The Declaration of Independence
by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, et. al
In celebration of our nation's 249th Birthday, Julius and I will be reading and discussing our nation's Founding Document, The Declaration of Independence.
Clocking in at around an hour and 45 minutes, this is a long episode. The Declaration runs over 1300 words and our normal essay is about half that. As a result there is much to talk about. In our discussions, we attempted to interweave current events and history with the document.
The fact checking on our conversation shows that my grasp of the details of history are not as crisp as I thought. My last history class was three decades ago, so please forgive me. In our defense, despite being wrong on the details we were arguably right on the nose for the concepts. Corrections are below.
Nonetheless, please enjoy this reading, enjoy the Fourth, celebrate with a veteran and spend time with your family and friends. Finally, please be safe.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Corrections, clarifications, and addendums:
Brian was basically the SNL sketch of "a girl you don't want to have a conversation with at a party" in this episode.
Brian stated that the Revolutionary War ended in 1787 when in fact it ended in 1783.
Articles of Confederation were in adopted by Congress in 1777 and Ratified in 1781. It was in effect until the Constitution of the United States.
Battles of Lexington and Concord occurred in 1775 not 1774 so the colonies were at war for 1 year and almost 3 months not 2 years as I stated around the 5 minute mark.
I referred to the enslaved person that Thomas Jefferson was involved with as "Sally Fields" instead of Sally Hemings. At least I didn't say Sally Struthers.
I also mentioned the Whiskey Rebellion as happening under the Articles of Confederation when it happened in 1794 under the Constitution and President George Washington had to send troops to put it down. It was Shay's Rebellion that I meant to reference. It exposed the weakness of the Articles and the need for a stronger government which the Constitution would address. Shay's rebellion occurred from 1786-1787.
Around the 23 minute mark, the poem that I could remember the meaning but not the title or author was "Carrying the Songs" by Moya Cannon
At 26 minutes I was also wrong about England being at war with Russia during the American Revolution. In fact, England was enticing Russia to send 20,000 troops to New England to fight on behalf of the British. They decided to stay neutral. England and Russia were at war during the Seven Years War, which the French and Indian War was a part of. England and Russia would be at war again from 1807-1812. So Seven Years war, and War of 1812, but not the War of Independence which was the war in the middle. I was so close.
It should also be noted that England was at war with France, Spain, and the Netherlands during the Revolutionary War.
So basically, much of the history that I bring up in this episode is wrong on the specifics. All the more important us to read the Declaration of Independence, and as always, verify what we think we know.
Just before the 53 minute mark, Julius cites the 5th Amendment as saying people have the right to get a hearing, but the 5th Amendment is about Quartering of troops. The 7th Amendment is about due process and uses the term "persons".
Also just before 54 minutes, we did not know what historical event the Declaration of Independence was referring to. The answer was The Quebec Act of 1774 where the British Monarchy abolished the British legal system and instituted arbitrary courts without representation. They then tried to impose this system on the 13 colonies.
I also mentioned the war between Pennsylvania and Maryland. This war was known as Cresap's War, and technically it lasted between 1730-1767, only 8 years before Lexington and Concord. The first part of the war happened locally with violence happening over property disputes. However, militaries from both colonies were involved from 1736-1738. King George II negotiated the cease fire in 1738 and the Mason-Dixon line was finally agreed upon 29 years later thus formally ending the war in 1767.
At the 1 hour mark, Perfidy means deceitfulness.
At 1:04, consanguinity means descended from the same ancestor.
At 1:15 Julius refers to Vermont as a colony. In 1749, the New Hampshire governor issued land grants in present day Vermont. However in 1764, King George III ruled that New York had jurisdiction, and the New York Governor sold the same tracts of land, eventually leading to armed conflict, with those with New Hampshire land grants led by none other than Ethan Allen and a militia called "The Green Mountain Boys". In 1777, Vermont formed its own Republic named "New Connecticut". (I didn't see that one coming). Six months later, they changed the name to "Vermont" and promptly banned Slavery. They had their own coinage, public school system, postal routes and universal suffrage for all adult males. Vermont was admitted the Union as the 14th state in 1791.
At the 1 hour 24 minute mark, Brian marked January 16th, 1991 as the start of Desert Storm, but it was January 17th. Once again, so close.
After re-reading about the end of the Iraq War, The United States did come to a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that was signed by President Bush and ratified by the Iraqi Parliament in 2008. It laid out the US withdrawal of combat forces from Iraq by 12/31/11 and that withdrawal was completed two weeks earlier. It allowed for US contractors who worked for the US state department would remain immune while contractors for the US Defense Department would be subject to Iraqi law. It also stated that if the US held someone for more the 24 hours, they would have to charge them. Also, raids would be curtailed as the US would need a warrant for searching homes and buildings not related to combat. Any "major premeditated felonies" committed by US forces while off duty and off base would be subject to a joint Iraqi-US commission. wiki article
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Source: The Declaration of Independence
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