#United States Declaration of Independence

[whencyclopedia]

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was an American lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. A prominent figure of the American Revolution, he wrote the Declaration of Independence and later served as the first secretary of state, the second vice president, and the third president of the United States (served 1801-1809).

Early Life

Thomas Jefferson was born on 13 April 1743 at Shadwell Plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was the third of ten children born to Peter Jefferson, a wealthy planter and land surveyor, and Jane Randolph Jefferson, a daughter of one of Virginia's most influential families. When Peter Jefferson died in 1757, 14-year-old Thomas inherited 5,000 acres of land as well as 60 enslaved people. From 1758 to 1760, he was privately tutored by Reverend James Maury before going on to the colonial capital of Williamsburg to attend the College of William & Mary. In his first year at college, he spent lavishly on parties, horses, and clothing, but he would soon regret this "showy style of living" (Boles, 18). His second year, therefore, was much more studious; he would apparently spend 15 hours a day at his studies, pausing only to exercise or to practice his violin.

The studious Jefferson soon became the protégé of mathematics professor William Small, who he would fondly remember as "the first truly enlightened or scientific man" he had ever met (Boles, 17). Small introduced Jefferson to the two other great intellectuals in Williamsburg – law professor George Wythe and Lt. Governor Francis Fauquier – and, at their weekly dinner parties, the four men would discuss politics and philosophy, greatly influencing the young Jefferson's political and intellectual development.

After completing his formal studies in 1762, Jefferson remained in Williamsburg to study law under Wythe and was admitted to the Virginia bar five years later in 1767. In 1768, he was elected to the House of Burgesses, representing Albemarle County. That same year, he began construction of a new home atop an 868-foot-high (265 m) mountain that overlooked his plantation. Called Monticello – Italian for "little mountain" – the house became the passion of Jefferson's life, and he would spend the next several decades designing and renovating it. The actual labor, of course, was mostly performed by his slaves; over the course of his lifetime, Jefferson owned approximately 600 enslaved people, most of whom were born into slavery on his property.

In 1772, after several failed romantic pursuits, Jefferson was finally married to the beautiful young widow Martha Wayles Skelton. Five years his junior, Martha shared his passions for literature and music; indeed, they often played music together – she on the harpsichord, he on the violin. The couple would have six children, only two of whom – Martha 'Patsy' (1772-1836) and Mary 'Polly' (1778-1804) – would survive to adulthood. When Jefferson's father-in-law died in 1773, he and Martha inherited 11,000 acres of land and 135 more enslaved people. By then, Jefferson had become involved with Virginia's struggle against Great Britain. Parliament's attempts to tax the colonists without their consent were vehemently opposed by the American Patriots, who saw such taxes as violations of their 'rights as Englishmen'. In 1774, Jefferson argued as much in his A Summary View of the Rights of British America. In it, he asserted that the colonies had the right to govern themselves, that they were tied to the English king only through voluntary bonds and that Parliament had no right to interfere in their affairs. This work earned him recognition as a Patriot leader in Virginia and led to his appointment as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the spring of 1775.

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[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

National Treasure (2004, Jon Turteltaub)

27/06/2024

[donotdestroy]

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

[timmurleyart]

Dancing under the sky. 🇺🇸🧨💥🧨🧨🔴⚪️🔵

[bearfoottruck]

Just a reminder, the Declaration of Independence contains this little gem:

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Think about that.

[eagle-of-siwa]

Happy Fourth of July!!! Never forget those who helped the cause in America’s Independence (including Connor)

[nocternalrandomness]

"Declaration of Independence" by John Trumbull

[thepastisalreadywritten]

[maryellencarter]

you know, the preamble to the (us) constitution is by far the shortest piece of english writing i've ever failed to memorize

[dedibelyegei]

Újra átnyergelünk a Tengerentúlra, vagy hát inkább átrepülünk, mert egy légiposta bélyeg kerül terítékre. Ezt a négytagú airmail sorozatot két évig nyomták, 1959-60-ban, a képen látható darab pedig a legkisebb tagja. Érdekes, hogy a sorozat neve hivatalosan New Daily Stamps, de amúgy meg a szabadsággal kapcsolatos jelentős amerikai jelképek láthatók rajtuk, úgymint ezen a 10 centesen a híres Liberty Bell, a sárga 15 centes két változatán (csak a fogazat különbözik) a Szabadság szobor, illetve a piros 25 centesen maga Lincoln a hármas jelmondattal. A bélyegekből több tízmilliót nyomtak, ebből a 10 centesből, konkrétan 40 milliót, így bár régi, de nem érnek nagyon sokat, egy ilyen használt kb. 100 forintot, egy posztatiszta pedig 3-400 forintot.

