Pennsylvania Ave.
Two years ago, I was really looking forward to July 4th this year. I won’t be alive for the 300th. Maybe all of us wise elders can make a commitment to do whatever we can to see that there is a 300th anniversary for America as a democracy.
Counterprogramming for Trump’s garish 4th—Commitment to restoring democracy ceremonies in every town across America.
What action should be taken??
Remove the king!
If only history were taught this way when I went to school... Bravo!
I had a fantastic AP US History teacher my junior year in high school -- for about 6 weeks.
He was 24 years old and had avoided the draft by going to college. Out of all of the wonderful teachers and professors I was privileged to have, he was definitely top 10.
Of course our fucking military, thought that we would be better served by having him learn how to crawl on his belly through the mud and shoot a gun, than to teach a bunch of high school kids US history so he was drafted in the Fall of 1971 in the 3rd to the last draft.
His replacement was a joke who was more or less drafted himself as our teacher. We learned almost nothing about US History from him.
After basic training our teacher returned to meet with all of his classes. He told us about the idiocy of the Army trainers and how they lied to them and treated them like shit.
And like Trump's retribution tour, I want the conscription to return so we can shame the sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters and nieces and nephews of the Congresscritters and Senators into serving. Barron, Tiffany, Kai get your affairs in order, we're coming for you.
I'm a big fan of some sort of "universal service" for ALL young people. Could be working in hospitals, building infrastructure...or the Marines. Something in the way of contribution and working alongside people from different cultures. A lot of my stereotypes and prejudices fell away in the 70's by bunking with guys from around the country.
I remember the cascading loss of "deferments". At first, I thought I would be safe as a college student, then as a father. Then they started coming for us all. I ended up in the Army National Guard. Such units were just beginning to be called up as my 6 year stint was expiring. I literally dodged a bullet. But, I think we might have moved to Canada if my unit was activated. Not sure. Desertion is a big deal. But so is killing innocent Vietnamese.
Yep. That's why I'm here. Glad to find a kindred spirit.
Wow! What a story! Never read so detailed an introduction to US. Thank you, Professor. May it give us courage at this moment for the work we have ahead. Somehow the tories (mafia) must be sent out of town and country.
I have seen or been aware of a ton of movies about WWII, and a few about the Civil War, but very few, and not so much in evidence, movies about the Revolutionary War, and the founding of our system of government. Strange, is it not, when you think about it?
Perhaps it has something to do with how, in the past, our founding history has been packaged? I mean, it's not due to any actual fact lack of drama, novelty, or passion; and it is materially relevant to our lives today.
See if you can get your hands on a copy of The Crossing, an A&E movie from 2000, starring Jeff Daniels as Washington. It’s got a few historical issues (like putting Alexander Hamilton on Washington’s staff earlier than he actually was) but for capturing the essence of what Washington’s army was facing in December 1776 it is absolutely first-rate. I showed it to my 8th grade U.S. history classes every year and they were transfixed.
Thankful here for passionate teachers of history…no greater calling!!
Thank you, thank you…Heidi Rothschild and HCR!
Thank you, Jane! There are a lot of us out there!
There's also "The Patriot," released in 2000. It's heavily focused on the contributions of militiamen.
JL here's a list of Revolutionary War movies-
https://www.ranker.com/list/american-revolution-and-revolutionary-war-movies/harper-brooks
The TV Series "Washington's Spies" is good as well.
Did you read Johnny Tremain and then see the movie in middle school? It was required reading in our school district.
Our teacher read Johnny Tremain to us in installments.
Yep. https://youtu.be/ZNzApsp1ZSQ?si=JN-5z2sm7yMZhaUh
Must do shoutout to my first history book. Maybe it was second grade. Drawing of Nathan Hale, American spy, caught by British, about to be hanged: “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
Probably saw it the same year as Pearl Harbor. Can never forget either.
The least we can do is give a damn. More so even than place a country is people.
By now, we're familiar with the beginning of Thomas Paine's "American Crisis:" "These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot, will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the thanks of man and woman."
Another passage struck me today. I thought it was applicable, so I've changed one term -- Tory -- in Paine's text to another one familiar in today's discourse.
"And what is a MAGA? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with an hundred Whigs against a thousand MAGA, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every MAGA is a coward, for a servile slavish, self-interested fear, is the foundation of MAGA: and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, can never be brave."
