Book: The King’s Men, After the American Revolution

The New York Times, Sunday Book Review: The King’s Men, After the American Revolution

LIBERTY’S EXILES
American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World
By Maya Jasanoff
460 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $30.

Only a tiny fraction of the books written on the American Revolution are devoted to the loyalists — the residents of the 13 colonies who chose to leave their homes rather than become citizens of the new republic. Such a nation-bound approach to the writing of American history implies that the lives of those who left were not significant. Yet they were, and Maya Jasanoff, who teaches history at Harvard, has provided a richly informative account of those who made the choice to embrace imperial Britain. As earlier historians of the Revolution have pointed out, the loyalists tended to have strong connections to the imperial administration, belong to the Anglican Church and possess close business or family ties to Britain. But not all who left fitted such a profile. Escaped slaves had obvious reason to depart, and so did those whose property was confiscated by the revolutionaries. Most pervasively, of course, the loyalists shared a loyalty to the king.

Jasanoff estimates that 60,000 loyalists opted to leave America, including at least 8,000 free blacks. In addition, 15,000 enslaved people of African descent were carried away by their owners. The migration was hardly a small one: in proportion to population, the American Revolution resulted in five times more departures than its more violent French counterpart. Why did so many go? There were many reasons, but the largest and most obvious factor was the availability of the commodious British Empire. The loyalists were able to leave their homeland while remaining under the British king. And the king’s own loyalty to his American subjects also made a difference: his government provided the loyalists with transportation and established a mechanism for making claims on the British treasury for loss of property.

At the heart of this smart, deeply researched and elegantly written history is Jasanoff’s re-creation of the lives of those who emigrated — rich and poor, white, black and in some cases red. She brings these displaced people to life: we learn their reasons for leaving, their understanding of the losses and gains, and more generally the “bittersweet” experiences of even those who successfully rebuilt their lives. For the loyalists, Thomas Paine’s announcement that America was to be “an asylum of mankind” was a bad joke. In fact, the British Empire would be their asylum. Consider Jacob Bailey of Massachusetts, a Harvard classmate of John Adams, who found that our Revolutionary heroes were a “set of surly & savage beings who have power in their hands and murder in their hearts.” He left for Nova Scotia.

Like Bailey, most of the loyalists went to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Quebec. Some 8,000 whites and perhaps 5,000 blacks went to Britain itself. Southerners decamped to the Caribbean or East Florida, where they could continue to hold their slaves. Meanwhile, 2,000 free blacks, dissatisfied with their opportunities in Nova Scotia, demanded and received transportation by the British government to Sierra Leone, where they became the founding generation of the African colony that was established there by British abolitionists. Very few loyalists went to India or Australia.

The Iroquois, who were allied with Britain, were abandoned by British negotiators after the war and lost their lands to the Americans. Some, however, followed the Mohawk Joseph Brant to the Lake Ontario region, where they sought to establish a refuge on the border between the British Empire and the American ­Republic.

The Revolution produced many American heroes, but there were loyalist ones too. Near the end of the Paris peace negotiations that ended the war, a small but important amendment was added to the resulting treaty that prohibited the British from “carrying away any Negroes, or other property.” When he became aware of this proviso, Sir Guy Carleton, the commander of British forces in North America, acted. Charged with the task of evacuating 20,000 troops and 35,000 loyalists from New York, he made securing the freedom of the black loyalists a priority. He expedited the provision of documents establishing their freedom and hurried them onto a fleet of ships headed for Nova Scotia. The speed of this sequence of events infuriated George Washington. But Carleton responded that it was a matter of honor. “The Negroes in question,” he explained, “I found free when I arrived in New York, I had therefore no right . . . to prevent their going to any part of the world they thought proper.” Earlier, when Lord Dunmore, the colonial governor of Virginia, promised freedom to bondsmen who joined the British forces, as many as 20,000 — including slaves belonging to Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry — made the risky decision to escape. Jasanoff refers to this as an “emancipation,” though she might better have described it as a slave revolt, larger than any the Americas had yet to see.

In expanding the geography of the American Revolution, Jasanoff builds on two recent trends in historical scholarship. First, she recognizes the transnational, even global, dimensions of national histories, and second, she pays close attention to the workings of empire, including the beneficial ones. Within this enlarged framework, she argues that the American revolutionaries’ claim that they were establishing a “beacon of liberty” prompted the British, who thought of themselves in the same terms, to reform their empire along more liberal lines. She gives the phrase “spirit of 1783” to this new impulse to reform imperial rule, referring to the year the empire gave up the colonies.

This epithet suggests that the Revolution’s impact on the British was more coherent and far reaching than it really was. Yet in the years after American independence, the British did move deliberately toward a global empire that was marked by “hierarchical rule, liberal ideals and transcontinental reach.” Accusations of tyranny made by slave-holding Americans embarrassed many in Britain, who sought to restore their nation’s moral standing by assuming leadership in a humanitarian crusade against the slave trade. In the 19th century the large British presence on the world stage would be associated with such liberal values as anti-slavery, laissez-faire economics and the array of individual rights identified with the English constitution. Still, the transformation went only so far. By Jasanoff’s own account, the empire’s “liberalism” did not displace its commitment to “hierarchical rule.”

Along with other recent scholars, Jasanoff also seeks to challenge the idea that the British maintained two distinct empires — one primarily for trade, the other primarily for settlement and extracting resources. In following the loyalist diaspora and explicating its beliefs, she does much to link the empire’s North Atlantic and Asian parts. And yet it must be remembered that while the white settler societies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand were granted representative institutions, a great majority of the empire’s subjects were nonwhite and experienced imperial rule without such privileges. The spirit of 1783 may have traveled around the world, but it did not take up residence everywhere.

Valley Forge National Historical Park to celebrate American Revolution Game-Changer

THe Tmes Herald: Valley Forge National Historical Park to celebrate American Revolution Game-Changer
KING OF PRUSSIA – The thunderous roar of muskets and cannon echoed across the rolling hills of Valley Forge in May of 1778, but none was fired in anger. Instead, it signaled the joyous celebration of a young America’s new and promising strategic relationship with France – in today’s vernacular, BFF: Best Friends Forever.

On the 233rd anniversary of the French Alliance, representatives of and re-enactors from America’s oldest allies will gather Saturday, May 7 at Valley Forge National Historical Park for day-long, family-friendly festivities.

