Browsing: Society

A Brief History On June 20, 1787, Connecticut attorney and a Founding Father of the United States, Oliver Ellsworth, made a motion at the Federal Convention to call the government of our new country, the United States of America. Digging Deeper While not an everyday name taught to school children as a major “Founding Father,” Ellsworth is notable for serving as a Senator from Connecticut, being a framer of the Constitution, serving as the third chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and even winning 11 electoral votes in the presidential election of 1796. A patriot that…

A Brief History On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the law that made “Juneteenth,” the 19th day of June each year, a National Holiday, the first designated as such since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1983. Digging Deeper The origin of the “Juneteenth” holiday dates back to June 19, 1865, when Union Army Major General Gordon Granger pronounced that all previously enslaved people in Texas were now emancipated.  The proclamation by General Granger was among the last events in the process of the freeing of slaves in the United States, and African Americans have celebrated this date since…

A Brief History On June 16, 1811, the remaining crew of an American armed fur trading ship purposely blew the ship up after it had been overrun by Native Americans near Vancouver Island. Digging Deeper The wilds of Western North America were dangerous in 1811, and the Tonquin, a 3 masted ship about 94 feet long was armed with 22 guns.  Owned by fur tycoon, John Jacob Astor, Tonquin had been in the Pacific seeking to trade with Native Americans for furs. After establishing Fort Astoria in Oregon, Tonquin sailed for Vancouver Island where a dispute with Tla-o-qui-aht people resulted…

A Brief History On June 15, 1858, Chancellor of the Exchequer Benjamin Disraeli called the Thames River in London, England, a “Stygian pool, reeking with ineffable and intolerable horrors.”  The growth of London as a major industrial giant had turned the river into an open sewer that became so foul the Queen and Prince Consort were forced off the waters and Parliament could not conduct business due to the stench! Digging Deeper The summer of 1858 was a hot one, with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit, grossly aggravating the stench from a river that took in human and industrial waste…

A Brief History On June 13, 1996, after a tense 81 day standoff with the FBI, a group of Americans in the area of Jordan, Montana that had declared themselves “sovereign citizens” not subject to the laws of the United States, finally surrendered. Digging Deeper The Montana Freemen, as they called themselves, had the idea that they could legally declare their lands “Justus Township,” an independent entity outside the jurisdiction of the US government.  Various disregard of laws and debts soon got this group in legal and financial trouble, and some were convicted of crimes.  By 1996, the FBI had…