Írnék azért pár szót erről a harangról is, hiszen ez nem egy akármilyen harang! Az amerikai függetlenség egyik legjelentősebb jelképe, melyet Londonból rendeltek meg 1752-ben. Már egy évvel előtte megépítették a tornyát Pennsylvania State House területén - ma a Szabadság Csarnokaként ismert az épület - ahol a 945 kilós harang 1753-ban foglalja el helyét. Egy idézet van belevésve a Leviták könyvéből angolul: 'Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.' (25:10). A harang első megszólaltatásakor megrepedt, aztán ez a repedés terjedt még, további két megszólaltatáskor. Eredetileg akkor szólaltatták meg, amikor a törvényhozókat összehívták határozathozatalra, illetve nagyobb városi események kezdésekor. A Függetlenségi Nyilatkozat kihirdetésekor, 1776 július 8-án az akkori Egyesült Államok összes harangját megszólaltatták egyszerre, így ezt is, de a jellegzetes nagy repedés ami látható rajta nem ekkor keletkezett, hanem valamikor a XIX.század elején, erről különböző mendemondák szólnak, hogy kinek a hatására.

A harang 1847-ben lett országszerte híres és vált jelképpé, amikor is elkezdett terjedni egy történet, hogy egy idő harangozó megszólaltatta 1776 július 4-én, amikor megtudta, hogy kongresszus megszavazta a függetlenséget. Azóta persze kiderült, és kutatók megerősítették, hogy a harang (legalább is ezügyben) nem szólalhatott meg aznap, mivel semmilyen bejelentés nem történt a Nyilatkozat elfogadásáról aznap semmilyen városban, az információ a falak között maradt. Ennek ellenére a nép a mai napig akkor és azóta is elfogadja ezt a történetet, és persze kétkedők is vannak a mai napig, a lényeg, hogy a harang tulajdonképpen egy légből kapott sztori mentén lett az ország egyik fontos jelképe. Ez olyannyira így volt, hogy 1885-től Philadelphia városa elkezdte különböző alkalmakra, különböző városoknak kölcsönadni: utazóharang lett belőle! Ahogy az lenni szokott ebből persze probléma lett, egyrészt a repedés a sok ide-oda pakolástól elkezdett aggasztóan nőni, másrészt a gátlástalanabb lakosok elkezdtek törni belőle apró darabokat szuvenírnek. Ezért aztán 1915 óta, a harang nem hagyta már el helyét, és nem adják oda senkinek (nagyon helyes)!

[angelkeitai]

i recieved a small booklet containing the entirety of the constitution of the united states and the declaration of independence as a gift a few months before the school year ended

[donutsandbagels]

X

[rabbitcruiser]

The first formal public readings of the Declaration of Independence of the United States took place on July 8, 1776 in Philadelphia by John Nixon in the yard of Independence Hall.

[tenaciousmoneymuffinzine]

Anyway, shoutout to these guys today

And happy 247th anniversary of the signing of this awesome document

[wolfspaw]

[vaspider]

Listen to me. Listen very carefully:

They are trying to wear you out.

They are trying to wear you out, and they own most major social media now, along with many major media outlets. The disinformation machine is cranking along. You are going to have to slow the fuck down and read things before you help them wear out other people, too.

So you just saw a post about a real scary bill, hunh? Republicans want to make it a capital offense to pet dogs and repeal The Sky Is Blue Act of 1793, declaring the new official color of the sky to be squant? Damn, that sounds scary.

Let's go look up this fictitious "Make The Sky Squant Again Act" on GovTracker* & on the official legislative tracker on congress.gov!

Well, let's see... GovTracker estimates it has a 1% chance of even getting out of committee and a 0% chance of being enacted, while congress.gov says this bill has 2 cosponsors who have been in the House and combined total of less than a month. The bill doesn't have any actual text, and it was referred to 5 different committees.

That fictitious bill and a hundred others like it are quite literally not worth your time, and more than that, continuing to wring your hands about it and tell other people about the scary scary squant sky bill only does their work for them. It scares people, it makes them spend time and energy on it, and it wears them out. It is a legislative Gish Gallop, meant to throw so many things at people that we can't keep up.

Even calling or messaging your Rep in this case means their staffer has to waste time responding to you and letting you know that Representative Buttzonheads definitely won't support making petting dogs a capital offense, a thing that will never, ever happen regardless.

Staying engaged in this environment is going to require protecting your heart and protecting your energy, yes, but also protecting the energy of others. This is why WWII propaganda posters also included ones taking people to task for spreading panicky rumors and undermining morale.

Do you know why most observant Jews don't eat chicken and dairy together, even though the ban is on red meat and dairy together bc you're not supposed to cook the calf in the milk of its mother?** It's not because we think that chicken might secretly lactate or Just Because. It's because the rabbis decided that if I'm sitting out in public and eating turkey and cheese together, someone might glance at the turkey and mistake it for red meat and think, "oh, well, I know that Spider is a good Jew, there must have been a change, or maybe I can just justify it to myself that if Spider does it, it must be permissible to bend the rules just that much." And I would then be accidentally leading my fellow Jew astray. We are responsible for being even more careful for the sake of others than we are for ourselves.

It's the same principle here. We need to really be careful about the information we are spreading and check things past reading a news site. Is it true? Is it relevant? Is it meaningful? Is the news site one I recognize? Can I find meaningful independent corroboration on another site, which is to say, if I find an article about it on a second site, is it just quoting or rephrasing this site?

Yeah, that is a lot. But that's how we keep them from using us to lead our fellows astray.

*GovTracker is an independent site. They explain their methodology in their About section.

**I cannot say enough how I am not at this time interested in going on a Jewish Side Quest About Dietary Laws on this post. Usually, I love it, but hold off this time, please, y'all. Let's stay on target this once.