The fledgling nation’s first friends, the Oneida Indians, carried corn 300 miles to nourish General Washington’s hungry soldiers at Valley Forge, then, fought beside them in the battles of Oriskany and Saratoga. Members of today’s Oneida Indian Nation will encamp from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Park’s Muhlenberg Brigade area and, with Continental Army re-enactors, talk about their ancestors’ experiences at Valley Forge and the significance of the French Alliance to our quest for independence.

During the first years of the war, France supplied the colonial rebels weapons, ammunition and other equipment, but the February 1778 signing of the “Treaty of Amity and Commerce” brought the French much deeper into the American Revolution. This new alliance, negotiated by Benjamin Franklin and fellow diplomats, meant the full weight of the French army and navy would be brought to bear against the British.

When the news reached Continental Army troops at Valley Forge in May 1778, some 10,000 cheering soldiers fired their muskets in a “feu de joie” (celebratory firing) that will be replicated at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday. Immediately prior, Park rangers will lead informational quarter-mile walks from the Visitor Center to the Muhlenberg Brigade, at 12:20 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. Throughout the event, children can create tri-corner hats and French flags inside the Visitor Center.

The celebration is free and open to the public. For more information about Our New Best Friend: French Alliance Celebration 2011, contact the Valley Forge National Historical Park Visitor Center at 610-783-1099 or visit www.nps.gov/vafo. For information on other area attractions and affordable hotel accommodations, visit www.valleyforge.org.

President Washington: The Power and the Glory

Appeal Democrat: President Washington: The Power and the Glory

Our first president, George Washington, was inaugurated this week (April 30) in 1789, in great part because his countrymen knew they could trust him with power. They knew this because they knew of his ambivalence about wielding it. After the American Revolution was won and all the power he could have wanted was his for the taking, Washington resigned his military command and went home. Duty had called, he had answered, and now he only wanted to return to his beloved Mount Vernon to resume life as a gentleman planter.

But power was one thing. Glory was something else. For public figures in the 18th Century, honor … glory … reputation was everything, and Washington was no exception. He had earned honor, achieved glory and secured his reputation not only by winning the war, but also by — Cincinnatus-like — trading his sword for the plowshare once that war was won.

Which, interestingly enough, is one reason he was also reluctant to become president. Although the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 had created the presidency with him foremost in mind, Washington worried that accepting it would jeopardize his reputation as a modern-day Cincinnatus. He feared he would be accused of being "ambitious." He wondered if his countrymen would consider his well-known support of the new Constitution, which included that single, powerful president, as a back-door method of securing that position for himself.

Finally, he worried that if this brand new experiment in republican government created by this brand new Constitution should fail, he would get the lion's share of the blame, thereby ruining his reputation.

It was at this point — in mid-August in 1788 — that Alexander Hamilton, who had been one of Washington's most trusted military advisers during the war, stepped in and wrote Washington a letter reinforcing his belief, and the belief of many, that if their experiment in republican government had any hope of succeeding, Washington must serve as the first chief executive. When Washington demurred, citing the reasons outlined above, Hamilton, a skilled lawyer, responded using the only logic that trumped Washington's.

You have earned glory, Hamilton agreed, and you are absolutely correct that if this new experiment fails your reputation will suffer the most. But that is why you must do everything in your power to ensure that it succeeds. You were the president of the Constitutional Convention that created this new government. You are its most famous supporter. You are its embodiment. That is why you must become its first president.

Washington got the message, became our first president, helped ensure the new government succeeded (in great part by making Alexander Hamilton its first treasury secretary) and secured his reputation a hundred-fold

Quotes: John Parker

"Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!"

John Parker (July 13, 1729 – September 17, 1775) was an American farmer, mechanic, and soldier, who commanded the Lexington militia at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. Parker was born in Lexington to Josiah Parker and Anne Stone. His experience as a soldier in the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) at the Siege of Louisbourg and conquest of Quebec most likely led to his election as militia captain by the men of the town.

He was in poor health from consumption (tuberculosis) on the morning of April 19. Tradition reports his order at Lexington Green to be "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." He witnessed his cousin Jonas Parker killed by a British bayonet. Later that day he rallied his men to attack the regulars returning to Boston in an ambush known as "Parker's Revenge."

This was his only military action in the American Revolutionary War. He was unable to serve in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, and died of tuberculosis in September. Parker's grandson donated his musket to the state of Massachusetts. It hangs today in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts State House.
____________
"Wars and Why They Start,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.

History invaluable, taught incorrectly in schools

Kansas State Collegian: History invaluable, taught incorrectly in schools
One of the primary advantages we have over non-human animals is the ability to massively and meaningfully accumulate knowledge. Most of us at K-State are currently dedicated to adding to our lifelong stock of information, but this activity becomes even more powerful when pursued on a societal scale. Every human society has made millions of internal and external decisions about how to regulate themselves and interact with other societies, setting up a massive scientific experiment on a historical timescale. Studying these decisions and considering their outcomes is the best way to make the right choices with regard to politics and culture in contemporary society. The problem is, a large stock of relevant information is being ignored.

In my experience as a student, tutor and teaching assistant, I've found that many of my peers have a serious lack of knowledge about the recent past. In his 2008 book "Just How Stupid Are We?" historian Rick Shenkman concludes that this serious lack of knowledge about politics, government and American history is widespread and significantly contributes to the ridiculousness of contemporary American politics.

Knowledge of recent history is critically important, because it explains how the American identity has formed, and how we arrived at the place we are today. According to "Lies My Teacher Told Me," by James Loewen, American history courses spend significant time on the American Revolution, the Civil War and World War II, but give very little meaningful treatment to the recent past. For example, "textbooks, on average, include more information on the War of 1812 than Vietnam, despite its smaller geopolitical and historical impact." As a result, many of my students and classmates know little-to-nothing about the Cold War, the rise of conservatism, or how historical institutions like NATO function in today's geopolitical climate. This ignorance creates citizens that don't understand why America is economically and militarily dominant, and can't explain international animosity toward our nation. That's probably why people mistakenly assume "they hate our freedoms," instead of understanding how such opprobrium is a reaction to America's actions in the recent past.

Teaching history from the present backward is one possible solution, though our commitment to chronology might make it a less plausible solution. Doing so, however, would force teachers to adopt a better model of understanding history, taught as a set of competing interpretations rather than a series of objective facts.

Starting with the American Revolution encourages a "memorize these dates and people strategy," but starting with the Iraq war means considering various competing explanations for the invasion and subsequent quagmire. These topics would also encourage students to ask their parents about recent geopolitical events and start conversations about what it means to be a citizen of modern America. Loewen warns that waiting to address controversial subjects like contemporary politics to allow "historical perspective" to figure out the "truth" is not just lazy, but dangerous. That's because "the farther in time we move from the events, the more likely we are to lose sight of the relevant facts and allow the dominant perspective of the time to define the conflict." Students today are being spoon-fed the dominant, American-centered version of history, because to the victor go the epistemological spoils. This version of history is dangerous, because it's inaccurate.

