http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1734
Here are some one liners...
Burn, Baby, Burn: When the Government Licenses the News -- The new Governor is setting fire to the new newspaper because it is satirizing him. I talk about the need for unregulated ridicule of our leadership.
Daniel Boone is the Common Man -- He is born in Pennsylvania and he will lament the fact that the myth doesn't match the reality of himself.
Burn, Baby, Burn: When the Government Licenses the News
The new Governor of New York has ordered issues of The New York Weekly Journal to be burned. Governor Crosby contends that The Journal has been undermining confidence in the government and disturbing the public peace. He offers a reward of 50 pounds (over $10,000) for anyone who will reveal the identity of this wicked and vile publisher. The Journal started publishing late last year to offset the government licensed: New York Gazette. The publisher of The Gazette, William Bradford, is not a terrible man, but he doesn't want to rock the boat. The publisher of The Journal is John Peter Zenger, one of Bradford's former apprentices. The public LOVES Zenger's satirical rants against Governor Crosby. Zenger is finally caught and held in prison without charges. He is put on trial for sedition and libel. Truth is not a defense against libel at this time but Zenger's lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argues that it is the public that is being libeled by Governor Crosby. After 10 short minutes, the trial is over. John Zenger goes free. He will continue publishing The New York Weekly Journal until his death. His wife, Anna Catharina Zenger, will continue publishing the newspaper. She will be the first woman to publish an American newspaper. [1] [2] [3] [4]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The lawyer who won the case in 10 minutes lived in Philadelphia. From Zenger's defense we get the phrase, "It would take a Philadelphia lawyer to get him off." Americans liked seeing the aristocracy taken to the woodshed. They still do. In the modern day we see the media ignore or explain away much of the foolishness of our designated leadership. I recently heard one Presidential candidate bark like a dog on camera! It made me laugh but I wonder why I didn't hear more about it. The American people expect fair-and-balanced ridicule of our leadership. It cannot come from a single source, nor be quickly disposed of in 20 seconds of coverage by the network news. It must be raw, unsanctioned ridicule of everyone. We should never force civility at the point of a gun (which is what a law is). Convincing our fellows to be civil through reasoning is fine and if ridicule turns to violence, I'm OK with self-defense in kind. I am not OK with licensing the news, nor passing laws to enforce kind speech. [5] [6] (Optional): My favorite source of unsanctioned ridicule is The No Agenda Show. [7]
The lawyer who won the case in 10 minutes lived in Philadelphia. From Zenger's defense we get the phrase, "It would take a Philadelphia lawyer to get him off." Americans liked seeing the aristocracy taken to the woodshed. They still do. In the modern day we see the media ignore or explain away much of the foolishness of our designated leadership. I recently heard one Presidential candidate bark like a dog on camera! It made me laugh but I wonder why I didn't hear more about it. The American people expect fair-and-balanced ridicule of our leadership. It cannot come from a single source, nor be quickly disposed of in 20 seconds of coverage by the network news. It must be raw, unsanctioned ridicule of everyone. We should never force civility at the point of a gun (which is what a law is). Convincing our fellows to be civil through reasoning is fine and if ridicule turns to violence, I'm OK with self-defense in kind. I am not OK with licensing the news, nor passing laws to enforce kind speech. [5] [6] (Optional): My favorite source of unsanctioned ridicule is The No Agenda Show. [7]
Daniel Boone is the Common Man
Daniel Boone is born in Pennsylvania, and he will grow to become a legend in his own time... the icon of an American frontiersman. He will carry a rifle made in Pennsylvania but it will be called a "Kentucky Rifle" because he will use it while tracking his way through the wilds of Kentucky. Frankly, everything beyond the Cumberland Gap is considered "Kentucky". That includes Tennessee. During his explorations he will establish the town of Boonesborough. (Catchy name!) It will be one of the first towns to be established beyond the Appalachians. During the American Revolution, the government will be short on cash so they will offer certificates backed by land grants. Mostly, those grants will be for land west of the Appalachians. Despite Boone's efforts Kentucky will remain "a dark and bloody country" for years and years. After the war, those land grant certificates will be redeemed for pennies on the dollar and Daniel Boone will lose a lot of money on land speculation in Kentucky. [8] [9] [10] [11]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
It is difficult to separate the myth from the man, Daniel Boone. He led the exploration of the Cumberland Gap through the Appalachian mountains, but the path was already well known to the Indians. They traveled through the area often which is how it came to the attention of Dr. Thomas Walker. He was the one who gave it the name, Cumberland Gap to honor the Duke of Cumberland, the youngest son of King George the 2nd. Many others had traveled through Kentucky, so while we can give Daniel Boone credit for blazing the trail for new colonists, he was not the first. He was only the best remembered.
It is difficult to separate the myth from the man, Daniel Boone. He led the exploration of the Cumberland Gap through the Appalachian mountains, but the path was already well known to the Indians. They traveled through the area often which is how it came to the attention of Dr. Thomas Walker. He was the one who gave it the name, Cumberland Gap to honor the Duke of Cumberland, the youngest son of King George the 2nd. Many others had traveled through Kentucky, so while we can give Daniel Boone credit for blazing the trail for new colonists, he was not the first. He was only the best remembered.
- "Many heroic actions and chivalrous adventures are related of me which exist only in the regions of fancy. With me the world has taken great liberties, and yet I have been but a common man." -- Daniel Boone. [12]
This Year in Wikipedia
Year 1734, Wikipedia.
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