March 23, 2013 - Anniversary of an Influential Speech

A lot of history books written for kids quote a phrase here or there that paint a simple, heroic picture of particular bits of history. “The British are coming, the British are coming!” is an example. Some history books have Paul Revere shouting these words of warning as he rode his horse from Charlestown to Lexington in April of 1775. 

But in actual fact, Revere rode as silently as he could, since the British were actually already there: the countryside was filled with British army patrols, and most of the American colonists still considered themselves British citizens and were loyal to the King. Instead of shouting a message to all, Revere stopped at the house of pretty much every “Patriot” – by which I mean “rebel,” those who wanted to declare independence from England and fight, if necessary, for the right to do so. In a low voice, Revere told each of the Patriots, “The Regulars are coming out,” referring to the regular, official British army. Many of the Patriots jumped onto their horses and rode to tell their neighbors with the same warning. By the time Revere reached Lexington, around midnight, there may have been 40 or more horsemen riding as silently as they could manage while still giving the not-famous warning.

Almost a month before that famous ride, another event had spurred another oft-quoted phrase: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” Today is the anniversary of the that quote.

On this date in 1775, a man named Patrick Henry spoke to the other men (yes, they were all men!) in the Virginia House of Burgesses. As a group, they were undecided as to whether or not to mount a military force against the British. The British Parliament had been making a larger and larger proportion of the American colonists angry, with the Sugar Act, the Currency Act, the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, the Declaratory Act, the Townshend Revenue Act, the Tea Act, and five acts called, together, the Intolerable Acts. British soldiers had even fired on American colonists, killing five, in the Boston Massacre. Colonists had passed resolutions, had boycotted British goods, had fought back by attacking a British ship (check out the Gaspee Affair!), and had protested with the Boston Tea Party.   

It seemed to many that war was inevitable. Others probably still hoped to remain a part of Great Britain or to separate peacefully.

Patrick Henry apparently thought that the colonists had to take action. Right away. And so he used his oratorical skills to change the undecided's minds.

Would it surprise you to know that we don't really know for sure what Patrick Henry said that day? Nobody was filming or taping the speech (of course! since the technology did not yet exist!), but nobody wrote it down right away, either. Forty-two years after the speech was made, a biographer named William Wirt tried to recreate the speech using oral histories. This is Wirt's recreation of the very end of Patrick Henry's speech:

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

And, Wirt writes, the entire crowd jumped up and shouted “To arms! To arms!”

Here's what we know:

• This speech did apparently move enough of the men to pass a resolution to commit Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War.

• Henry was known as a hypnotic orator. Thomas Jefferson said about his speeches, “Although it was difficult, when [Henry] had spoken, to tell what he had said, yet, while speaking, it always seemed directly to the point. When he had spoken in opposition to my opinion, had produced a great effect, and I myself had been highly delighted and moved, I have asked myself, when he ceased, 'What the devil has he said?' and could never answer the inquiry.”

In other words, Patrick Henry was able to move people by appealing to their emotions, but it was hard to remember just what he had said. His speeches were probably not as strong on logical argument as we might hope.

• Henry was also known to appeal to people's fears of Indian and slave revolts in order to manipulate them. I found Henry's words (according to Wirt) “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” to be terribly, terribly ironic, since Patrick Henry purchased at least 78 slaves during his lifetime! I imagine he wasn't trying to move his own slaves to revolt against their chains with these same words!

Also on this date:

Pakistan Day 

National Puppy Day 

World Meteorological Day

Anniversary of the coining of the word “okay” (America's “Greatest Word”)

Earth Hour 8:30 – 9:30 p.m. 

November 19, 2012 - Gettysburg Address Day

Seven score and nine years ago, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln brought forth in this nation a very small, very impactful speech.

The occasion was the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The style of the day was for orators (speakers) to go on and on with long, soaring speeches. And indeed, one of the most famous orators of the time, Edward Everett, had been invited to speak, and he wowed the crowd with two hours of grand speechifying. Then President Lincoln, who was coming down with a mild case of smallpox and felt a bit ill, stood up and gave what he was asked to give: “a few appropriate remarks.”