Finally, a heavy emphasis on the Revolutionary, Civil and Second World Wars is disempowering to minority students. Loewen indicates that these students perform worse in history class and on tests of historical knowledge, despite equal success in other subjects. This should come as no surprise; our focus on these three main wars is probably at least partially intended to instill a since of civic pride in our political institutions, our ability to achieve moral progress and our global police role. But that history isn't as empowering for women and racial minorities, who due to systemic oppression played few key roles in these events. Contemporary history, however, is rife with positive female and non-white role models. Is it any wonder our federal government is composed largely of old white men when this demographic receives the lion's share of historical civic pride?

We are doing ourselves a massive societal disservice by ignoring much of the knowledge accumulated by the recent past. Ignorance of recent history is widespread and misinforms our contemporary political decisions; we've got to find a way to start teaching modern American history, whether by starting now and going backward or de-emphasizing the sacred cows of American history.

American Revolution Movies

Screen Junkies: American Revolution Movies

American Revolution movies depict the blood, treasure, and personal sacrifice that gave birth to the United States of America. Some American Revolution movies place emphasis on the personal sacrifice of individuals, while others place emphasis on the war of conscience for those who struggled with divided loyalties between their former homeland, Great Britain, and their new country.

“American Patriot.” There are two stories running parallel to each other in this movie; the colonists fighting a war for independence from Great Britain, and a war between the two main characters; Benjamin Martin, a widowed colonial farmer raising seven children, and Colonel William Tavington, the leader of a British unit called the Green Dragoons. The year and setting for the movie is 1776 in South Carolina, and there are many graphic war scenes, and for that reason the move is rated R.
“Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor.” This movie is a case in point why both sides of a story should be heard before judgments are made. The name Benedict Arnold immediately conjures up the epithet, traitor, but as the story unfolds the audience is shown an officer in the Continental Army who is courageous, unselfish and loyal to his Commander George Washington. But, for the love of a woman, perceived or real injustices committed against him by others, Arnold seeks command of the fort at West Point, New York, for the sole purpose of surrendering it to the British Army. After the duplicitous plot, Arnold returns to England and is commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general.
“The Howards of Virginia.” In the Virginia colony during the 1700s, two families from different spheres are united by marriage; Jane Peyton, the daughter of privilege, and Matt Howard a poor young man from the backwoods of Virginia. Over the protestations of his wife’s family, Howard takes his young bride back to his original rural environs. Life is hard for the growing family, and Howard’s political career takes off. But when the American Revolutionary war breaks out, Howard joins the colonists to fight against the British. While on the battlefield, Howard and his estranged son, Peyton, meet and peace is restored between the father and son.
“Johnny Tremain.” In the backdrop of 1773, anger is growing among the Boston colonists toward the British for their overbearing governing, but for Johnny Tremain, his consuming interest is his silversmith apprenticeship. Tremain’s aspirations undergo a drastic change when his path crosses that of the Sons of Liberty, among whom are Dr. Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams. Johnny Tremain joins the Sons of Liberty in their fight for independence from British tyranny.
“Drums Along the Mohawk.” Leaving the life of comfort and ease of her home in Albany, New York, Lana Borst sets out for Mohawk Valley territory with her new husband, Gilbert Martin, in the memorable year of 1776. The couple settles into their home, but after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the couple and other colonists have to contend with hostile Indian attacks and war with the British.
“Sons of Liberty.” Only the most diligent American Revolution history scholar knows the contribution of Haym Salomon to the success of the American Revolution. Salomon was one of the principal financiers of the colonists' fight for freedom.
American Revolution movies are not just fare for the celebration of Independence Day and the Constitution, but a year round cinematic record of the vision, promise and fulfillment of both.

- Patricia Smith

Listen, my children, and you shall hear

Texas Gop Vote: Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
On the night of April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British Royal Governor of Massachusetts, after being commanded by King George III, the Sovereign of Great Britain, moved to suppress the rebellious American Colonists. He ordered 700 British soldiers, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Marine Major John Pitcairn, to seize the colonists' military stores in Concord, 20 miles west of Boston. April 19th 1775, The American Revolution began at Lexington Common with the infamous shot "heard round the world" when British and American soldiers exchanged fire in the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord.

The colonists had set up a system of signals and word-of-mouth communication that proved effective in warning the American volunteer militia men of the approach of the British troops. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" tells how a lantern was displayed in the steeple of Christ Church on the night of April 18, 1775, as a signal to Paul Revere and others.

One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex, village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.
At Lexington Green, the British were met by approximately seventy American Minute Men led by John Parker. At the North Bridge in Concord, the British were confronted again, this time by 300 to 400 armed colonists, and were forced to march back to Boston with the Americans firing on them all the way. By the end of the day, the colonists were singing "Yankee Doodle" and the American Revolution had begun.

All of these years later, we conservative Americans feel a kindred spirit with those that fought, pledging their lives and fortunes for what would become the greatest nation on God’s green earth, The United States of America.

It seems also that the stakes are just as high for America now as they were then. The freedoms that our Founding fathers fought and died for have been slowly eroded to the point where our freedom truly hangs in the balance. For the past 100 years, those that would wish to change our great republic into something reflecting the nation states of Europe have marched steadily toward that goal. That goal would be, “The fundamental transformation of The United States of America,” if we were to borrow a phrase from someone.

The onslaught of their continuous siege of our constitutional rights would shock our republic’s founders. The infringement on our freedoms, the escalating amount of taxes, the interfering into other nations business and the redistribution of the citizen’s wealth to others that haven’t worked for it would cause them to wash their hands of us all. How did we let it get this way? What can we do to stop it from getting worse? Those questions need answering and they need to be answered now, before it’s too late.

Just as those brave men did so long ago, we stand at a crossroads, a bridge so to speak. Conservative, Constitution believing Americans on one side and progressives of all sorts on the other. The past 2 years have codified for us what has to be done. The Tea Party people have awoken and will not slumber again. The lines have been drawn and the sides chosen.

There is an irreconcilable gulf between those on the progressive side and those on the Constitutional conservative side. Spend any time at all listening to liberal television, radio or web sites and you will see and hear for yourselves that they are committed to their endeavor. Are we? Are you?

