The problem is that I am constantly fatigued in finding out whether what I just read is a snark/joke/hyperbole/exaggeration (which is fun tbh) or a serious historical fact or part of your central thesis.
This is usually quite entertaining in other contexts, but when relaying history which entirely depends on narratives based on facts, it creates fatigue for me.
One of John Adams' famous criticisms of Franklin came in a letter to James Lovell dated April 14, 1781. In it, Adams writes:
"The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electrical rod smote the Earth and out sprang General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his rod—and henceforth these two conducted all the policy, negotiations, legislatures and war."
America is the oldest and greatest nation on earth. Literally invented freedom, democracy, and capitalism. And President Benjamin Franklin, who literally invented electricity, will not be besmirched.
It is the greatest nation if you believe in Locke and human flourishing.
The 20th century fundamentally changed the structure and nature of the US, and has since just been war, empire and fleecing the poor, the middle class and soon the rich.
It's a little odd for a nation that invented democracy and freedom to have human chattel slavery as a government policy in checks notes 1863.
Freedom and democracy for some people at the expense of others wasn't exactly a novel invention, you could look back to other slave societies like ancient Athens for it.
No, to repeat, the rest of it was addressed at the non-empty subset of readers who genuinely believe the claim. I love you telling me repeatedly what you assume my intent was, especially when the assumption was wrong. You could try it a third time.
> Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America.
> The main thing to understand, before I go into detail, is that the Declaration of Independence is one of the founding documents, but it did not create a nation. Some of the colonists got together and wrote a historically eloquent letter to the world that basically said, “ayyyy England, F your king!”
Saying "F your king" is an integral part in being independent of England which is a prerequisite to being an independent nation. The Declaration of Independence established the United States as an independent nation. Any previous forms of the United States would have been a colony of England.
> The Continental Association is first time the colonies expressed a collective will to work together in the form of a legal document. It was published October 20, 1774 but went into effect December 1, 1774. The US does not observe December 1 as a national holiday, though it should. It is barely in the cultural memory at all.
The Continental Association is, essentially, where the colonies got together and discussed the idea of independence. The word "colonies" is a dead giveaway. After July 4th, there were no more colonies.
"The Union", referred to by Lincoln. Is not synonymous with the Nation.
The independent nation of the United States of America declared its sovereignty on July 4th, 1776. That's the "correct" way to think about July 4th, aka Independence Day.
A treaty between the breakaway rebels, and the previous claimants to sovereignty, where the previous claimants accept the rebels claims and give up their own, would seem to be a pretty good candidate for the official start date of sovereignty.
The place where the treaty was signed is much less important than what it said and who signed it, even if it ends up being named after that place.
The Revolutionary War was over a disagreement between England and the US over the validity of the declared independence on July 4th and the US won that argument when the Treaty of Paris acknowledged the validity of the Declaration of Independence.
> It didnt have its sovereignty until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.
What? You have sovereignty as soon as you decide it. Especially if you are fighting a war to maintain your sovereignty. If the treaty was never signed, the US would still be sovereign.
Try this extreme example. Imagine if the founders decided to simply wipe out the british and there was no brit left to sign any treaty. Would the silly british king still be sovereign over the US even though the silly british king and his silly kingdom no longer existed? Of course not.
> He got the French on-board with the US cause by repeatedly lying to French leaders about how well the war against the British was going! He told them the colonies were kicking ass left n right and he urged them to join in while English ass was still available. History books typically mention the shock of the French when they arrived in the colonies and find Washington’s Army in poor health, with many barely clothed at all, but they don’t usually say why they were so shocked. The truth here is classic Franklin. The French Army would already be fighting by the time France learned of it, and Franklin could surely find a way to talk himself out of that.
Smart. Exploiting the fact that transatlantic communications took a couple of months at the time. Franklin would have had to use a different strategy today!
69 comments
[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 131 ms ] threadThis is usually quite entertaining in other contexts, but when relaying history which entirely depends on narratives based on facts, it creates fatigue for me.
Your opinion is appreciated.
The post actually is a tale about how Ben Franklin invented the US, no?
"The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electrical rod smote the Earth and out sprang General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his rod—and henceforth these two conducted all the policy, negotiations, legislatures and war."
That's why the game resembles warfare.
The 20th century fundamentally changed the structure and nature of the US, and has since just been war, empire and fleecing the poor, the middle class and soon the rich.
Freedom and democracy for some people at the expense of others wasn't exactly a novel invention, you could look back to other slave societies like ancient Athens for it.
Denmark has existed as a unified country since the 8th century AD [https://japan.um.dk/en/about-denmark/denmark/history]
San Marino since 301 AD [https://www.timetravelturtle.com/visiting-san-marino-oldest-...]
and many others.
Let's make revisionism fun: "Asterix in the USA" (1994 film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_Conquers_America
So you're agreeing that it is indeed the greatest nation on earth?
The rest of it was directed at other people who genuinely believe the claim.
The PBS Mechanical Universe series did a good job with it, given that they only had 25 minutes to work with.
https://youtu.be/N72oYRZvFzA
- Ben Franklin in a letter about how Adams is (to paraphrase) a clueless, paranoid, anti-social, self-righteous loudmouth. Adams had issues.
The article is describing the conception and pregnancy of the US.
> The main thing to understand, before I go into detail, is that the Declaration of Independence is one of the founding documents, but it did not create a nation. Some of the colonists got together and wrote a historically eloquent letter to the world that basically said, “ayyyy England, F your king!”
Saying "F your king" is an integral part in being independent of England which is a prerequisite to being an independent nation. The Declaration of Independence established the United States as an independent nation. Any previous forms of the United States would have been a colony of England.
> The Continental Association is first time the colonies expressed a collective will to work together in the form of a legal document. It was published October 20, 1774 but went into effect December 1, 1774. The US does not observe December 1 as a national holiday, though it should. It is barely in the cultural memory at all.
The Continental Association is, essentially, where the colonies got together and discussed the idea of independence. The word "colonies" is a dead giveaway. After July 4th, there were no more colonies.
"The Union", referred to by Lincoln. Is not synonymous with the Nation.
The independent nation of the United States of America declared its sovereignty on July 4th, 1776. That's the "correct" way to think about July 4th, aka Independence Day.
You can say whatever day you want is your birthday, but only one day actually is.
The place where the treaty was signed is much less important than what it said and who signed it, even if it ends up being named after that place.
This is like saying the constitution grants rights.
What? You have sovereignty as soon as you decide it. Especially if you are fighting a war to maintain your sovereignty. If the treaty was never signed, the US would still be sovereign.
Try this extreme example. Imagine if the founders decided to simply wipe out the british and there was no brit left to sign any treaty. Would the silly british king still be sovereign over the US even though the silly british king and his silly kingdom no longer existed? Of course not.
They had crossed the chasm and the second adoption bump was starting to explode.
1776 is also the year Adam Smith published Wealth of Nations, and Thomas Paine published Common Sense.
Smart. Exploiting the fact that transatlantic communications took a couple of months at the time. Franklin would have had to use a different strategy today!