Bookworm Room

Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.

July 2, 1776: Prologue to Independence

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John Adams – Great American Patriot, Poor Prognosticator.  Reposted from 2 July 2017. 

On July 2, 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence and sent it print.  Congress did not officially declare Independence and release the document to the public until July 4, 1776.  Nonetheless, on July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his beloved wife, Abigail, forecasting that our nation would long celebrate its birth — but he was a bit off on the date:

. . . The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not.—I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.—Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

Many historians call George Washington the “indispensable man” — the man without whom the Revolution would not have succeeded.  Quite true, I think.  That said, the Revolution would never been given into Washington’s hands were it not for the efforts of John Adams and his cousin, Sam Adams, between 1761 and July 2, 1776.  And as to John Adams in particular, his wife Abigail was his love, his confidant, and his sounding board.  Their relationship was heartwarming and fascinating.  Having studied John Adams in some detail, I think it fair to say that he would not have been who he was without Abigail at his side.

News of the Declaration of Independence, drowned out other national news — both at the time and even to this day, the most important being news of America’s first great victory over the British that had occurred but days earlier. on June 28, at The Battle of Sullivan’s Island.  There the British were defeated in their first offensive of the war, an offensive to capture the Southern colonies generally and the port of Charleston in particular.

If you have never seen it, 1776 is a very entertaining musical about the efforts of John Adams (with a nod to Abigail) and his fellow delegates at the Second Continental Congress to draft and pass the Declaration of Independence.  It is historically very accurate, though I don’t think John Adams and Ben Franklin every broke out into a duet.  Regardless, I recommend it highly and have embedded two songs from the musical below.

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John Adams, Our Nation’s First Failed Prognosticator

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On July 2, 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence and sent it print.  Congress did not officially declare Independence and release the document to the public until July 4, 1776.  Nonetheless, on July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his beloved wife, Abigail, forecasting that our nation would long celebrate its birth — but he was a bit off on the date:

. . . The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not.—I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.—Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

Many historians call George Washington the “indispensable man” — the man without whom the Revolution would not have succeeded.  Quite true, I think.  That said, the Revolution would never been given into Washington’s hands were it not for the efforts of John Adams and his cousin, Sam Adams, between 1761 and July 2, 1776.  And as to John Adams in particular, his wife Abigail was his love, his confidant, and his sounding board.  Their relationship was heartwarming and fascinating.  Having studied John Adams in some detail, I think it fair to say that he would not have been who he was without Abigail at his side.

If you have never seen it, 1776 is a very entertaining musical about the efforts of John Adams (with a nod to Abigail) and his fellow delegates at the Second Continental Congress to draft and pass the Declaration of Independence.  It is historically very accurate, though I don’t think John Adams and Ben Franklin every broke out into a duet.  Regardless, I recommend it highly and have embedded two songs from the musical below.

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John Adams Jumps The Gun — by Wolf Howling

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John AdamsJohn Adams’s letter to his wife following the July 2, 1776 vote in the First Second Continental Congress to approve the Declaration of Independence.

. . . The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. . . .

The First Continental Congress sent the Declaration to the print shop on 2 July after two days of edits. The Declaration was then publicly released on the 4th of July, 1776.

George Zimmerman: the black, Hispanic, Peruvian, kind-hearted non-white, not-racist poster boy

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“Facts are stubborn things.”

I love that quotation.  John Adams said it back in 1774 when he took on the unpopular job of defending the British troops charged with the killings in the event now known as the Boston Massacre.  Arguing off those same stubborn facts, Adams was able to get those troops acquitted.

“Facts are stubborn things.”  You can lie about them and you can try to bury them, but they have a bad habit of revealing themselves.  Sometimes, these revelations can take decades or even centuries, but sometimes — especially in a modern media age — those stubborn facts demand to be heard within days or weeks of the initial lies.

And so it is with the lies the media told about George Zimmerman.

“He’s a white man.”  Wrong, so the media came up the tortured white-Hispanic.  Turns out that even that is wrong.  Zimmerman is also part black.  Brutally Honest has the perfect summation:  “In a delicious irony, it is Zimmerman who might actually look more like the son Obama never had.”

He’s a racist.  Wrong, because it was revealed that he worked hard on behalf of a young black man he thought was wrongfully accused.

He’s an evil, paranoid man who constantly called the cops because of imaginary terrors in his neighborhood.  Wrong.  Aside from the fact that he called infrequently, he was the rock of the neighborhood:

George Zimmerman was known as a trusted aid to most of his black neighbours in the gated community of Sanford, Florida that was plagued by a string of burglaries in the weeks leading up to the shooting of Trayvon Martin, according to an investigation by Reuters.

It reveals that the community, previously a family-friendly, first-time homeowner community, had been devastated by the recession that struck Florida, and transient renters began to occupy some of the 263 town houses in the complex.

During that time, it was Zimmerman, who emerged as a sympathetic figure, offering his and his wife’s support to any homeowners who had been robbed or felt fearful.

I don’t know whether George Zimmerman committed a crime.  I do know that the American media did.  Zimmerman is said to have wept for what he did.  I doubt anyone in the media is shedding tears for grossly maligning a good man’s character or for stirring up violent racial animus in America.

Our Military: “Obnoxious and disliked,” thank God! *UPDATED*

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My favorite song in the musical 1776 is the song in which John Adams tries to convince several of his fellow Congressman that they, not he, should write the Declaration of Independence.  As his reason for refusing this task, he says repeatedly that he is “obnoxious and disliked,” so much so that anything coming from his pen will be rejected:

While it’s true that Adams was obnoxious and disliked, he was also greatly respected.  Although 1776 has a little too much fun with Adams’ irascible personality, it is quite accurate in the way it portrays his central role in achieving American independence.  He had a clear vision and, whether he was bullying or cajoling his fellow delegates at the Continental Congress, he was able to share that vision with them, so much so that each was willing to put his signature on a document that when written was highly treasonous and, therefore, tantamount to a death sentence for each signatory.

In other words, soft, yielding people need not apply when it comes to the hard work of advancing liberty.  I had the same thought when I read a HuffPo article saying that our American military is made up of people who (ready yourself) are not nice:

[A] bombshell new study from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that simply serving in the military can affect veterans in ways that make it hard for them to get along with friends, family, and co-workers in the civilian world.

“Military recruits are a little less warm and friendly to begin with and the military experience seems to reinforce this–as after service, men score even lower on agreeableness when compared to individuals who did not go into the military,” lead author Dr. Joshua J. Jackson, an assistant professor of psychology at the university, said in a written statement. “Interestingly, this influence appears to linger long after the soldier has re-entered the workforce or returned to college.”

The study confirms that military veterans score lower than their civilian counterparts on tests of “agreeableness.” It also indicates that the military tends to attract men who are more aggressive and more interested in competition than other men–and less concerned about the feelings of others, according to the statement.

Did it really take a “bombshell” study to tell us that manly men who don’t lift tea cups with their fingers delicately elevated in the air are the ones more likely to enter the military, a world distinguished by discipline, hierarchy, and combat?  Does anyone really think that sensitive, new-age guys who “feel your pain,” are going to be the ones in the front line in the battle for liberty?

My own interactions with the military have been characterized by something very interesting.  The guys and gals I’ve met have something that is strikingly lacking in ordinary American culture:  good manners.  To me, good manners are infinitely more agreeable than some sensitive, touchy-feely metrosexual who refuses to take out the garbage.

(What do you bet that this “bombshell” study was funded by stimulus money?)

UPDATE:  Maybe I’m wrong, but this seems apropos.