Our nation is still a republic. As a republic, we are still the Captains of our own fates. The tide has been against us for some time now, but hopefully it’s not too late to save our republic. If we do save it, what will it look like? The last 2 years have changed us as a people. Whether we change the course that the progressives have brought us to or whether our nation’s freedoms and the Constitution die a slow death is yet to be seen.

We need to ask ourselves some serious questions. Will we be slaves? Will we be Masters? With our republic so equally divided between the Right and the Left, where do we go where both will be happy? The stakes are higher than most citizens think. Those that consider themselves undecided on the issues of the day are deluding themselves. Those that are undecided have still made a choice. They have chosen to let others carry the load. They are unworthy of the freedoms given to them by God and instilled in the Constitution,

One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex, village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.

Vote. Spread the word. Make up your minds and stand. Carry on Patriots!

Searching Daughters of the American Revolution databases is free to public

NewsOK (The Oklahoman) Searching Daughters of the American Revolution databases is free to public

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) has been digitizing materials the society has collected since its formation in 1890. The material is now available on its website at www.dar.org. Searching the databases is free. Only information of a genealogical and historical nature is available. Information for living DAR members is restricted.

The databases are located under the “DAR Library” dropdown box near the top of the screen. Select “online research,” then “DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) for the following databases:

Ancestor. This is the official list of DAR proven patriots with more than 100,000 names. This is not a list of everyone who served in the Revolutionary War (1774-83). New patriots are added as their service is proven.

Member. Information is limited to deceased or former members. Search is by national member number and not name.

Descendants. This ongoing indexing project contains information on the descendants of the patriot. About 4,500 names are added daily making it a valuable database of 18th- and 19th century-ancestors.

GRC (Genealogical Research Committee Reports). An every-name index to the committee reports. The reports contain various genealogical records (Bible records, cemetery listings, will and probate abstracts, marriage records, etc.) collected by DAR chapters since 1913. The images are available only at the DAR Seimes Technology Center Library.

Resources. This section contains two online card indexes — the Revolutionary Pension Extract and Analytical Index.

A more detailed description of the databases and their content is available on the DAR website.

Tea Party Museum finally breaks ground

BostonHerald.com: Tea Party Museum finally breaks ground
Twelve years in the making, the new Boston Tea Party Museum got started yesterday (Tuesday, April 19) with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

“We’ve had a lot of false starts and challenges over the last 12 years to get this project done,” said Shawn Ford, vice president of Historic Tours of America, which will operate the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. It is slated to open next spring on Fort Point Channel.

“The American Revolution was started, fought and won quicker than it did to build this Tea Party Museum,” quipped Ford before thanking the parties involved in moving the project forward.

The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum promises to host interactive exhibits, a tavern and tea room, costumed actors and replicas of the original ships from the Boston Tea Party — the Beaver, the Dartmouth and the Eleanor.

On Monday was an American Revolution reenactment in Lexington

7 News Whdh.com: American Revolution reenactment in Lexington
BOSTON -- Monday was Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts.

The 236th celebration parade made its way through the streets of Boston on Monday morning.

The state holiday honors Paul Revere’s ride and the American Revolution battles at Concord and Lexington.

Early morning on Monday in Lexington there was a reenactment of the battle. The reliving of the first shots of the American Revolution were fired on the town green at 6 a.m.

Several thousand spectators were on hand to watch.

True Meaning of Patriots Day

BillericaTownNews: True Meaning of Patriots Day
Billerica Townie News - Joan Parcewski• Tue, Apr 19, 2011
Many of us here in Billerica and throughout Massachusetts associate Patriots Day with the annual Boston Marathon. But what is Patriots Day all about and how is it celebrated in the neighborhood towns of Concord and Lexington?

In reality Patriot's Day is a special Massachusetts State holiday commemorating the opening battle of the American Revolution - April 19, 1775. For the neighboring towns of Concord and Lexington, it is a weekend celebration. There are also several events prior to the weekend and after the weekend held in Lexington, Concord, Bedford and Lincoln which commemorate and also help to explain the life and the dangers that our forefathers faced from the British.

This year's events actually began on Saturday, April 9th, with the Bedford Pole Capping ceremony in Wilson Park in Bedford . The event featured an all Minuteman parade and the capping of a liberty pole, followed by a visit by the British. .

History has it that before the firing began in Lexington, Bedford's Minutemen were warned
that the British were on the march from Boston. The Bedford Minutemen gathered at Fitch Tavern in the center of Bedford. It was here that they were served up cold cornmeal mush and hot buttered rum and Captain Jonathan Wilson spoke the famous words - "It is a cold breakfast, boys, but we'll give the British a hot dinner. We'll have every dog of them before night."

From there the Minutemen marched to Concord, joining the fifty Bedford militia en route. They carried the Bedford flag, the first flag taken into an American battle. It was in Concord that they were met by the British who mortally wounded several of their members, including Captain Jonathan Wilson who died at Merriam's Corner.

The annual Pole Capping ceremony itself began in 1765 with a tree (aka the Liberty Tree), not a pole, by a group of American Colonials in Boston. The ground below the tree was called "Liberty Hall". The intentions were to carry the voice of the Sons of Liberty to rise and fight against the country's oppressors. Bedford continues this tradition to this day.

While unfortunately the 2011 Merriam's Corner Exercise was canceled due to Washington DC's near closing down of the Federal Government, the event is generally held each year by the Town of Concord, joined by area Minutemen companies, fife and drum units, and the Concord Independent Battery to commemorate the fight at Merriam's Corner, marking the beginning of the 6 hour running battle back to Boston.

Events on the 9th were capped by the Paul Revere Capture Ceremony in Lincoln at 3pm. This event is repeated on Friday, April 15th at 7:30pm. The Lincoln Minutemen and the Town of Lincoln were joined by other re-enactors and fife and drum units to observe the historic capture of Paul Revere.

History reads that Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr Samuel Prescott helped spread the alarm that "the Regulars were out." They ran into a patrol of 10 mounted British officers meant to prevent the spreading of the word. Revere was captured. Dawes escaped back towards Lexington. Prescott was able to elude the British and carried the alarm to Concord and beyond.

Revere was questioned and finally released. The British confiscated his horse, forcing him to walk back to Lexington.

On Thursday, April 14th, a Naturalization Ceremony was held at North Bridge in Concord. Here is where citizens stood together and risked their lives to defend their rights. How more fitting a place than this to hold such a ceremony?

On Saturday, April 16th, the main events begin. The opening battle of the American Revolution is celebrated in Minute Man National Historic Park with a day full of living history activities with hundreds of Colonial and British re-enactors from many towns and states.

