Signing of the preliminary Treaty of Paris, 30 November 1782.
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of these, and the negotiations which produced all four treaties, see Peace of Paris (1783).[1][2] It is most famous for being “exceedingly generous” to the United States in terms of enlarged boundaries.
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Arizona Fights for Statehood
Citizens of Arizona Territory never tired of bragging about its climate, natural resources and scenic beauty, as well as the well-rounded character of its people. In 1892 the Globe Silver Belt declared that Arizonans had “whole-souled generosity when times are flush, and easy good-nature when times are hard.” It continued, ” . . . if surroundings alone do not make the Arizonian, they surely have most to do with moulding him.”
The “5Cs” represented on the Great Seal of Arizona drove Arizona’s economy. The importance of Copper, Cattle, Cotton, Citrus and Climate was recognized by the Turn of the Century. Historian Marshall Trimble says, “These things on our seal represent our heritage.”
While the Conquistadors came searching for gold as early as the 1500s, it was another century before Spanish mines were producing gold and silver in Arizona, New Mexico and Sonora. Not until the 1850s and ’60s did American miners and prospectors strike out across Arizona looking for a bonanza. When the gold and silver eventually played out, even more valuable veins of copper were discovered.
The American Crisis was a series of pamphlets published from 1776 to 1783 during the American Revolution by 18th century Enlightenment philosopher and author Thomas Paine. The first volume begins with the famous words “These are the times that try men’s souls”. There were sixteen pamphlets in total together often known as “The American Crisis” or simply “The Crisis”. Thirteen numbered pamphlets were published between 1776-1777 with three additional pamphlets released between 1777-1783. The writings were contemporaneous with the early parts of the American Revolution, during the times that colonists needed inspiring.
They were written in a language the common man could manage and are indicative of Paine’s liberal philosophies. Paine signed them with one of his many pseudonyms “Common Sense”. The writings bolstered the morale of the American colonists, appealed to the English people’s consideration of the war with America, clarified the issues at stake in the war and denounced the advocates of a negotiated peace.
Fly Your Flag Today
The Thanksgiving Story
Most stories of Thanksgiving history start with the harvest celebration of the pilgrims and the Native Americans that took place in the autumn of 1621. Although they did have a three-day feast in celebration of a good harvest, and the local natives did participate, this “first thanksgiving” was not a holiday, simply a gathering. There is little evidence that this feast of thanks led directly to our modern Thanksgiving Day holiday. Thanksgiving can, however, be traced back to 1863 when Pres. Lincoln became the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been a fixture of late November ever since.
However, since most school children are taught that the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 with the Pilgrims and Indians, let us take a closer look at just what took place leading up to that event, and then what happened in the centuries afterward that finally gave us our modern Thanksgiving.
Within our own country, the Founders and Framers understood that there has to be a balance between individual rights and the rights of the community. They were under no illusions that in a country this large that everyone could hold the same beliefs and goals. They wanted to create a place where, to the largest extent possible, people could be free without imposing on others. You could say their end goal was freedom. In creating the U.S. Constitution, they created a document that would maximize freedom and minimize conflict. For example, rather than elevate one religion over others by sponsoring it by the state, they included the First Amendment, which reads:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof?”
What is meant by this is that the FEDERAL government will not become involved. They knew better than to tell the states to what level they become involved in religion or whether or not the states should even sponsor any particular religious practice. By the same token, if one religion imposed its beliefs on others, this would be abridging the free exercise of a faith and that would not be acceptable. Remember, the idea is to maximize freedom and minimize conflict.
The US Constitution was based on the philosophy of government laid out in the Declaration of Independence, which declares:
“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.”
According to the Wall Street protesters, American representative government has failed and therefore they are replacing it, “Since we can no longer trust our elected representatives to represent us rather than their large donors,” the Zuccotti Park occupiers explain, “we are creating a microcosm of what democracy really looks like.”
In order to prevent corruption “from people behind the scenes,” the protester’s democracy allows everyone to participate, speak, and vote in a general assembly, where no decisions are made unless there is a consensus. This decision making process becomes especially silly and tedious when the whole assembly participates in debates over trivial issues, such as, how much money to allocate to the purchase of trash cans: “deliberations dragged on as people offered amendments,” which a Zucotti protester explains, “made it effectively impossible to get the funding they needed”.
Essentially, Occupy Wall Street has rejected republican self government in favor of a pure democracy: no officers, leaders, or hierarchy, just mob.
Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, discusses the Declaration of Independence, the founders, Woodrow Wilson, and the founders of modern liberalism and how they gave more power to government.
