Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia was the plantation house of four generations of the Lee family of Virginia.
We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.
Benjamin Franklin
On this day in 1776, The Continental Congress adopted the Lee Resolution severing ties with Great Britain. The wording of the formal Declaration of Independence was not adopted until July 4.
The Lee Resolution, also known as The Resolution for Independence, was the formal assertion passed by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, resolving that the Thirteen Colonies (then referred to as the United Colonies) were “free and independent States” and separate from the British Empire.
Richard Henry Lee is a great great great great uncle on my Dad’s side. His sister Anne, is in my direct line. True story.
I had a “discussion” with an online friend a couple of months ago regarding when the American Revolution actually began. He was adamant that it was April 19, 1775 with the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Sure that’s when the first shots were fired and we’re not discounting the importance.
Historic St. John’s Church, 1741
I contended, and still do, that the Revolution flames were fanned by the speech given by Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775 at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. You can still go there today (well, check their schedule) to hear and see a reenactment.
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
True story. If you grew up going to Virginia schools when I did, you had Virginia History one year. You would begin with Jamestown. By May you would be at the Civil War and have about a week, when none of us were paying attention, to study everything from 1870 forward.
The next year, you had American History, which began in Jamestown and got you to the Civil War by May. You see the pattern.
When I took American History in college I didn’t understand why we were talking about Massachusetts.
No need to quibble, there were important figures in both (then) colonies.
But I will note that, once it was all decided, Virginians were the ones to put it all in writing.
The main thing is that it happened and we should celebrate it.
I know it’s hard, considering what we saw (or avoided) at last week’s Presidential Debate. That was far from the vision of the Founding Fathers.
In fact I think if Uncle Richard and his Revolutionary friends could come back today, they’d look at all of us and say “We didn’t risk our lives for this shit.”
1877 – Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
1904 – René Lacoste, French tennis player and businessman, created the polo shirt (d. 1996)
1908 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and civil rights activist, 32nd Solicitor General of the United States, and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1993)
1925 – Medgar Evers, American soldier and activist (d. 1963)
1932 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (d. 2002)
1937 – Richard Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
1939 – John H. Sununu, American engineer and politician, 14th White House Chief of Staff
1946 – Ron Silver, American actor, director, and political activist (d. 2009)
1947 – Larry David, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
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1877 – Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