At Hartwell Tavern and the Captain William Smith House in Lincoln, re-enactors and park rangers were available to help the public explore these historic homes as well as watch a variety of 18th century activities including drill and musket demonstrations, 18th century artillery demonstrations, crafts, domestic activities, games..

At Tower Park in Lexington, British and Colonial Re-enactors bring back the Revolutionary War battle using period appropriate weapons and tactics.

In Concord British and Colonial Re-enactors, park rangers and volunteers brought the fateful morning of Apri 19, 1775 to life by reenacting "the shot heard round the world."

On Sunday, April 17th, costumed Re-enactors present a retelling of the first day of the American Revolution from eyewitness accounts performed by members of the Lexington Historical Society, the Lexington Militia and His Majesty's 11t Regiment of Foot at 8pm the Pilgrim Congregational Church . There is a small admission fee. Information may be obtained by calling 781-862-1703

At 11:30pm from the Hancock-Clarke House the Lexington Historical Society, the Lexington Minutemen, and the National Lancers recreate Paul Revere's arrival at midnight with the drama of the reactions of the occupants of the house.

On Monday April 18th, the Town of Lexington celebrates the start of the American Revolution by reenacting the Minutemen arriving at the Green to defend Lexington from the advancing British Redcoats at 5:30am. This is followed by the Lexington Minutemen Company presenting the story of the Battle of Lexington on the Battle Green. Shortly thereafter the Lexington Minutemen, and His Majesty's 10th Regiment of Foot commemorate the 235th anniversary of the first day of the Revolutionary War by reenacting the skirmish that took place on the Lexington Green, early on the morning of April 19, 1775.

Several pancake breakfasts follow at a variety of locations - St Brigid's Church, First Baptist Church of Lexington and the Church of Our Redeemer - to feed the hungry on looks to all these early morning events.

At 9am, 10am. and 11am an orientation film, "The Day The Revolution Began", is shown, followed by questions and answers with the Re-enactors.

On the Battle Green the Lexington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution join members of the Lexington Minutemen in memorial services and to place a wreath at the obelisk across the Green honoring the 8 patriots who fell in the battle.

The National Heritage Museum will hold arts and crafts from 10:30am to 1:30pm depicting life back in 1775.

There will be a concert of patriotic music at the Hancock Church, a Patriot's Day lunch at the First Parish Church, float judging before the 2pm annual parade, and the arrival of Paul Revere who will be greeted by the Board of Selectmen and the Lexington Minutemen Company.

Later in the day at approximately 2pm Lexington holds its annual parade starting at Mass Ave and Maple Street in East Lexington.

In Concord at 6:30am the Concord Minutemen and the Concord Independent Bettery observe the opening battle of the American Revolutionary War with a 21 gun musket and cannon salute. This is followed at 10:30am with the Sudbury Companies of Militia and Minutemen arriving at the North Bridge as an end to their annual march from Sudbury. A musket salute is then held at the Bridge.

On Saturday, April 23rd, the Battle Road Heroes will be at the Hartwell Tavern from 7pm to 8:30pm. The public is invited to walk down a candle lit path to the past, listening to the personal accounts of people who lived along the Battle Road on April 19, 1775 (Captain William Smith, the Lincoln Minutemen, the Hartwells). All proceeds benefit the Friends of Minute Man National Park.

Tories, Thomas B. Allen

Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War, Thomas B. Allen
Harper, 2010
33 pages plus acknowledgments, 76 pages of notes, bibliography and index. No photos
Library: 973.314 ALL

Description
The American Revolution was not simply a battle between independence-minded colonists and the oppresive British. As Thomas B. Allen reminds us, it was also a savage and often deeply personal civil war, in which conflicting visions of America pitted neighbor against neighbor and Patriot against Tory on the battlefield, on the village green, and even in church.

In this outstanding and vital history, Allen tells the complete story of these other Americans, tracing their lives and experiences throughout the revolutionary period. New York City and Philadelphia were Tory strongholds through much of the war, and at times in the Carolinas and Georgia there were more trained and armed Tories than Redcoats. The REvolution also produced one of the greatest - and least known - migrations in Western history. More than 80,000 Tories left America, most of them relocating to Canada.

John Adams once said that he feared there would never be a good history of the American Revolution because so many documents had left the country with the Tories. Based on documents in archives from Nova Scotia to London, Tories adds a fresh perspective to our knowledge of the REvolution and sheds an important new light on the little-known figures whose lives were forever changed when they remained faithful to their mother country.

Wineka column: Hercules of the Revolution

SalisburyPost.com: Wineka column: Hercules of the Revolution
SALISBURY — Travis Bowman sometimes gets lost in his character.

But give him a break. Like Peter Francisco, he is 6 feet, 6 inches tall and in the plus 200-pound range.

Bowman also is a seventh-generation ancestor of the great warrior, the author of a self-published book about this “Hercules of the American Revolution” and producer of a DVD documentary on Francisco’s life.

Dressed in Colonial garb and wielding a 6-foot-long broadsword, Bowman mesmerizes audiences, such as the one Tuesday night at the Rowan History Club, with the Francisco story, which he tells in first person.

But how is it we hardly ever hear of this man, Francisco, described once by George Washington as a one-man army?

“Without him,” Washington said, “we would have lost two crucial battles, perhaps the war, and with it our freedom.”

Five monuments have been erected to Francisco, including one at the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. At least three states have Peter Francisco Days. In 1975, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative 18-cent stamp in his honor as one of the contributors to the cause of freedom.

The stamp said, “Peter Francisco: Fighter Extraordinary.”

A noteworthy painting was done of Francisco’s escape from Tarleton’s Raiders. Francisco was good friends with Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, probably the most famous Frenchman to support the American cause in the Revolution. It was Lafayette who asked Washington to commission the making of a huge broadsword for Francisco, also known as the “Virginia Giant.”

The Francisco story is peppered with his feats of strength, survival of gunshot and bayonet wounds and the beating of overwhelming odds.

And he was 6-6 in height, when the average Colonial man was 5-6.

While he was legendary in his day and may be the most famous private in American military history, Francisco’s name — for most of us — has somehow passed into the storage bins of history. Bowman’s frequent appearances as an actor impersonating his ancestor are partly aimed at correcting that.

“He’s probably the most famous unknown founding father,” Bowman says, knowing how contradictory that statement is.

Bowman, 38, is a sales and marketing consultant by day and lives in Davidson. He made his first appearance as Hercules of the American Revolution in 2008.

