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A tale about how Ben Franklin invented the US
- bavell 3y agoHeadline a little click-baity but good article so far
- dang 3y agoIf anyone can suggest a better title, we can edit it
- systemvoltage 3y agoIdk, I found the writing style and the incessant snarks distracting from the central message.
- jmsdnns 3y agoThis is my first time writing about history. Would you mind elaborating?
- systemvoltage 3y agoThe 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.
- jmsdnns 3y agoThanks! I will keep that in mind next time.
- systemvoltage 3y agoOthers might still enjoy it, it’s just my opinion.
- jmsdnns 3y agoAt the very least, I can be more intentional about when I am trying to make someone laugh in an otherwise serious essay. Your opinion is appreciated.
- jmsdnns 3y agoIt was my intent to describe the article. The post actually is a tale about how Ben Franklin invented the US, no?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- realce 3y agoOne 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."
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y agoJuly 4th is the US’s birthday. The article is describing the conception and pregnancy of the US.
- akomtu 3y agoThe authors don't understand what birthday means.
- jmsdnns 3y agoNo, it isnt. July 4th happened after the Union was already a thing.
- tedunangst 3y agoI mean, your birthday also happens after you are already a thing.
- supazek 3y agoActually you’re just a clump of cells until you’re born
- oaththrowaway 3y agoYou're still a clump of cells
- bombcar 3y agoUnless you’re an elf (according to Tolkien), but apparently they gestate for a year so it doesn’t matter.
- selimthegrim 3y agoDidn’t the Koreans give up on that recently?
- parineum 3y ago> 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.
- exabrial 3y agoI prefer to think of it as April 19, 1775
- wdkrnls 3y agoThat was just a dispute about taxation. January 10, 1776 was when the clarion call sounded.
- jmsdnns 3y agoYes! That is how I think of it too. 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.
- dabluecaboose 3y agoThe battles of Lexington and Concord were not (directly) about taxation. It was over confiscation of militia cannons and other weapons.
- arbuge 3y ago> 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!
- thisisit 3y agoOne if the earliest examples of fake it till you make it?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]