Yet another History Lesson compliments of Deals-the-Dork (and her trusty US history "Quote of the Day" calendar)...

After the last one, I know everyone out there was eagerly anticipating the next installment! So, without further ado, here ya'll go:

QUOTES:

- “We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.”

- Thomas Paine, “The American Crisis,” 1777

- “To model our political systems upon speculations of lasting tranquility is to calculate on the weaker springs of the human character.”

- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, 1787-1788

- “Let Americans disdain to be the instruments of European greatness. Let the Thirteen States, bound together in a strict and indissoluble union, concur in erecting one great American system.”

- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, 1787-1788

- “If you complain of neglect of education in sons, what shall I say with regard to daughters…I most sincerely wish…that our new Constitution may be distinguished for encouraging learning and virtue. If we mean to have heroes, statesmen, and philosophers, we should have learned women.”

- Abigail Adams, in a letter to John Adams, September 24th, 1774

- “Government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectively secured against the danger of maladministration.”

- George Mason, Virginia Bill of Rights, June 12th, 1776

- “The freedom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.”

- George Mason, Virginia Bill of Rights, June 12th, 1776

- “What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?”

- James Madison, Independent Journal, 1787

- “It is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order.”

- Thomas Jefferson, The Virginia Act for Religious Freedom, 1786

- General Nathaniel Greene has been considered one of the more underrated military minds of the Revolutionary War. Apparently, his talent caused him to be called into service against his personal desires. When word reached him that Washington wanted him to become commander of the Southern Department of the Continental army, Greene wrote to his wife:

“What I have been dreading has come to pass. His Excellency George Washington has appointed me to the command of the southern Army. This is so foreign from my wishes that I am distressed exceedingly…How unfriendly war is to domestic happiness.”

FUN FACTS:

- If you were a man living in colonial times, chances are you’d most likely be wearing a wig. Wigs were made of animal and human hair and came in a variety of colors and styles. Soldiers of the day generally wore a “Ramilee Wig”, but other popular styles included the “Sunday Buckle”, the “Campaign Wig” (often worn by travelers), and the “Major Bob”. A “Minor Bob” was also available for the thriftier wig wearers of the time.

- On the day that the Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain (July 4th, 1776 for you history-impaired types), King George III wrote the following in his diary: “Nothing of importance happened today.”

- Later, of course, King George III felt the loss of the colonies sorely. He remarked in 1782: “I cannot conclude without mentioning how sensibly I feel the dismemberment of America from this empire.”

- Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were never very close (despite the fact that they were two extremely influential men of the time) died mere hours apart on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (that would be July 4th, 1826 for those of you who are mathematically-challenged).

- The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first daily newspaper in the United States in 1783.

- An estimated 10,000 Blacks fought in the American Revolution, many doing so as a way of gaining freedom from slavery.

- By 1782, many colonists who had remained loyal to the British Crown decided that America was not the place they wanted to call “home” anymore and began to leave. Where did many of them go, you ask?...to Canada.

- The role of the “Drummer” in the army was critical. The sound of the drum could be heard regardless of whether the troops were at camp or at battle. Soldiers listened for the various drumbeats transmitting major orders (when to march, fall back, fire, etc.). Without the drum, the soldiers would not have had the tactical information they required to stay organized during battle.

- The “Badge of Military Merit”, more commonly known as the “Purple Heart”, was established by George Washington in 1782.

- New Jersey is sometimes referred to as the “gateway of the American Revolution”. It was the geographical center of the colonies at the time of the war, and more battles were fought on New Jersey territory than in any other state during the Revolutionary War. (“Gateway of the American Revolution” is a much cooler slogan than “the Garden State”, but no one ever asks me…)

- Dr. Benjamin Church, the first head of the American Medical Corps, holds the somewhat dubious honor of becoming the first American traitor in 1775.

- Wives and children often elected to leave home in order to follow their husbands and fathers around from battle to battle. They were so pervasive that they became recognized as a part of the military, entitling them to proportional rations: ½ rations for wives and ¼ for children. However, it was understood that if you accepted the military’s food, you were subject to military discipline.

- “The Ladies Association” was the first organization created by women during the Revolution. Their aim was to raise money for General George Washington’s army. It was so successful and well known that it achieved the moniker “Washington’s Sewing Circle”.

- During the Revolutionary War a number of intrepid women disguised themselves as men in order to fight for America’s freedom. One such woman was Deborah Samson of Plympton, Massachusetts, who enlisted with the name of “Robert Shirtliffe” in October of 1778. She fought bravely and was wounded twice, but her identity went unchallenged until she was treated for a “brain fever”. She was eventually awarded a pension and land for her part in the war.

- In 1766, an organization called “The Daughters of Liberty” was formed. It was a very strong union of women who often used boycotts as an effective way to establish change.

- Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Benjamin Rush together formed the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage in 1775. It was the first such abolitionist group.

- Those out there entering midlife (ahem…RR, JLR, AM and Trevor) owe the availability of bifocals to Benjamin Franklin, who invented bifurcated glasses in 1766.

- Recycling has always been a part of American culture, going back to the frugal colonists. Old clothes were given new life with the help of a tradesman called a “milliner” (i.e. someone who would take apart and remake clothing). Girls, often as young as eleven, would begin learning the trade as apprentices. Since it was important to the trade, milliners would teach the apprentices other skills such as the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

- It took at least four men to fire a Revolution-era cannon: two to load, one to stand ready with a burning fuse, and another with a finger over the touch-hole to inhibit any spark from igniting the gunpowder prematurely.

- George Washington never had a set of wooden dentures. By the time he was President, his dentures would have been made from cow’s teeth. Later, Washington contracted a prominent Philadelphia dentist to make him a set of teeth from a hippopotamus tusk. However, no matter how much better they looked than the cow’s teeth, the hippo dentures caused so much pain when worn that Washington had to resort to taking painkillers.

- Although none of them were paved, roads ran contiguously from Boston, Massachusetts, to Savannah, Georgia by 1776.

- A flag with thirteen white stars in alternating rows of three and two, against a deep blue field, marked the location of General Washington’s headquarters, wherever he was during the war.

- In addition to the death toll of American soldiers, 4,435 colonial civilians are listed as casualties of the American Revolutionary War.

You feel smarter already, don’t you! :P