Bowman tells his story, as Francisco, up to the point where he is presumed dead on the Guilford Courthouse battlefield. If you want to know more, he teases, you need to buy his book, which he sells, along with the DVD, for $20 each.

Francisco actually lived to the age of 71, dying of appendicitis in 1831. He was married three times, had 12 children who called him “Dad,” Bowman says, and his farmhouse, Locust Grove, is a historic private residence today outside of Buckingham, Va.

It’s difficult to give a capsule summary of Francisco’s life. The Society of the Descendants of Peter Francisco tries with its website to give a straightforward account.

As with other researchers, Bowman believes Francisco was part of a well-to-do family in the Azores when he was kidnapped, possibly for ransom, and taken by ship to the Colonies.

James Durrell of Petersburg, Va., wrote this eyewitness account of the boy’s arrival on a wharf at City Point, Va. (now Hopewell) on June 23, 1765:

“... a foreign ship sailed up the James River, dropped anchor opposite the dock and lowered a kingboat to the water with two sailors in it. Then a boy of about 5 years was handed down and rowed to the wharf, where he was deposited and abandoned. The boat returned, quickly, to its ship. The ship weighed anchor at once, sailed back down the James River and was never heard from again.”

The child could not speak English and kept repeating his name as “Pedro Francisco,” which became Peter Francisco.

Who Francisco’s captors were and why they would abandon him as described remain a mystery. He personally never knew where he was from, though historians later determined with some confidence that he was of Portuguese descent.

The clothing he wore when first landing in Virginia suggested Francisco had been from an aristocratic family.

Judge Anthony Winston soon took the young boy to his plantation, where Bowman contends he was a slave into his teen years. The society says he was an indentured servant, who joined the Continental Army in December 1776.

With others, Francisco heroically held ground during the Battle of Brandywine, giving Washington time for an orderly retreat. At this battle, he was wounded in the leg and ended up recuperating for a couple of weeks with Lafayette.

In June 1778, a musket ball tore through his right thigh as he battled in Monmouth, N.J.

In 1779, Washington handpicked an elite force of 20 men, including Francisco, to storm the Hudson River fortress at Stony Point. The men had to clear a path with axes through two heavy rows of abates, climb a stone cliff and rush the fort.

Francisco was second over the wall and received a 9-inch wound in the stomach. Capt. William Evans reported later that Francisco distinguished himself by numerous acts of bravery during that assault:

“In a charge which was ordered to be made around the flagstaff, he killed three British grenadiers and was the first man who laid hold of the flagstaff and, being badly wounded, laid on it that night and in the morning delivered it to Col. Fleury.

“These circumstances brought Mr. Francisco great notice, and his name was reiterated throughout the whole army.”

Of the 20 men in Washington’s “commando” raid, 17 were killed or wounded.

Some time after the Battle of Camden, Colonel Mayo presented Francisco with his dress sword for having saved the colonel’s life. In this battle, Francisco shot a grenadier who tried to stick Mayo with a bayonet. He also supposedly sidestepped two sword attacks by British soldiers on horses and lifted one of the cavalrymen out of his saddle by bayonet.

It also was at the Camden battle where Francisco is said to have picked up a 1,100-pound cannon and carried it away from the British — the scene depicted on the 1975 commemorative stamp.

When Cornwallis had his artillery fire grape shot into the center of the fight at Guilford Courthouse, Francisco was seriously wounded and left for dead on the battlefield.

A Quaker gentleman named Robinson found him, took Francisco to his house and nursed him to recovery. His dramatic escape from Tarleton’s Raiders came in 1781.

The Society of Descendants of Peter Francisco say he “performed deeds without parallel” during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. It adds:

“He cut down 11 men with his broadsword; had his leg pinned to a horse by the bayonet of a guardsman — but as the soldier turned and fled, Peter made a blow with his sword and managed to cleft the fellow’s head down to his shoulder before he fell.”

Bowman says the Virginia Hercules suffered six serious wounds during the war. He thinks Francisco was never made an officer because he could not read or write during the Revolution.

Bowman’s book about Francisco is a novel, which uses what’s known about Francisco’s life as its framework. His own 6-foot sword was fashioned by a man in Chapel Hill who once had been a craftsman in Colonial Williamsburg.

The fate of the original broadsword is unknown.

Maybe the Hercules of the American Revolution took it with him.

Peter Francisco
Born: circa 1760 in the Azores, off the coast of Portugal

Found: At age 5 on the docks of City Point (now Hopewell), Va.

Early life: Worked 11 years as an indentured servant or slave in the fields and blacksmith shop of Hunting Tower Plantation in Buckingham County, Va.

Size: 6 feet, 6 inches tall and 260 pounds by age 15

Nicknames: “Virginia Giant,” “Virginia Hercules”

Revolutionary War: Enlisted in 10th Virginia Regiment, Continental Army, December 1776. Reenlisted three years later in Virginia Militia under Col. Mayo.

Notable battles: Brandywine, Stony Point, Camden and Guilford Courthouse

Notable encounters: Escaped from Tarleton’s Raiders, wounding two men and making off with eight British horses.

Notable feat of strength: At Battle of Camden, not wanting an important artillery piece to fall into British hands, Francisco loosened an 1,100-pound cannon, shouldered it and carried it to a carriage for safe transport to American lines.

Witness to history: Heard Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech; and was on hand for Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown, Va., in 1781.

Legacy: Because of their strong Portuguese communities, New Bedford, Mass., has a monument to him in Peter Francisco Square, and Newark, N.J., has a Peter Francisco Park.

Died: Jan. 16, 1871. Buried in Shockoe Hill Cemetery in Richmond, Va.

Civil War vs. Revolution: A Rhetorical Shift?

ABC News: Civil War vs. Revolution: A Rhetorical Shift?
April 12, 2011 1:14 PM

PrintRSSShare:EmailMoreFarkTechnoratiGoogleLiveMy SpaceNewsvineRedditDeliciousMixxYahooThe past several years in politics have felt steeped in talk of revolution. But on this 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, there seems to have been a quiet shift in the media and around the water cooler. Revolution is out; Civil war is in.

Republicans and Tea Party activists have embraced the trappings of the American revolution in recent years. From the reading of the Constitution on the House floor after Republicans regained control to talk of how the founding fathers would view the country today to the tri-corner hats worn at Tea Party protests – their movement has been about rejecting the yoke of government, be it in the form of taxes or mandated health insurance.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is exploring a run for the Republican presidential nomination, released a web video this year that exemplifies the use of revolutionary rhetoric. Alongside American flags flown in the video are the yellow, coiled snake “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flags, which have been adopted by the Tea Party. Pawlenty, in the video, riffs on the opening lines of the Constitution when he says that “We the People of the United States will rise up again. We will take back our government.”

