The 250th Anniversary of What, Specifically?
I keep hearing about the 250th anniversary of the US and the really big beautiful celebration thereof scheduled for later this year. This prompted me to post this refresher of some of the key dates in early US history including the official start of the new US government under the US Constitution on March 4, 1789 for everybody's use and reference, or not, as they see fit.
July 4 1776: Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence,
August 10, 1776: England found out about the Declaration of Independence.
November 15, 1777: The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation,
March 1, 1781: The Articles of Confederation officially went into effect after being ratified by all 13 states.
September 3, 1783: The Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the American Revolutionary War,
September 17, 1787: The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia, resulting in the drafting of the United States Constitution.
June 21, 1788: The U.S. Constitution was officially ratified after New Hampshire became the ninth state to approve it.
March 4, 1789: First US Congress began. This is the official start of the new US government under the US Constitution.
April 30, 1789: George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States.
August 7, 1789: U.S. Department of War was established.
September 2, 1789: U.S. Department of the Treasury was established.
September 24, 1789: Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing judicial branch, was passed.
July 16, 1790: The District of Columbia was created as US Capitol
Comments
Given the rest of US history, I would suggest that we consider
the real birth of the nation to be on August 7, 1789, when the U.S. Department of War was established. Just sayin',
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
There's no future in cynicism.
That kind of petty-bourgeois self-flagellation is nothing but salt upon scorched earth, and wind beneath the wings of MAGA-Communism.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
It is not so much cynicism but empiricism. The usual
reliable sources assert that the US has beeen at peace for only 17 years since 1776. If true, that would be 6.8% of our history, but I am at a loss to guess when the fuck those 17 years might have been.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I see what you mean.
My point is, that's not what we want it to be, and America is unusual (if not unique) in being founded on a vision - and what's more, in having nothing BUT that vision to hold it together.
Funny thing is, I could argue my case by saying that even those 17 "years without war" were no such thing. We are still bitterly fighting the same war that started 250 years ago, we've simply spent most of that time losing.
As The Empire dies, now could be the Democracy's chance to finally change that.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
It is simply
the 250th anniversary of professional wrestling, at this point.
'Murka Fuk Yeah! Hold my beer and watch this...
Not a fan.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Might we be celebrating
the day white landowners/possibly slave owners declared they wanted to unite against paying taxes to England, and having people pay taxes to them instead? Or, some variation of that...
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
My view is far closer to that. I think it wasn't even the
paying of taxes so much as not having a say in what was taxed and who paid it and, Especially, how the funds were spent. White males of the propertied class listed their grievances in the declaration, fwiw, but an articulated watchword was "no taxation without representation", these were non - hoi polloi Brits and they wanted to participate in government and decision making, seats in parliament, local governments, and all that. The didn't want and actually feared universal suffrage, which is why we have a bicameral legislature, a House(of commons) and a Senate (House of Lords).
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --