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Last week, Caitlin Lansing bravely wrote a guest contribution to this site. Here are my official thoughts. I may not have known Chipotle was founded in 1993 but I do remember the lines out the door when it debuted in Charlottesville in 2005. I didn't get it. I mean Qdoba also had Mexican food and it did not feature a 30-minute line. Even better, I don't have to stand in line and make snap decisions. What salsa? What condiments? Do I want to spring for guacamole...I mean it's just staring at me, begging me to add it on? If this order is messed up, I only have myself to blame. So many options, so little time to make the decision. What if I choke under pressure? Are they judging me for getting a burrito and not a burrito bowl? What if I just really like tortilla? Qdoba's fascism may be limiting and the opposite of empowerment but it is quick and efficient. It's one less decision that I have to think about in my life. In fact, I heard this anecdote about politicians. The reason so many of them wear the same red and blue color patterns for ties is that they are so overwhelmed by life-altering decisions every day that they just want one decision to be preordained. So what does that say about our society that we have more choices at Chipotle than we do in the election booth?
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I cannot tell you how many people think history is easy.
I mean yes memorizing facts may not seem all that difficult. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, it declared independence from England and it was primarily written by Thomas Jefferson. That is straight forward but why they wrote it, how they wrote it and most specifically, WHO wrote it complicate the matter greatly. No one is more confusing than Thomas Jefferson, as this article explains. Jefferson was so great he died impoverished. He was so enlightened he owned 600 humans. He was so visionary that he helped build a government but punted on issues like racial and gender equality. He railed against the usurpations of England and the Federalist Party and yet his most famous action as President is nowhere to be found in the Constitution. Is Jefferson a racist jerk? Is he an idiot? Is he a tyrant in the guise of the common man? "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
These are the final words of Patrick Henry's famous speech he gave at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, March 23, 1775. This quote is particularly poignant because it juxtaposes the first two inalienable rights. What good is life without liberty? Indeed, if there is one thing America has always been obsessed with it is liberty (or freedom), Yet this too has always been the most confusing thing about America. How can these political geniuses ignore the hypocrisy of bemoaning the shackles of slavery when they own slaves? Patrick Henry himself owned 67 slaves when he died and made no plans of manumission in his will. Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration, owned over 600 slaves during his lifetime. 600 people were held against their will in the palace known as Monticello. Yet, he is the man credited with making the "right to liberty" a fundamental concept in American governance and culture. How do we understand this? How did Jefferson explain this and how has this manifested itself going forward? What about all the other groups that lacked freedom during this time period? Women of all races who had barely any legal standing? White men who did not own property who were being shut out of the political forum? How do we explain the disconnect between the words and the practice? Find out soon. Revolutions are bloody.
As Malcolm X put it in his famous Ballot or the Bullet Speech: "When this country here was first being founded, there were thirteen colonies. The whites were colonized. They were fed up with this taxation without representation. So some of them stood up and said, "Liberty or death!" I went to a white school over here in Mason, Michigan. The white man made the mistake of letting me read his history books. He made the mistake of teaching me that Patrick Henry was a patriot, and George Washington – wasn't nothing non-violent about ol' Pat, or George Washington. "Liberty or death" is was what brought about the freedom of whites in this country from the English." So perhaps it is particularly poignant that the first inalienable right given to all men in the Declaration of Independence is: life. Something that was being taken away on both sides of this conflict every single day. However, what does this really mean? Were the Founding Fathers against the death penalty? Unlikely considering they lived in a world where stealing a horse could be punished by death. So is it conditional and, if so, how can it be an inalienable right? You can find part one here.
Thomas Jefferson-The third President of the United States had a pretty rough time when it came to his progeny. He and his wife Martha had six children but only two survived beyond infancy. Martha herself became weaker and weaker with each child birth and died in 1782, before the Revolutionary War was even ended. Jefferson promised his wife on his deathbed to not marry again but scientists have proven that Jefferson did bear more children with one of his slaves Sally Hemings. The debate rages as to how many children these two produced but it could be anywhere from one to six. We do know that she was born in 1773 and therefore Hemings played a huge role in Jefferson's life. Her children led a difficult life, being related to the great Founding Father but being unable to prove it. Some "passed" into white culture while others remained in bondage. James Madison-The Father of the Constitution had no children of his own. Madison, like Washington, inherited a stepson when he married Dolly Madison after a yellow fever outbreak killed off her first husband and other child. The Madisons would never conceive and unfortunately John Payne Todd was a hot mess. He constantly drank and blew his father's fortune and opportunities. He went to prison twice for debts he had accrued and forced his mother Dolly to sell Montpelier (the Madison estate to pay it off). Then he tried to fleece his niece for more inheritance. Yep, he was that awesome. John Adams-Of course, perhaps no family is more of a tragic emo-song than the Adams family (snap snap). John and Abigail had six children. The most famous, of course, being sixth President John Quincy Adams. Groomed for greatness from the start, John Quincy did not disappoint. The siblings on the other hand... Charles did of cirrhosis at age 30 because of rampant alcoholism. Abigail contracted breast cancer and after a very risky and dangerous procedure to remove the breast, malignant cells spread it across her body. She died in extreme pain at age 48. Thomas had some successes in politics, following his brother John Quincy but also picked up his brother Charles' habit of alcoholism and died at age 60 in severe debt. Yeah...you get the picture. So maybe your family is not so bad after all. :-)
While it might be easy to think the world only got hip to the Founding Fathers because of Lin Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks actually performed a similar feat in 2008.