But after so much talk of revolution, there is renewed interest in the periods after the U.S. liberated itself from Great Britain.

PBS, fighting to retain its government funding, has been replaying its seminal and epic documentary masterpiece: The Civil War by Ken Burns. An image of a beardless Abraham Lincoln, doctored to make him appear to be crying, adorns the cover of Time Magazine this week. The provocative headline: “Why We’re Still Fighting the Civil War.”

Robert Redford is out with a new movie about the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and a Steven Spielberg biopic on Lincoln is in the works.

And there is something of a rhetorical shift among some Democrats too, as they argue in favor of supporting some government institutions. Jerry Brown, the Democratic Governor of California, during a local TV interview, compared divisions between the parties now to divisions during the civil war, though he said it is unlikely people in the U.S. will take up arms against each other.

“We are at a point of civil discord, and I would not minimize the risk to our country and to our state. It is not trivial,” said Brown. “I’ve been around a long time, I’m a student of history, I’m a student of contemporary politics. We are facing what I would call a ‘regime crisis.’ The legitimacy of our very democratic institutions are in question,” he said.

Note: There are problems of scale comparing current times to either period. The Civil War saw more than 600,000 Americans die. Even the most ardent Tea Partier does not seem to be advocating an overthrow of the entire U.S. government.

Revolutionary War events featured this weekend

Revolutionary War events featured this weekend
The New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site will host a weekend of Revolutionary War military firing demonstrations and period activities from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

The Revolutionary War Encampment Weekend will be presented by the Brigade of the American Revolution, an international organization dedicated to recreating the life and times of the common soldier of the War for Independence, 1775-83.

A battle demonstration will take place at 2 p.m. each day, with colorfully uniformed soldiers firing muskets and maneuvering to the music of fifes and drums.

The soldiers will also set up tents, prepare cooking fires and demonstrate other aspects of 18th-century life.

At 3 p.m. Saturday, historian Norm Fuss will present a talk on "The Battle of Great Bridge: the South's Bunker Hill."

At 3 p.m. Sunday, historian Barnet Schecter will give a talk on his latest book, "George Washington's America: a Biography Through His Maps." After the presentation, he will have copies of his book for sale.

At 10:15 a.m. Sunday, Fuss will give a presentation on "Surviving Military Uniforms in North American Repositories."

At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Eric Schnitzer, park historian at Saratoga National Historical Park, will present a primer on using artwork for living history clothing documentation.

All lectures are open to the public.


18th-century lifestyle
Members of the Brigade of the American Revolution use this weekend to teach the latest knowledge in re-creating life from that era. Through lectures and demonstrations, a wide variety of 18th-century period life is revealed.

The New Windsor Cantonment site staff will be present to perform blacksmithing, woodworking and military medicine Saturday and Sunday.


Purple Heart Hall of Honor
In addition to the special programs and activities, the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor and the New Windsor Cantonment Visitor Center will be open.

These buildings feature the history of the New Windsor Cantonment, "Behind Every Great Man: The Continental Army in Winter, 1782-83," Revolutionary War artifacts, the exhibit "The Last Argument of Kings: Revolutionary War Artillery" and the story of the Purple Heart.

A picnic grove is available, and there will be living history demonstrations from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is free.

The New Windsor Cantonment is co-located with the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor at 374 Temple Hill Road, Route 300, in the Town of New Windsor, four miles east of Stewart Airport and a short drive from Washington's Headquarters in Newburgh.

For more information, call 561-1765, ext. 22.

Concord ceremony honoring Revolution canceled amid federal shutdown fears

Boston.com: Concord ceremony honoring Revolution canceled amid federal shutdown fears
By Jose Martinez, Globe Correspondent

In a shot that may be heard 'round the nation, Concord officials canceled tomorrow’s kickoff Patriots Day event marking the dawn of the American Revolution because of the looming threat of a federal government shutdown.

At Meriam’s Corner, members of the Concord Independent Battery planned to fire their cannon at 1 p.m. tomorrow while the area’s Minute Man companies marked the fighting that pushed the British regulars back to Boston on April 19, 1775.

But the exercise — which kicks off a raft of Patriots Day events this month — was called off because it would have taken place at the Minute Man National Historical Park, which will close if a federal shutdown takes place at midnight tonight.

‘‘We hated to do this, but we really felt we had no choice,’’ said Joel Bohy, co-chairman of Concord’s Public Ceremonies and Celebrations Committee, which canceled the event after meeting with park, police and fire officials. ‘‘We had to make a decision and notify people.’’

Police details in Concord also figured into the discussion, since US Senator Scott Brown is slated for a book signing at the Colonial Inn tomorrow afternoon, Bohy said. The book signing is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. on the front porch, according to the Colonial Inn.

Should Congress fail to strike a deal to keep the federal government running, nonessential workers, including the park’s rangers, would be furloughed and the parks shut down. The park’s chief planner said he was preparing for the likelihood he will have to chain shut the parking lots and cancel numerous events meant to commemorate Patriot’s Day.

‘‘It’s a shame. I just had a phone call from someone in Ohio saying they were planning to fly in for Patriot’s Day weekend. I had to tell them to keep watching TV. We might be closed,’’ said Lou Sideris, chief of planning and communications at the park encompassing the historical battlegrounds in Lincoln and Concord where colonists battled British troops on the first day of the Revolution.

But like the colonists who fought back and eventually routed the British 236 years ago, the history buffs who prepare annually for the region’s Patriots Day activities were already mobilizing to outflank the quarreling members of Congress.

In Lincoln, Captain Stephen McCarthy of the Lincoln Minute Men said the group would play their commemoration of the capture of Paul Revere by ear tomorrow afternoon. If the park is open, the 3 p.m. event will go off as scheduled at the site along Route 2A where his famed ride ended.

‘‘We are not canceling. We are reconfiguring. If the park is closed, we will direct people to Lincoln Town Center, to Bemis Hall,’’ McCarthy said. ‘‘There is a cemetery across the street there with Revolutionary War soldiers buried in it. It really isn’t that far away, just a 10 minute drive.’’

If necessary, Concord officials will re-route the April 18 Patriot’s Day parade around a highwater route that sticks to roadways rather than crossing the Minute Man Park and old North Bridge.

