The Republican Party is following the playbook of international oligarchs and large corporations rather than the will of the people, Democracy be dammed.
What is needed to recover a broken relationship based on the Big Lie which has been proven that the Republicans promulgated?
Awareness sometimes dawns slowly when we think we are on the right path, then suddenly realize we have been taken for a ride, or taken advantage of, or worst yet, been used for political gain, which benefits large corporations instead of you, the voting public.
The Big Lie is something Republicans angrily insist is true to keep you in fear, obedience to toeing the party line, while encouraging you to use your voice to ultimately hurt yourself and benefit huge corporations which pay little to no taxes yet make sure you pay yours.
If you are a one-issue voter, you may have made a decision to stand up for Pro-Life issues, disregarding the Big Lie of attempting to turn Democracy in the USA into an Autocrat/Oligarch system of tyranny. Pro-Life won’t even be on the table if you use your freedom to vote away your rights and give away Democracy which was won by long, hard Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
Democracy is fragile and needs our care and love to preserve it. It takes us all working together for a common goal.
It’s time to wake up, listen to accurate news stations as opposed to those television, radio, and social media sites that are political puppets for their own gain at the expense of yours.
If money is your bottom line, then making more in your 401K, investments, or savings account will matter more than ethics, morals, and truth in upcoming elections as you freely trade Democracy for an Oligarch system where the government is run like a business. But keep in mind, some of our business leaders have run their businesses into bankruptcy more than thirteen times due to illegal and unethical business practices. This is no success story, nor path, any country ought to take if they want to keep Democracy.
How do you fix the party that has caved to greed and who has betrayed your trust?
Stand up for truth before it is too late. The Republican Party is on the precipice of the cliff. If Republicans continue on their current path, it will be political self-sabotage. They will reap the seeds they are currently sowing. There is very little time for them to correct their mistakes. This country works well with a two-party system, but not if one of them is criminal, bought out by dark money.
As for truth, if I say two plus two equals four, but you say two plus two is sixty-five, that’s not a difference of opinion. One answer is truth, and the other answer is not truth.
As with any relationship, nothing can be saved as long as the offender in the relationship pretends there is no problem, the problem is not their fault, and/or the problem is all the other party’s fault, in this case, blaming the Democrats for the Republicans betrayal of their civic, social, and political roles for which they were voted into office.
Investigation after investigation has proven there was no voter fraud.
Stop listening to propaganda.
Watch and listen to factual, provable news from reputable news outlets, such as: Go to mainstream news outlets: Reuters, AP, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Bloomberg News, The Atlantic, and Politico.
If you think these news outlets are slanted, know that you have been brainwashed and are being used as a political pawn in a game where you will lose the Democratic Socialism benefits you currently have.
It is possible to think for yourself. Decide to make decisions for yourself rather than following the sheep off the cliff of no return.
The voting booth is a sacred space. No one can tell you how to vote. Vote your conscience. Make sure every person is able to vote, regardless of race, ethnic background, color, creed, gender, financial status, age, or any other division established to limit the voting rights of everyone in America.
Step away from white supremacist agendas. All people count. All people matter in this country. Walk away from hate, which is fueled by fear. If you say you are not a white supremacist, then stop voting for the white supremacist agenda. If you disagree, then you need to do more study. Check out the Southern Poverty Law Center.
It can be difficult with strong-minded friends, but not impossible. You need to be true to yourself, not vote the way someone else is telling you to vote. This is not a popularity contest.
Also, when it finally dawns on you that you have been used for various agendas, by the gun lobby, or corporations and conglomerates, stand tall. You do not answer to them. You answer to your own heart. Your vote is your voice.
George Washington’s Vision of the 3 perils to happen to the United States of America.
This is a tribute to George Washington, who died 201 years ago today. I wondered why I felt led to write this article today when I usually write about Christmas at this time. George Washington died December 14, 1799.
– 1777/1778. A vision received by George Washington.