Just 272 words.

A mere 10 sentences.

He started and was finished in just a couple of minutes. The photographer missed taking a picture of him while speaking, he finished so unexpectedly quickly!

Lincoln received very little, if any, applause. (Reports differ.)

And yet this speech, these 272 words, are considered one of the greatest speeches in American history!

Lincoln looked at the founding principles of the U.S. within the prism of the Civil War, and he restated the principles of human equality, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, within the context of the ending of slavery. He talked about the preservation of the nation and finished with iconic words describing the American government: “...this government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The Gettysburg Address
is carved on the walls of the
Lincoln Memorial.

Check these out...

I like this animated video and stirring reading of the Gettysburg Address A LOT. 

Here is another video about the Gettysburg Address.

Also on this date:

Machu Picchu promoter Hiram Bingham's birthday 

Discovery Day in Puerto Rico 

Garifuna Settlement Day in Belize 

World Toilet Day 

October 22, 2012 - Start of Free Speech Week

You could start thinking about freedom of speech by checking out the official Free Speech Week website. There you can find out about an essay contest (which ends today!), watch some videos, and find out what various organizations have done to celebrate freedom of speech.

The creators of the day encourage us all—kids and teens and adults—to write in private journals or public blogs, to comment on Facebook or on others' blog posts or websites, to write articles or letters for school or city newspapers—in order to to exercise our free speech rights and express our ideas.

I just read an interesting blog post from PZ Myers. He wrote that “free speech is not freedom from responsibility,” and he explored some of the nuances of the free speech discussion. Basically, he points out that this freedom, like any other freedom, is not absolute.

I have always known that free speech has some limits. For example, it has been ruled that free speech doesn't include speech that causes others clear and present danger, such as screaming “Fire!” in a movie theater when there is no fire. You probably know that libel and slander and defamation laws also limit free speech: you cannot write or broadcast a false claim that gives someone else a negative image. There is even some limitation of public disclosure of private facts—even if the facts are true, courts have ruled, that is no defense against invasion of privacy.

So there are a lot of reasonable limitations on freedom of speech. 

PZ Myers points out that some people complain that someone's freedom of speech has been violated if they are not allowed to comment on a certain website, blog with a certain blog group, or talk on a certain broadcast show. But, he says, that is clearly wrong. The person can still speak freely elsewhere. There is no reason that a website moderator, say, or network executive HAS TO provide a soapbox and megaphone for every single person in the world to say whatever he or she wants, whenever she or he wants.

People who disagree with you and me—even people who have awful views and ideas—have the right to speak and write about their ideas. But they don't have the automatic right to speak at, say, the science conference I went to a few months ago, or the church down the road, or a soldier's funeral. I have a right—–and even a responsibility!—to eliminate a comment on my Facebook page or on this blog if I consider it highly inappropriate or hate speech.

Myers points out that when we discuss freedom of speech, we should acknowledge the problem of privilege. As always in a democracy, where the rights of the minority must be safeguarded against the whims of the majority, we must consider the fact that not everyone has equal access to public speech. It seems as if the internet offers a democratic solution to the problem of the wealthy and powerful owning the printing presses and broadcast stations. However, even on the internet, we have to watch out that the loudest and most aggressive voices don't drown out everyone else. One possible problem with communication on the internet is its opportunities for anonymity; I have seen, over the years, that people writing anonymous posts or comments often feel free to speak horribly hateful words that they would never, ever say to someone in the flesh, in real life.

Basically, freedom of speech is important, and worth defending. But this freedom must be discussed with nuance rather than with absolutes. It is a freedom that must be balanced against other freedoms. It is a freedom that carries responsibilities to ourselves and others.

Also on this date:

Anniversary of the first recorded solar eclipse 

Radio astronomy pioneer Karl Jansky's birthday