4th of July
4th of July
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History July 3 - July 9.
Happy Maundy, friends! I hope you are enjoying what should be a long holiday weekend.
That holiday is, of course, the 4th of July. The day the United States declared our independence from our British overlords.
The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, about a month after Richard Henry Lee, a guy from Virginia, asked Congress to consider drawing one up because we needed to formalize our separation. I guess shooting and killing each other for the past year wasn’t formal enough.
So Thomas Jefferson led a committee that included his best friend, John Adams, and they drafted the document that created the greatest country ever.
The Declaration had three parts:
1. That God created all men equal and gave them rights (unless they were black)
2. The main priority of government is to protect these rights (unless they were black)
3. If the government screws this up, the people are free to revolt and try a new government (unless they were black)
As you can see, it was a completely flawless document!
Seriously, we have it pretty good. I hope you can celebrate with a nice cookout, perhaps with a nice potato salad, and spend a few minutes enjoying our freedoms.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. Here's what I got:
1. The United States Navy shot down Iran Flight 655 on July 3, 1988. The USS Vincennes mistakenly shot down what they believed to be a military aircraft but instead killed 290 people who were on their way to Dubai. In 1996, the US paid off Iran to settle before the International Court of Justice, which sounds like a thing in a comic book movie.
2. Roy Rogers died on July 6, 1998. The “King of Cowboys” was also the “Master of Mediocre Fast Food Joints.” The singer, actor, and television host appeared in over 100 productions. He was 86.
3. The United States annexed Hawaii on July 7, 1898. After converting the native Hawaiians to Christianity, we decided to convert them into a US territory. Leading the charge for this were – Corporate leaders, who desperately wanted Hawaii’s goods, just as Jesus preached.
Anonymous and I are in Maine for the week. We split the drive from DC into two days. On the second day, we followed a large storm up to Maine.
Look at this fabulous travel weather.
Blue hates being in the car. We don’t drug him (there’s a whole backstory), so we tolerate his panting for hours in the back seat. We brought a lot of hanging clothes, and Blue proceeded to use them as a divider between him and us.
We made it safely. Hopefully, it will stop raining soon so we can enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Okay, I’ll return on Friday with another round of Amendment Ranking. My brother texted me last week asking if he missed my ranking of the Seventeenth Amendment. You have not, older brother; it’s still on the board. Will we see it on Friday? I have no idea.
I hope you see a great week! AMERICA!
Okay,
Chris