The father of our country, George Washington, was a man of prayer. Many of us have read of how he went to the thicket many times to pray during the winter his army was at Valley Forge. However, little publicity has been given to the vision and prophecy he received at that time.
The account of this vision was given in 1859 by an old soldier. He gave it to a writer, Wesley Bradshaw, who published it. In the vision God revealed to George Washington that three great perils would come upon the Republic. He was given to know that America was going through the first peril at that time. The old soldier who told the story of the vision said the nation would soon see the account verified by the second peril descending upon the land.
Here is the account as printed in the U.S. war veterans paper The National Tribune, in December 1880. The National Tribune became, “The Stars and Stripes”, and this article was reprinted in that publication December 21, 1850.
~ Preface
“I do not know whether it is owing to the anxiety of my mind, or what, but this afternoon, as I was sitting at this table engaging in preparing a dispatch, something in the apartment seemed to disturb me. Looking up, I beheld standing opposite to me a singularly beautiful being. So astonished was I, for I had given strict orders not to be disturbed that it was some moments before I found language to inquire the cause of the visit. A second, a third, and even a fourth time did I repeat my question but received no answer from my mysterious visitor except a slight raising of the eyes.
By this time, I felt strange sensations spreading through me. I would have risen but the riveted gaze of the being before me rendered volition impossible. I assayed once more to speak, but my tongue became useless, as if paralyzed. A new influence, mysterious, potent, irresistible, took possession of me. All I could do was to gaze steadily, vacantly at my unknown visitor.
Gradually the surrounded atmosphere seemed to fill with sensations and grew luminous. Everything about me seemed to rarefy, the mysterious visitor also becoming more airy and yet more distinct to my sight than before. I began to feel as one dying, or rather to experience the sensations I sometimes imagine accompanying death. I did not think, I did not reason, I did not move. All were alike impossible. I was only conscious of gazing fixedly, vacantly on my companion.
~ The introductory part of the Vision
Presently I heard a voice say, “Son of the Republic,look and learn,‘ while at the same time my visitor extended an arm eastward . I now beheld a heavy white vapor at some distance rising fold upon fold. This gradually dissipated, and I looked upon the strange scene. Before me lay, out in one vast plain all the countries of the world — Europe,Asia,Africa, and America. I saw rolling and tossing between Europe and America lay billows of the Atlantic, and between Asia and America lay the Pacific. ‘Son of the Republic’, said the same mysterious voice as before, ‘look and learn.’
~ The First Peril:The Revolutionary War.
At that moment I beheld a dark shadowy being, like an angel, standing, or rather floating in mid-air, between Europe and America. Dipping water out of the ocean in the hollow of each hand, he sprinkled some upon America with his right hand, while with his left he cast some over Europe. Immediately a cloud arose from these countries and joined in mid-ocean. For a while it remained stationary, and then it moved slowly westward, until it enveloped America in its murky folds. Sharp flashes of lightning gleamed through at intervals, and I heard the smothered groans and cries of the American People.
A second time the angel dipped water from the ocean and sprinkled it out as before. The dark cloud drew back to the ocean, in whose heaving billows it sank from view.
~ Westward expansion in America
A third time I heard the mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn.’ I cast my eyes upon America and beheld villages and town cities spring up one right after another until the whole land from the Atlantic to the Pacific was dotted with them. Again, I heard the mysterious voice say, ‘Son of the Republic, the end of the century cometh, look and learn.’
~ The Second Peril: Slave trade from Africa is used to instigate the Civil War.
And this time a dark shadowy angel turned his face southward. From Africa I saw an ill-omened specter approach our land. It flitted slowly and heavily over every town and city of the latter. The inhabitants presently set themselves in battle array against each other. As I continued to look, I saw a bright angel on whose brow was traced the word ‘Union.‘ He was bearing the American flag. He placed the flag between the divided nation and said, ‘Remember, ye are brethren.‘
Instantly the inhabitants, casting down their weapons became friends oncemore, and united around the National Standard.