The last part of the last line regarding cruelty vs bravery is so bitingly accurate. That distinction is so clear in everything from their legislation to the behavior of ICE in any given American city. Astonishing how words written centuries ago still tell the tale best.
Ken Burns series American Revolution also tells this story beautifully.
Agree, Barbara! I posted the link of the six episodes. Here it is, again:
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-revolution
Morning, Lynell and thanks for the link! I’ll settle back and watch it during my knee surgery recovery!
Ally,
May your knee surgery and recovery go well!!!!!
Ally, I’ve had two knee replacements. As long as you are faithful with your physical therapy, you’ll do fine.
Same here...both knees. Please know that surgery is just the first step. Without rigorous post-op physical therapy, the results will not be the best. Then stay active. Joint replacements perform best for those who stay active...well documented.
My best of wishes toward and all confidence in you for this, Ally.
Speedy recovery Ally!
Thank you Lynell!
Thank you, Lynell.
Thank you Lynell!
Thanks, Lynell.
Something every American should watch, a lot more complicated than what I was taught in school. I’m 83.
Way
Burns did a magnificent job telling the story of the American Revolutionary War. A must watch.
J. Busby,
I am so thankful for Ken Burnes. He has dedicated himself to the study and transmission of our history ie the awful and the amazing!!!!
Heather, I always learn so much from you. Amazing.
Thank you!!!
Hear, hear!
Praise for Heather's telling of our founding? Is this your criminal enterprise?
Cheeto: Leader of Nothing But His Own Self Interests
One gets apoplectic when MSM(mainstream media) casually depicts Cheeto as “leader of the free world” What fabricated gibberish is that? Consciously or unconsciously admitted Cheeto is far from a leader of anything but his own immoral crazed sociopathic self who pretends to make decisions for the country but in actuality is only making decisions that make him $$$
As his term wears on, one would consider that the adept and insightful Canadian PM Carney is precise in saying that Cheeto has created a “new world order” which places the US in the middle of the pack just like all the other countries and that America has become an also ran, like it or not In other words, Cheeto is a leader of nothing but himself His self aggrandizement has done and will do nothing for the world let alone his own country which he carelessly and fascistically wants to control
So stop calling this POS “leader of the free world” It’s just an egregious insult to any sane viewer of this American president Day by day Cheeto continues to show us and the rest of the world that he is not a leader Just a self obsessed lunatic like Hitler
My politically involved Canadian son-in-law (who is visiting) tells me that Americans are unaware of the extent to which Canada is seeking to establish new long term partnerships with other nations that offer more reliable relationships than its involvements with the USA have proved to be.
Be careful or Trump will build a wall along the long border and make Canada pay for it! (says a North Dakota boy.)
"They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists..." Those pesky Canadians!
Much of the northern and Alaska border would be a nightmare to build a wall on. I would think North Dakota might have some of the easiest wall building area compared to say Montana, Idaho or the UP in Michigan. What say you Craig?
In the Handmaid’s Tale, Canada was a refuge for Americans and they helped to “liberate” us from the “White Christian nationalists” who instituted a repressive male hierarchy.
We can be grateful that our neighboring nation can see the light. Carney’s message of a “rupture” in the world must be taken seriously.
J L Graham,
Canada's leadership wisely received Trump's "terrifying message" early on. They could no longer trust their once close friend. They are wise and have been working to protect themselves, their country and their people.
Canada cannot trust their once close "friend"! What a horrible realization!
Our allies no doubt are horrified about the sledgehammer Trump and his accomplices have taken to the international order, but at the same time many of them are not displeased at the opportunity it presents to get out from under the US’s often crude dominance.
Deborah, in the same way my elders tried to convince me that evangelicalism is the only path to righteousness, my elders tried to convince me that U.S. dominance is the only path to world peace. On both counts, my elders were wrong.
I look forward to the day when U.S. citizens accept that we are average, not exceptional; that we have many good points and many problems that must be corrected; that other nations have found better solutions to problems and we could learn from their experiences; that we are fellow travelers and not saviors.
I long for the U.S. to be a neighbor, not an enforcer.
You are right, Dr. Bill. "Leader of the free world"?? He thinks NATO should obey him and supply warships to Hormuz. Why should they do that when "Leader" didn't even bother to consult NATO countries before beginning his illegal "excursion" (as he called it -- but he is so ignorant he can't express himself properly...).
