Kenneth C. Davis's Blog, page 60
December 18, 2016
Who Said It (12.18.2016)
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (enacted in 1786)
Thomas Jefferson. “An Act for Establishing Religious Freedom,” 16 January 1786. Manuscript. Records of the General Assembly, Enrolled Bills, Record Group 78. Lab# 07_0071_01. Image courtesy the Library of Virginia
“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened (sic) in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief …”
The original language of this legislation was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. His draft is lost. Here is the full text go the act as passed from Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson, third president (Source: White House)
James Madison later revised the bill, and under his direction, it became part of Virginia law in 1786 — a year before the U.S. Constitution was drafted.
Madison later called upon these ideas to draft what became the 1st Amendment to the Constitution.
John Adams, Second POTUS , official portrit (Source White House Historical Association)
Jefferson considered this law, along with writing the Declaration of Independence and founding the University of Virginia as his three most significant accomplishments , the three achievements engraved on his tombstone.
Read more about the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom at Learning Resources from Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson’s Grave Marker at Monticello
December 9, 2016
Who Said It? (12/9/2016)
George Washington, Last Will and Testament (dated July 9, 1799). George Washington died on December 14, 1799.
And to my Mulatto man William (calling himself William Lee) I give immediate freedom; or if he should prefer it (on account of the accidents which hae befallen him, and which have rendered him incapable of walking or of any active employment) to remain in the situation he now is, it shall be optional in him to do so: In either case however, I allow him an annuity of thirty dollars during his natural life, whic shall be independent of the victuals and cloaths he has been accustomed to receive, if he chuses the last alternative; but in full, with his freedom, if he prefers the first; & this I give him as a testony of my sense of his attachment to me, and for his faithful services during the Revolutionary War.
Portrait of George Washington, Gilbert Stuart
William Lee was purchased by George Washington from a neighbor in October 1767. “Billy” Lee served Washington as personal attendant for decades, including every day of the Revolution. He attended Washington in Philadelphia in 1787 when the Constitution was debated and went to New York in 1789 to serve the first President. Practically crippled after a series of accidents, Lee was forced to return to Mount Vernon where he lived out his days.
“George Washington prepared his will alone, without, as he attested, any ‘professional character’ being ‘consulted’ or having ‘any Agency in the draught.’ He dated the will, the work of many ‘leisure hours,’ the ‘ninth day of July’ in 1799, probably the date that he finished making the final copy….His executors presented the new will for probate within a month, on 10 January 1800, to the Fairfax County Court, in whose custody it remains. A few days thereafter the will was printed in Alexandria. It then circulated throughout the country in pamphlet form.”
William Lee was the only person enslaved by Washington who was emancipated immediately upon Washington’s death, as the will stipulated. He remained at Mount Vernon until his death, the date of which is not known. His remains are presumed to be buried in the African American burial ground at Mount Vernon.
The complete story of William Lee and his relationship with Washington is told in my recent book, In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives.
December 8, 2016
In the Shadow of Liberty- A Finalist for 2017 Award for Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction
IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SLAVERY, FOUR PRESIDENTS, AND FIVE BLACK LIVES has been selected as a finalist for the 2017 Award for Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction by YALSA –the Young Adult Library Service Association of the American Library Association.
YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.
The nomination reads:
In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis, and published by Henry Holt, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
“In a clear-eyed, well-researched work, Davis looks at the relationship between five enslaved persons and the former presidents who considered them property. In weaving together the story of these lives, Davis explains the contradiction between America’s founding ideals and the harsh reality of human bondage. Utilizing personal narratives, census data, images, and other primary source material, this book explains a heartbreaking chapter in American history that is both fascinating and deeply disturbing.”
December 5, 2016
Don’t Know Much About® Van Buren
President Martin Van Buren (Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
(Post updated 12/5/2016)
OK –Literally.
Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States, was born on December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York, making him the first American president born a U.S. citizen. Van Buren was also known as “Old Kinderhook, or “OK,” the origin of that American expression.
Van Buren was also the first New Yorker elected President. He was a crafty political power broker who mastered the art of “machine politics” and helped bring New York into Andrew Jackson’s column in 1828. He became Jackson’s Secretary of State and later his vice president. He won the presidential election of 1836. But his presidency was tainted by the Panic of 1837, a deep economic depression that lasted seven years. He was defeated in 1840 by William Henry Harrison of the Whig Party.
Fast Facts:
•Van Buren was the first president not of English descent. Growing up in a Dutch-speaking household, he was also the only president who spoke English as a second language.
•As a young attorney, he became the protege of Aaron Burr. Due to a passing resemblance and their political and professional connections, it was rumored that he was Burr’s son, gossip thoroughly dismissed by historians.
•Elected Governor of New York in November 1828, Van Buren took the office on January 1, 1829 but resigned on March 12, 1829 to become secretary of state, making him the shortest tenured governor in New York history.
•During Van Buren’s administration, the removal of native Americans from the Southeast accelerated including the removal of the Cherokee on the “Trail of Tears.”
•The Congressional “gag rule” was passed during his presidency; the rule forbid any discussion of petitions relating to slavery, including banning slavery in Washington, D.C, as mentioned in Van Buren’s inaugural address above.
•Failing to win the Democratic nomination in 1844, Van Buren became the first president to run on a third party ticket when he joined the Free Soil Party as its candidate in 1848.
You can read more about his life at the Martin Van Buren Historical Site (National Parks Service) and at the Library of Congress.