Again, I heard a mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn.’ At this the dark, shadowy angel placed a trumpet to his mouth, and blew three distinct blasts; and taking water from the ocean, he sprinkled it upon Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Then my eyes beheld a fearful scene. From each of these continents arose thick black clouds that were soon joined into one . And throughout this mass there gleamed a dark read light by which I saw hordes of armed men. These men, moving with the cloud marched by land and sailed by sea to America, which country was enveloped in the volume of the cloud.
And I dimly saw these vast armies devastate the whole country and burn the villages,towns, and cities, which I had seen spring up.
As my ears listened to the thundering of the cannon,clashing of swords, and the shouts and cries of millions in mortal combat, …
As my ears listened to the thundering of the cannon,clashing of swords, and the shouts and cries of millions in mortal combat, I again heard the mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn.’ When the voice had ceased, the dark shadowy angel placed his trumpet once more to his mouth and blew a long and fearful blast.
Instantly a light, as of a thousand suns shone down from above me and pierced and broke into fragments of the dark cloud which enveloped America. At the same moment, the angel upon whose head still shown the word ‘Union,’ and who bore our national flag in one hand and a sword in the other, descended from the heavens attended by legions of white spirits. These immediately joined the inhabitants of America, who I perceived were well-nigh overcome, but who immediately taking courage again, closed up their broken ranks, and renewed battle.
~ The Third Peril, Phase 3, USA is victorious ~
Again, amid the fearful noise of the conflict I heard the mysterious voice say, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn.’ As the voice ceased, the shadowy angel for the last time dipped the water from the ocean and sprinkled it upon America. Instantly the dark clouds rolled back, together with the armies it had brought, leaving the inhabitants of the land victorious.
Then once more I beheld the villages,towns and cities springing up where I had seen them before, while the bright angel, planting the azure standard cried with a loud voice: ‘While the stars remain, and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last.’ And taking from his brow the crown which blazoned the word ‘Union,’ he placed it down upon the standard while the people,kneeling down said, ‘Amen.‘
~ Summary of the Vision’s 3 Perils.
The scene instantly began to fade and dissolve, and I at last saw nothing but the rising, curling vapor, I at first beheld. This also disappeared, and I found myself once more gazing upon the mysterious visitor who, in the same voice I heard before said, ‘Son of the Republic, what you have seen is thus interpreted:Three great perils will come upon the Republic. The most fearful for her is the third. But the whole world united shall not prevail against her. Let every child of the Republic learn to live for his God, his land and Union.
With these words the vision vanished, and I started from my seat and felt that I had seen a vision wherein had been showed me the birth,progress, and destiny of the United States.“
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.” ~ Abraham Lincoln’s Speech, March 4, 1865
President Abraham Lincoln’s “Malice Toward None” speech in his Second Inaugural Address and Start of Reconciliation Between North and South Near the End of the Civil War on March 4, 1865 which sought to heal our divided nation could just as appropriately be delivered today.
One of the phrases that jumped out to me as I read this famous speech again was, “Both read the same bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other.”
The hearts of humanity find themselves again divided in similar topic these 155 years later. We are a nation still trying to reach for the stars of racial and gender equality while still stuck in the quicksand of bigotry, white supremacy and a patriarchal subculture.
Rosa Parks from Montgomery, Alabama initiated equal rights of all people within this United States of America that memorable day when she refused to give up her seat at the back of the bus to a white woman. Standing up for her human rights landed her in jail that night, but showed all people that we can peacefully say no to injustice. A boycott of every single black person not using the buses in the city lasted for 381 days ended when the bus segregation was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. It took ten years for segregation to be banned in any other state after Rosa Park’s brave “No.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away on September 18, 2020, was a graduate of Harvard Law School. She broke through the glass ceiling of gender equality arguing six landmark cases on gender equality before the Supreme Court, followed by becoming the second female Supreme Court Justice in United States history.