The traditional April 19 Dawn Salute on the hillside overlooking old North Bridge to commemorate the arrival of Samuel Prescott, the only alarm rider to reach Concord ahead of the advancing corps of regulars intent on seizing arms stashed in the town, would be relocated across the street to the Old Manse.

‘‘We decided to cancel the Meriam’s Corner event, but we have Plan Bs for other events if there is a government shut down,’’ said Bohy.

Nor would a shutdown affect the reenactment of the Battle on Lexington Green, scheduled for 5:30 a.m. on April 18.

‘‘It won’t have any effect at all on the battle,’’ said William Mix, Captain Commanding of the Lexington Minute Men. ‘‘The Lexington Battle Green is run by the town.’’

But a lengthy federal shutdown could scuttle plans on National Park property for battle reenactments and ceremonies leading up to Patriot’s Day.

The full-scale reenactment on Saturday, April 16, of the fighting at North Bridge and up Battle Road could be canceled if the federal government shuts down. The event is expected to draw thousands of spectators as more than 300 British regulars and colonial Minute Men trade volleys from the famous ambush at Bloody Angle eastward toward Hartwell Tavern about a half-mile away.

An April 14 naturalization ceremony to swear-in 50 new US citizens from 29 countries on the hillside overlooking the North Bridge also would have to be rescheduled if not relocated.

An evening reenactment of the capture of Revere by British soldiers on Friday, April 15 at Bloody Angle would be canceled, Sideris said.

“We’ve given everyone a heads up. I think a really big effect if we are closed, starting next week, will be all the school groups,” Sideris said. “This is the time of year we do a lot of ranger programs with schools, with interactive education. They come in, they meet a British soldier or a Minute Man. They would all have to be canceled.”

Sideris said the now-canceled Meriam’s Corner Exercise is an important part of the annual festivities.

“The Meriam’s Corner event really is the kickoff for our Patriots Day observances,” Sideris said. “We have done an awful lot of restoration around the Battle Road, which refers to the path the British had to follow as they fought all the way back to Boston Harbor – 16 miles and all along the way the colonists were firing on them.”

Exhibit looks at the King James Version's role in the American Revolution

Philly.com: Exhibit looks at the King James Version's role in the American Revolution
April 06, 2011|By David O'Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer

The Rev. Timothy Safford of Christ Church with the Vinegar Bible of 1717, so called because of its…In an age when the fires of revolution are spread through cyberspace, it's hard to imagine that the leather-bound volumes resting in display cases at Old Christ Church once had the same incendiary effect.

But the Authorized King James Edition of the Bible, translated into English 400 years ago from Latin and Greek with the aid of earlier versions, was nothing short of a radical text whose populist ethos sowed the seeds of the American Revolution.

"It was the colonists' belief - which they discovered in Scripture, in English - that humankind is free because freedom is an inalienable right endowed by their divine maker," the Rev. Timothy Safford said Tuesday.

It is "justly famous for its beautiful language," he said. "But it also has an American story - and a Philadelphia story."

A first-edition King James "pulpit Bible," printed in 1611, is among 19 historic Bibles on exhibit through the end of May at the church, on North Second Street in Old City.

Most of the well-worn tomes have been in the church's collection for centuries. Chances are, many of the nation's founders - the likes of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, James Madison, and Benjamin Rush - sat in the painted pews and heard the Holy Writ read from some of them.

On Thursday only, an even rarer treasure will be put on display: an "Aitken's" Bible, on brief loan from the Library Company of Philadelphia.

That Bible, Safford said, represented a "second Declaration of Independence."

In 1782, the Continental Congress decided not to use the Bible authorized by the crown, and cast about for a citizen of the colonies to authorize an American version. Local printer Robert Aitken was commissioned to publish a King James edition, true to the original but expressly printed for the new nation. It was turned over to the Rev. William White, rector of Christ Church and chaplain to Congress, to declare it authoritative.

Historians at the church speculate that White simply proofread Aitken's pages as they came off the presses, comparing them with his own texts and pronouncing them accurate.

"The King James Version may be 400 years old," said Safford, "but it's also the Bible of the Revolution."

Also on display at the church is a massive, lavishly illustrated "Vinegar Bible" of 1717. Its nickname derives from its many typographical errors, the most famous of which is its reference to the "Parable of the Vineyard" as the "Parable of the Vinegar."

Morristown National Historical Park to host "Revolutionary Times Weekend'

Daily Record (New Jersey): Morristown National Historical Park to host "Revolutionary Times Weekend'
The Morristown National Historical Park will host a "Revolutionary Times Weekend," beginning April 15, in an effort to promote the importance of Morristown and New Jersey to the American Revolution.

All of the weekend activities will be held at sites within the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area to maintain a high level of authenticity. Most of the events are free and open to the public.

"The Morristown National Historical Park area is significant because Washington actually camped there during the Revolutionary War," said Justin Monetti, the park's chief of interpretation. "The other sites will generally serve to make it as it was during the time period."

Event topics are diverse, with the intent of encompassing most elements of 18th-century life. Participants can learn firsthand how food was prepared during the time period, as well as take part in traditional spinning and weaving demonstrations.

A Martha Washington Tea and Reception follows the opening ceremony on April 15, and a cocktail reception and conversation with Alexander Hamilton (as portrayed by a costumed interpreter) will take place on the same day.

There will be a Jockey Hollow Continental Army Encampment with the Helms Company, a group of volunteers dedicated to portraying New Jersey's second regiment in the Revolutionary War.

To help make a lasting impression, Helms Company will be assisted by approximately 40 additional costumed re-enactors as they present military and camp-life demonstrations throughout the day, including special "recruitment drills" for children.

"Quite a few people come out to the campsite," said Monetti. "Events are going on all day long, so it's a steady flow of people."

This year's "Revolutionary Times Weekend" is further aided in its effort to seamlessly connect New Jersey residents with its history by coinciding with Morristown's "Downtown Morristown Restaurant Week" on April 15 and April 16. "Restaurant Week" businesses will offer menus with fixed prices for lunch and/or dinner, or special promotions in their establishments.

Additionally, throughout the weekend, Morristown National Historical Park and National Park Service sales items and souvenirs from the park's gift shops will be available for purchase in downtown Morristown at the following locations: Del's Novelty & Party Supply Shop, 84 Elm St.; Greenberry's Coffee & Tea Company, 46 Park Place; International Pottery, 8 South St., and Swaine's of Morristown at 68 South St.

"I've really never touted myself as an extreme history buff, but this is a really wonderful experience for anyone, especially families," said Monetti. "Most of the events taking place are free, and in these tough economic times, it's great to have something that everyone can enjoy that won't cost you much."