And read more about Van Buren and his administration in Don’t Know Much About® the American Presidents
Don’t Know Much About® the American Presidents (Hyperion Paperback-April 15, 2014)
November 22, 2016
Two for Thanksgiving: Real First Pilgrims & Holiday’s History
Like the Macy’s parade, here is my Thanksgiving tradition. I post two articles about the holiday that I wrote for the New York Times.
The first, from 2008, is called “A French Connection” and tells the story of the real first Pilgrims in America. They were French. In Florida. Fifty years before the Mayflower sailed. It did not end with a happy meal. In fact, it ended in a religious massacre.
TO commemorate the arrival of the first pilgrims to America’s shores, a June date would be far more appropriate, accompanied perhaps by coq au vin and a nice Bordeaux. After all, the first European arrivals seeking religious freedom in the “New World” were French. And they beat their English counterparts by 50 years. That French settlers bested the Mayflower Pilgrims may surprise Americans raised on our foundational myth, but the record is clear.
The complete story can be found in America’s Hidden History.
America’s Hidden History, includes tales of “Forgotten Founders”
The second is “How the Civil War Created Thanksgiving” (2014) and tells the story of the Union League providing Thanksgiving dinners to Union troops.
Of all the bedtime-story versions of American history we teach, the tidy Thanksgiving pageant may be the one stuffed with the heaviest serving of myth. This iconic tale is the main course in our nation’s foundation legend, complete with cardboard cutouts of bow-carrying Native American cherubs and pint-size Pilgrims in black hats with buckles. And legend it largely is.
In fact, what had been a New England seasonal holiday became more of a “national” celebration only during the Civil War, with Lincoln’s proclamation calling for “a day of thanksgiving” in 1863.
Enjoy them both. Now for some football.
Don’t Know Much About® History: Anniversary Edition (Harper Perennial and Random House Audio)
Don’t Know Much About the Civil War (Harper paperback, Random House Audio)
Now In paperback THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF AMERICA AT WAR: Untold Tales from Yorktown to Fallujah
November 20, 2016
IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: “Best Children’s and Young Adult Books of 2016”
The Washington Post has named In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives one of its Best Children’s and Young Adult Books of 2016.
Davis looks at five people who were enslaved by presidents before and after the American Revolution as a corrective to history books that hide or play down slavery’s role in the United States. Details about these enslaved people are known because of their connection to powerful men, but Davis makes clear that they were impressive people in their own right.
—“Best Children’s and Young Adult Books of 2016,”Washington Post (November 17, 2016)
In the Shadow of Liberty (Available for pre-order and in stores on 9/20)
Who Said It? (11/20/2016)
Thomas Paine, The American Crisis (No. 1) (December 1776)
It was the darkest hour in the American revolution.
When Fort Lee in New Jersey fell to the British on November 20, 1776, the Continental Army led by George Washington was forced to retreat into Pennsylvania after a series of crushing defeats. The rebellion was on the verge of collapse.
The same man who had anonymously published Common Sense wrote a clarion call to service in the patriot cause. First in a series of pamphlets, Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis (No. 1) was published in December 1776 and Washington had it read to his demoralized troops.
THESE are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain, too cheap, we esteem too lightly….
It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, shall suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now, is dead: The blood of his children shall curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Source and Complete Text: Library of Congress “Thomas Paine Writes ‘The American Crisis'”
Important words to remember. America has survived many great crises. But it has required courage and persistence. “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.”
November 18, 2016
Don’t Know Much About® Executive Order 9066
“Trump Camp’s Talk of Registry and Japanese Internment Raises Muslim Fears” (New York Times, November 17, 2016)
It raises the fears of anyone who knows what “Internment” means. This is an update of a post published in February 2015 but reposted today in light of comments made by a prominent supporter of president-elect Trump, as reported in the New York Times.
Dorothea Lange
In this 1942 Dorothea Lange photograph from the book “Impounded,” a family in Hayward, Calif., awaits an evacuation bus.
Franklin D. Roosevelt famously told Americans when he was inaugurated in 1933:
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself
But on February 19, 1942 –a little more than two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor— President Roosevelt allowed America’s fear to provoke him into an action regarded among his worst mistakes. He issued Executive Order 9066.
The result of this Executive Order was the policy of “relocating” some 120,000 Japanese Americans, and a smaller number of German and Italian Americans, into “internment camps.”
I have written about the subject of the internment of the Japanese American population in the past. I relink these today, including this post on the birthday of Ansel Adams, who photographed the internment camp at Manzanar, and another on photojournalist Dorothea Lange, who also documented the period. Both of these posts include links to other resources on the history of “Internment.”
Photo: (National Park Service, Jeffery Burton, photographer
Among these resources is a site devoted to the War Relocation Camps –a Teaching With Historic Places Lesson Plan from the National Park Service called “When Fear Was Stronger than Justice.”
November 17, 2016
IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: A “Best Children’s and Young Adult Book of 2016”
The Washington Post has named In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives one of its Best Children’s and Young Adult Books of 2016.
Davis looks at five people who were enslaved by presidents before and after the American Revolution as a corrective to history books that hide or play down slavery’s role in the United States. Details about these enslaved people are known because of their connection to powerful men, but Davis makes clear that they were impressive people in their own right.
—“Best Children’s and Young Adult Books of 2016,”Washington Post (November 17, 2016)
In the Shadow of Liberty (Available for pre-order and in stores on 9/20)
November 13, 2016
Who Said It (11/13/2016)
Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)
“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
Complete Text Source: Avalon Project/Yale Law School
Learn more about the Gettysburg Address in Don’t Know Much About the Civil War and more about American slavery and the presidency in IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY.
Don’t Know Much About the Civil War (Harper paperback, Random House Audio)
In the Shadow of Liberty