Wilma Rudolph is an athlete who not only rose above racial and gender prejudice, but was also victorious over polio, which she contracted as a young girl, leaving her with a paralyzed leg. Her doctor told her she would never walk again, but her mother promised her she would. She not only had weekly doctor appointments, but also had her weak leg massaged by her twenty-one brothers and sisters each day. In order to walk, she wore braces, and endured the taunts of mean-hearted children in her neighborhood. Still, Wilma tried walking without the braces, then started playing basketball, and loved jumping and running. She competed in twenty races, winning every one of them, and broke three world records at the 1960 Olympics, earning her three gold medals. Before her death November 12, 1994, she was among the most highly known black women not only in the United States of America, but also worldwide.
Wilma Rudolph always said that the key to winning was knowing how to lose: “Nobody wins all the time. If you pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.”
This last inspirational quote by Wilma Rudolph can help The United States of America to heal today. It is not necessary to keep beating the drum of division, hatred for the other side. It is humanly possible to come together for the good of the country.
War is not a communication skill. It is possible to heal this nation without further death through the devastating COVID-19 (SARS Co2) pandemic, loss of life due to inner city violence, and systemic racism sweeping unabated in every state in this United States of America.
Let us again consider the timely points made by President Abraham Lincoln in his March 4, 1986 speech. Then it was called “Reconstruction.” Hopefully today we call it “Common Sense.”
“FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:
“At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then, a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth, on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
“On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it—all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
“One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern half part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar, and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest, was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more, than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered—that of neither, has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh.” If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove; and that He gives to both north and south this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish, a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”
President Abraham Lincoln intended to mean that he and his administration would help the South to recover from the disastrous conditions, human and material, in which the war had reduced the same, without any feeling of revenge neither against those who had fought nor against their families.
In 1776, we fought for and won independence during the Revolutionary War; and again in the War of 1812, also considered the Second War of Independance. We already have independence.
In 1865, we fought the long hard battle of the Civil War, and won freedom from the horrid, humanly contrived condition of slavery, which sought to keep other human beings as chattle. From that point on we recognize that all who were once enslaved are to be treated as free men and women. We still need to make sure this particular freedom becomes a reality for all people, not just for white people, because systemic racism insideously rears its ugly head from time to time. Too many lives have been lost already to this crime against humanity. We already have freedom from slavery in the USA. We need to act on this freedom in peace and dignity. We need to vote out racism whenever we see it.
The thing we as Americans need to do is to peacefully and humanely act on the freedoms we already have. When we see the need to replace bad and/or racist police, we need to act quickly to replace them with good police who treat all people with dignity and respect.
There are ignorant forces sirring the pot of Democracy as if by putting voice to their malignant actions they attempt to validate the facade of freedom and liberty. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the laws of this land. There are upstanding police forces and the armed service of the USA should any man or woman fell the call to serive our country in this noble way. But socially irresponsible groups of home grown terrorists are not to be tolerated in any society.
We all need to raise our heads above the noisy rucus to remember the accurate history of the United States of America for which the Statue of Liberty stands, in order that we bring peace and justice to all people, not just the wealthiest, nor any gun-toting would-be militia, nor allow ourselves to be railroaded by the politically powerful.
Remembering our independent, freeom-loving, liberty foundation, the citizens of the United States are more resiliant than the bully political pundants, and the renegade, self-appointed militias.
We already have fought these fights. There is no need to repeat the past. We do need to positively vote in our political system, and act in the freedom and liberty.
Our founding fathers drew up The Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. The United States of America is a land of laws. We are not living in the times of the wild, wild, west. Thank God for the FBI and government agencies that watch out for the good of all its citizens.
As citizens, we have the right to peaceful protests across the USA to make our voices heard. Not only is this a recognized in the USA, it is also a God-given right to stand up peacefully for the good of all people, and make our voices heard.
We lift up our hearts, minds and voices to make sure we have justice and liberty for all people in this beautiful land by voting for integrity, honor and sevility, making sure that everyone is treated equally and fairly.
Cartoon from 1860 with Presidential Election showing three of the candidates (left to right) Republican Abraham Lincoln, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge – tearing the country apart, while the Constitutional Union candidate, John Bell, applies glue from a tiny, useless spot. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
“To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days.” ~ Plutarch
Democracy is not a thing. Democracy is the people who promote Life, Liberty and Freedom for all people in our One Union. That is what makes it Great.
It is good for us from time to time to remember the accurate facts of the history of the United States of America. Since the fledgling-first footsteps into Liberty for all people, our Freedom-born country is set upon the firm foundation which our fragile Democracy currently lies.
The first colonies banded together to form a more perfect union, with the good of all as the glue binding them together. This is our aim today, for Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all humankind.
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 7 of MYSTERY OF THE STURBRIDGE KEYS, my historical fiction book out in its second printing in 2016. This fictional adventure takes place in a setting of Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Old Sturbridge Village is a real living history museum today, which is used as the setting to tell of the accurate history touching the lives of: President George Washington, President Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Webster, President Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, President James Madison, Edward Coles, President Zachary Taylor, President John Tyler, President Martin Van Buren, Stephen Myers, William the Conqueror, William Strother, Charlemagne, the Underground Railroad, Samuel L. Hill, Robert Carter III, President Andrew Jackson, Harriet Tubman, President Jimmy Carter, President Barak Obama, and the Quaker commity.
The fictional characters who take part in explaining our historical roots included in this chapter are: fictional Quaker characters of Lily and Gabe – educational instructors for the Underground Railroad; young boys Abe and Greg and Greg’s mother Sarah interacting with the instructors; among other particiants in the Underground Railroad workshop.
This is important history not to forget.
“Are you aware that on April 20, 2016, the United States Treasury Department announced they intend to put the picture of Harriet Tubman on the front of the United States $20 bill, replacing former president Andrew Jackson, and putting him on the back of it? It is supposed to be coming out in the year 2020,” Sarah asks, unsure if she should cross timelines like this.
“We are portraying Old Sturbridge Village in the year 1830. President Andrew Jackson is our president at this current moment. He was just elected last year, in 1829. I can tell you he remains our President until 1837, when Martin Van Buren is elected president. By the way, there is an expression everyone uses today that is attributed to President Van Buren. Does anyone know what this is?” Gabe questions.
A spindly old woman in a beautifully woven shawl raises her hand and says, “OK. The expression is ‘OK.’ He was from Kinderhook, New York, sometimes referred to as Old Kinderhook. ‘OK’ clubs were created to support his political campaigns. The expression ‘OK’ came to mean ‘all right.’”
“When he was seventeen years old and before he was President, Andrew Jackson became well-known for his role in the Battle of 1812. He won at the Battle of New Orleans when the British army was invading there. But in 1818, President Jackson also invaded the Seminole Indian Tribe in Spanish Florida,” the spindly woman says in dismay.
“Yes,” Gabe agrees. “Did you know that the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida is a federally recognized Indian tribe, the only tribe in America who never signed a peace treaty?”
“Yes,” the spindly woman says. “Florida then gets transferred from Spain to the United States.”
“Correct,” Lily says. You know your history. Your modern-day money is reflecting that. These conductors have a tough and dangerous job. First the slaves have to make a getaway from their owners by night. They know if they keep their eye on the North Star in the sky, they will reach the northern states. Harriet Tubman pretends to be a slave and goes to the plantation, then guides them on their way, since she is a former slave. She is a Union spy. She returns nineteen times and helps more than three hundred slaves to freedom. In the process, she threatens to shoot any slaves who lose heart and want to turn back, which can foil the whole escape plan.”
Abe and Greg exchange horrified glances.
“Second, the operators put themselves in a very precarious position by helping the slaves. Operators are fined hundreds, and even thousands of dollars, an exorbitant amount of money at this time. In this area, not only did the Underground Railroad operate openly, former slaves, like Stephen Myers of Upstate New York, writes his own newspaper, Northern Star and Freeman’s Advocate, telling about his work to help other slaves escape,” Lily continues.