Hanks and his company Playtone Records took the biography of a misunderstood, pugnacious Founding Father and give him the spotlight he deserved. Except unlike Chernow's Hamilton as the inspiration he used David McCulloch's book about John Adams. Adams, like Hamilton, were both figures that were hard to embrace by the mainstream world before their pop culture reboots. Adams was short, ill-tempered and arrogant. Hamilton was a little better looking but also arrogant, deeply cynical about the common man and of course had his rough childhood that set him apart from the affluent Founders. HBO made an awesome miniseries that used to carry the Revolutionary narrative in the 2000s until "Hamilton" came around. I find it interesting that both series marginalize the other. In "John Adams", Hamilton is a bit of side note and never given the full depth all the other major Founders would get. John Adams in "Hamilton", however, never even gets to appear on the stage. He is only referenced a few times and every time disparagingly. Maybe these two needs to have an epic beat down or rap battle and, if they do, this will be John Adams' theme song. Enjoy In honor of Father's Day, let's talk about the "real" fathers, the Founding Fathers of this great nation of ours.
We talk so much about their professional accomplishments but most people no little about their personal lives. While that makes sense for a history textbook, it does not make sense for understanding these mythic figures as human beings. Family is a huge part of our lives and a major aspect of how we measure our own lives, liberty and happiness. So how do the Founding Fathers stack up as fathers? George Washington-He may be the "Father of Our Country" but Washington is the only founder to not actually be a father. While he did become a stepfather after marrying a widowed Martha Custis, Washington never had a child of his own and therefore no direct descendants. Keep that in mind in case someone tries to tell you otherwise. Some historians contemplate whether he was sterile from a fever he got in his younger years but it seems unlikely we will ever know for sure. Ben Franklin-We all know when it comes to relationships, Franklin was complicated. One of his three children, William, was conceived out of wedlock and was not officially recognized by Franklin until age 24. Then William Franklin made headlines by being a Loyalist during the Revolution, being imprisoned and Benjamin did little to try to free him. Ouch, thanks dad. William's mother is unknown to historians but his other two children were to his wife Deborah Read, Read was previously married before Franklin and had some drama on their own so perhaps they were made for each other. She also had a severe fear of the seas which is why she did not accompany Franklin when he went to France. Well, we all know how that turned out... Alexander Hamilton-Thanks to the musical, most people know that the "Founding Father without a father" had a son, Phillip was killed in a duel just like his father would be. However, the musical (for dramatic effect) conveniently leaves out the fact that Phillip was one of eight kids between Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler. We also know about the infamous Reynolds Pamphlet in which Hamilton admitted to the world his affair with Mrs. Maria Reynolds and the subsequent blackmail scheme by her husband James. In fact, the Hamiltons kept their names in the family. Their youngest was named Phil after their eldest son's murder, another child was named Angelica after Elizabeth's sister and another John Church after Angelica's husband. They even had two sons with the name Alexander in their names. Hamilton was certainly flawed but he left his family a fortune, unlike the other Founders. I guess he didn't throw away his shot. Following our theme of bashing on John Adams, here is a bonus song for your Father's Day.
"Hamilton" was not the first musical created on Broadway based on the Founding Fathers. In fact, to capitalize on the bicentennial, Broadway debuted 1776 to more acclaim than you might imagine. This product of the 1970s has all the political polarization, distrust and general melancholy you would expect of a musical made in the era of disco. This musical, like the HBO mini-series focused mostly on the role of John Adams in getting the Declaration of Independence written and signed. Its success even led to a movie adaptation starring William Daniels (aka Mr. Feeny from the TV show Boy Meets World). Here is a snippet to show you that the Founding Father really did not like John Adams. P.S. Yes the name of this song was sampled by Lin Manuel Miranda in his "response" to Adams' real life criticisms of Hamilton during the Adams Administration. Here is the updated list of official contributors and their articles are linked. Message me if you want in!
Caitlin Lansing-Survived Gibson's first year teacher, going to work on her PhD at Johns Hopkins after having gone to Princeton undergrad (basically following Woodrow Wilson's footsteps minus the racism) Laura Tornello-One of my main inspirations in teaching. She is working on publishing a book and I know it will be amazing! Tyler Anderson-A great human and a hard-working, gifted English teacher. He also possesses enough guitar skills to win Freedom Faculty's Got Talent with Wes Bowman (not that I'm bitter). Bob Hill-Had Mr. Gibson for TWO years at Appomattox Regional Governor's School and mostly survived to tell the tale. Emma Johnson-The very first recipient of the Social Sciences and Global Studies Award under my watch. A spectacular human being and a scholar at William and Mary. Clark Bartolomei-Survived my first year at Freedom in my beloved 7th block that year, even though it was quite...vociferous. Clark just graduated the University of Virginia so that alone makes him pretty awesome. Wahoo wah! |
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