July 4th Fireworks in October, 2008. (Olympus D-540)
Happy Fourth of July.
Good PBS video about Thomas Jefferson and his fight for public schools. HERE.
Monticello (screen shot from PBS video)
I love the vast amount of information I have available at my fingertips in this new century. Like anything else, one needs to sift through a lot of chaff to find the kernels of good, useful, food to nurture the mind, but it can be found.
There's more information from a LiveScience post about the 4th of July. HERE.
Wherever I looked, I seemed to find some piece of information that contradicted my long held beliefs of how our country came to be. Like having juxtaposed a poem about the war of 1812 into a national anthem for the American war of independence. I guess I must have just accidentally stuck the Star Spangled Banner onto the Declaration of Independence. The LiveScience article explains; "Francis Scott Key wrote a poem stemming from observations in 1814, when the British relentlessly attacked Baltimore's Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It was later put to music and not decreed the official National Anthem of the United States until 1931."
Rochambeau
The French help us win our independence from Britain.
How about the battle of Yorktown? 3 out of 4 soldiers fighting the British were French! This from American Revolutionary Facts; "Washington had 11,000 men engaged in the battle, while the French had at least 29,000 soldiers and sailors. The 37 French ships-of-the-line played a crucial role in trapping the 8,700 strong British army and winning the engagement." It sort of makes those anti-France blowhards seem foolishly uninformed. After all, without France helping us, there would have been no United States to help liberate France in WWII. Would you like some "Freedom Fries" with that humble pie, Mr. Limbaugh?
How about Paul Revere? He didn't ride alone, and he didn't cry out, "The British are coming"! That was just the story in Longfellow's poem. SOURCE
I am glad I don't get all upset and want to 'storm the castle' when I find my facts are skewed.
There seem to be just about a dozen 'facts' about the war that are repeated in most of the American revolutionary war sites. It sort of makes me wonder if I am going to learn that these will turn out to be as accurate as the story of Paul Revere's midnight ride.
I love to learn.
July Band Schedule
July 29th 8p The Vintage Wine Bar & Restaurant
July 31th 7:30p French Gulch Hotel
Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
"Health, Learning & Virtue will ensure your happiness; they will give you a quiet conscience, private esteem, & public honor."
Thomas Jefferson
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