“That’s good!” a Mexican, Spanish speaking teenager exclaims in broken English.
“Vigilance committees are formed within communities for the purpose of aiding runaways often openly advertised their meetings. These same words mean different things in different periods in history when people take the law into their own hands for non-existent or corrupt justice. Any questions?” Lily asks.
The tall black man in the doorway asks in exasperation, “Aren’t there any famous people in the southern states who were against slavery?”
“That’s a very interesting question. Has anyone heard of Robert Carter III?” Lily inquires of her interested audience.
No one answers.
“This is a wealthy and prominent individual, a member of the planter class in Virginia. He is the wealthiest man in the colonies and has owned hundreds of slaves for the past forty years, since 1791. But he is losing his popularity because now he wants to free the slaves. He says he has become convinced that to keep slaves is contrary to the true principles of religion and justice. He even feels it is his duty to manumit them,” Lily explains.
“What does manumit mean?” Abe asks.
“Manumit means to release from slavery. Carter not only condemns slavery, he actually does something about it. He is freeing his slaves, but only 15 of the oldest slaves each year. He also believes there is only one race, the human race.” Lily scans her guests, accessing their attention spans.
“Why release only fifteen slaves each year?” Greg asks.
“This rich businessman from Virginia, not only releases them, he cares about them. If he releases too many slaves at once into the hostile South, they might not find enough work to support themselves. He carefully releases fifteen slaves each year, so he can help them find work and survive. He just wrote a book that is still around called, Deed of Gift. Some of the children of the slaves are still being released in 1830. We help them through this Sturbridge Village area. Carter released approximately five hundred slaves, which is the largest emancipation by one person in American history,” Lily boasts.
“Carter is so wealthy that President Jackson has borrowed money from him. President George Washington’s nephew proposed to his daughter. Former President Jimmy Carter is a descendant of his. Robert Carter III’s nickname was King. He was descended from William Strother, on his father’s side. Everyone knew Robert Carter III was descended from English royalty, going back to Charlemagne and William the Conqueror, and many other English kings. Presidents Zachary Taylor and John Tyler were also descended from Strother. Former President Jimmy Carter also is related to former President Barak Obama. They are eighth cousins,” boasts Lily, proud that the United States of America truly is the melting pot of the world. She takes a drink of water and continues.
The guests gasp at the little-known revelation.
“Do you know of anyone else who has helped the slaves?” Lily asks.
Again, no response.
“Let’s learn about Edward Coles. He was President James Madison’s secretary in the year 1809, and neighbor to Thomas Jefferson, our third president. After Madison’s presidency, Coles sells his Virginia estate and moves to the Illinois Territory where slavery is not permitted. Next, he releases his slaves, then sets them up as farmers. Does this sound familiar to anyone?” Lily asks.
“Seems to me,” the tall black man says, “I heard Jefferson suggested all slaves be freed and removed from the United States. Illinois was only a territory then. Coles must have listened to him.”
“I think you are right. Don’t forget, it is not the case that all presidents who owned slaves, wanted to promote slavery. What else did they have to consider?” Lily asks.
“Their political careers,” the tall black man answers, shaking his head.
“Was the Reverse Underground Railroad active here?” Sarah asks.
“Yes. Not everyone remembers this,” Gabe says. “Unfortunately, yes, in some northern states bordering on the Ohio River, but not so much here in this location. It is good to know who your friends are though. There are profits to be made. Black men and women, whether or not they had ever been slaves, are sometimes kidnapped and hidden away in homes, barns or other buildings until they are taken into the South and sold as slaves.”
The guests sigh a disgusting groan.
“Keep heart though,” Lily encourages. “Samuel L. Hill is a local abolitionist. He just purchased two properties, the Ross Farm and his house which he calls the Samuel L. Hill House. They are both in Northampton as part of his utopian community called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry. It’s about nine towns to the northwest from here.”