Trump would be a doofus if this illegal war wasn't tragic. We all know what Trump is.
James Axtell,
The unnecessary loss of life is real!!! ...just ask parents and spouses and their children!!!
As I am well aware.
Do you suppose they rented oxen and draft horses to move the cannons? My sixth great grandparents were in the Berkshires by 1776, some family had been scouts during the French and Indian war. What a wilderness that must have been!
What a fascinating family history.
Mercy Mercy Me,
Bravery, devotion to duty, to something bigger than "self" is the reason "why" as did those men who came off the ships into waters that swallowed some of their buddies up before even reaching the French shores. Patriots followed even as they saw their beloved brothers die...they went forward towards likely death...BUT the fight for freedom was more important. They pledged their lives so that their loved ones at home and abroad could live in FREEDOM. They went forward for those who gave their all and did not return to their loved ones.
War is exchanging one "hell" so that loved ones do NOT have to live in another "hell".
God bless the families who have lost/sacrificed loved ones in this senseless war in Iran following the orders of our so called "President" and his bandit sons who have never "broken a nail" for this country or any other countries they can use/deceive and rob!!!!
I had no idea that March 17th had any other significance than St. Patrick's Day. Your historical context makes me even more proud to be Irish-American!!!
Patriot's Day. No Kings gatherings on 3/28/26.
Recently traced my ancestors to Revolutionaries from Gloucester and Newton, I did my medical training in Boston while living in Brookline. I never knew downtown Boston was only connected by a spit. It is a great city and a fun one to visit with lots of historical walks and museums. Thank you for this insight into our spirited patriots, in the true sense of the word.
My first ancestors went to Goucester also. When the revolution began their half of the family changed their name from Wallis (English) to Wallace to make sure no one would think they were Tories. The other half went to Canada where they remained.
Some of them participated in the tea dumping. Though I grieve for the Indians, some of my Wallis’ were murdered by the Indians. It was a sparsely populated area. Vulnerability was for both Indians and settlers.
Gloucester the town that has the statue of something and a church with a bell for those lost at sea? Did Captain Courageous take place there the book or the film? And Cape Verde. Many seamen came from there and in the film one can see part of the crew as African or African American.
Fascinating times in our history.
Most of my wife's ancestors came to the colonies in the 1600's or early 1700's except for the Native American ancestors. She had ancestors that fought for both sides during the Revolutionary War. How many generations does one need to be in a country before you say they are English, Irish, Swedish, etc.? She tells people she is American.
One of the lessons Heather, Ken Burns and others who write and chronicle this seminal moment in our history teach us is how rapidly opinions, moods and sentiments have shifted in our past, with obvious implications for how they will do so again.
In 1774, Joseph Galloway, head of Pennsylvania's delegation to the First Continental Congress declaimed that "I have looked for our rights in the Laws of Nature" but "could not find them" yet asserted that he did find them "in the Constitution of the English Government" (a quote mistakenly given to Benjamin Franklin during the HBO mini-series "John Adams" in 2008). It was the Loyalist argument against independence for Pennsylvania (or any other part of Britain) seceding from the whole.
Two years later, that sentiment had all but vanished, given the clumsiness of both King and Parliament in trying to prevent the natural birth of a new society. When another delegate in 1776 yelled "God Damn the King!" at hearing Britain's refusal even to consider the Olive Branch Petition, Benjamin Franklin retorted: "God bless the King! No one else could have brought us together so!"
Struggle has always been required to change hearts and minds, yet is almost always aided by the stupidity of leaders who push their own followers toward a state of open rebellion. The comparisons are obvious: we are soon approaching such a moment once more. Let us be ready for it when it comes.
#shorts - Trump brief on the Iran war. Sen Chris Murphy (3/15/26)
https://youtube.com/shorts/T2PWt3FIaH4?si=mydtUntmMAvHd3Ol
What a coincidence that Trump’s sons invested $750 million in building military drone warfare?
🇺🇸 We need a new President like Sen. Chris Murphy 🇺🇸
So good to be reminded of the courage and honor our country was founded upon, especially in dark times like these.
So many times while reading your "letters," I have thought, oh, if only I had had a history teacher like this in Junior High and High School.......better late than never.
I was fortunate to have a teacher like this in junior high…Mr. Buckley. And his teachings were the beginning of my lifelong love of history.