“Northampton also has the Elisha Hammond House, the Dorcey-Jones House, and the Hall Judd House, if the other safe houses are full. The Unitarian minister, Rev. Rufus Ellis also has a house on 48 Pomeroy Terrace in Northampton that serves as a station too. Exhausted slaves, running for their lives, come in from the sea, landing in Boston. But some come in by land from the south up through New York and Connecticut. Worcester is the key point northwards in the Underground Railroad system. We help out here as best we can between Worcester and Northampton. Sturbridge Village a good half-way point,” Gabe adds.
“It’s been one hundred, forty-four years now that our philanthropy has been flourishing. We Quakers are the first organization in history to ban slaveholding. We’ve created several groups that promote emancipation and abolition societies, like the American Anti-Slavery Society; the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society and the Female Anti-Slavery Society,” Lily says.
“Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster gave a speech known as the Second Reply to Hayne, where he famously thundered “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!” In Webster’s speech on January 26, 1830 before the United States Senate, he described the federal government as: “made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people.” Does this sound familiar?” Lily asks.
“Yes,” Abe answers. “President Lincoln spoke of this in the Gettysburg Address.”
Lily nods. “In 1830, Abraham Lincoln has not been elected President yet. He is elected as our sixteenth president on November 6, 1860. But he is very interested in Webster’s 1830 speech, so much so, that he re-phrases the conclusion of the Gettysburg Address with, ‘… and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’ It is worth mentioning that the Springfield Republican newspaper, from just a few towns west of here, published the Gettysburg Address in its entirety, saying it was a ‘perfect gem, deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, tasteful and elegant in every word and comma.’”
Lily adds, “Webster also noted, ‘This government, Sir, is the independent offspring of the popular will. It is not the creature of State legislatures; nay, more, if the whole truth must be told, the people brought it into existence, established it, and have hitherto supported it, for the very purpose, amongst others, of imposing certain salutary restraints on State sovereignties.’ Union responsibilities and State’s rights were just as important to people back then as it is today.”
Abe pauses for a moment, worried about Grammy Rose, and who will take care of her. Grammy Rose was just asking his Mom yesterday what will happen if her Social Security gets cut.
“Southern states, calling themselves the Confederate States, want state’s rights to slavery, the impetus for the Civil War which is brewing in 1830. It is the reason for the Underground Railroad here in Old Sturbridge Village. President Lincoln is well aware that slavery is illegal in England since 1772, was abolished in New York in 1827, and also in the English colonies in other parts of the world in 1833. Sadly, the United States of America lags behind social progress and justice until January 1, 1863 when Republican President Abraham Lincoln issues the presidential Emancipation Proclamation, freeing more than three million slaves across the entire Union. Even though it is little later than the time we are portraying here, does anyone remember the date that the Civil War and the Underground Railroad finally ends?” Lily asks.
“The Civil War ended May 9, 1865,” the man answers, sporting the brown woolen hat with ear muffs.
“I think that is one of Brie’s high school’s history teachers,” Greg whispers in his mother’s ear.
“You are correct,” Lily says.
“Did you start any schools here?” Abe asks.
“Yes. We are interested in the education and the social progress of freedmen. We raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for freeman’s relief and established many freedmen’s schools,” Lily explains.
“I’m glad the Quakers helped,” Greg says, firmly shaking Gabe’s large hand as they leave the Religious Society of Friend’s Meeting House.
They step out into the carol-filled, brisk air of the night, looking to the right and to the left for their long-lost family.” ~ end of excerpt
The ideals for freedom and equality of all people is just as revelent today as it was during the days of the Underground Railroad. The Civil War united a broken country, from Northern and Southern friction, into one United States of America. The ideals of Freedom, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for all people are tested throughout history.
Democracy stands firm when we stand up for all the principles Democracy encompasses. Democracy crumbles into meaningless words when we ignore the very foundation upon which a fragile Democracy rests.
Democracy is not a thing. Democracy is the people who promote Life, Liberty and Freedom for all people in our One Union. That is what makes it Great.
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