November 11, 1918.  At 11:00 AM, the War to End All Wars came to an end.  The message “all quiet on the western front” was sent across Europe.  Sadly, hostilities had continued needlessly in the West all that morning, and estimates indicate that over 300 Americans lost their lives on the last day of that needless war.

In an effort to remind all Americans of the sacrifices of our troops in the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day on November 11, 1919.

Sadly, the War to End All Wars didn’t end all wars.  And over the next 35 years, the United States would be involved in two more active wars and be embroiled in a world wide cold one.  Recognizing the millions of men and women who had served in uniform, Congress and President Eisenhower changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1954.  On November 11 every year, we recognize the contributions of all Americans who have raised their hand and swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the United States and her constitution in uniform.  Every veteran, from those whose time was as brief and inconsequential as my own, to those who have dedicated their entire lives – and many of have given their lives – this day is a tribute from the citizens of a nation who will never forget and always proclaim the sacrifices all our men and women in uniform make every day.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it has long been our custom to commemorate November 11, the anniversary of the ending of World War I, by paying tribute to the heroes of that tragic struggle and by rededicating ourselves to the cause of peace; and

WHEREAS in the intervening years the United States has been involved in two other great military conflicts, which have added millions of veterans living and dead to the honor rolls of this Nation; and

WHEREAS the Congress passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926 (44 Stat. 1982), calling for the observance of November 11 with appropriate ceremonies, and later provided in an act approved May 13, 1939 (52 Stat. 351), that the eleventh of November should be a legal holiday and should be known as Armistice Day; and

WHEREAS, in order to expand the significance of the commemoration and in order that a grateful Nation might pay appropriate homage to the veterans of all its wars who have contributed so much to the preservation of this Nation, the Congress by an act approved June 1, 1954 (68 Stat. 168), changed the name of the holiday to Veterans Day:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon all of our citizens to observe Thursday, November 11, 1954, as Veterans Day. On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain. I also direct the appropriate officials of the Government to arrange for the display of the flag of the United States on all public buildings on Veterans Day.

In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans’ organizations and the entire citizen will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this eighth day of October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-ninth.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

(This post was first published 11/11/10 – BWS)

It was oppressively hot that 4th of July 1776, when the Founding Fathers gathered in Independence Hall, Philadelphia.  The titans of the day, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock, Sam Adams, Benjamin Franklin and the two dozen other leading founders finally voted unanimously to sever all ties with Great Britain, one by one filing up to sign the Declaration of Independence, written with divine inspiration by Jefferson himself.  Bells rang, people rejoiced in the streets and the American republic was proclaimed.

Not exactly. Most of what we Americans “know” about the Fourth of July is wrong.

The fact that July 4th became the anniversary of American independence is a fluke of history, attributable to the methodical legalisms of the Second Continental Congress.  The actual vote to declare independence had been taken on July 2, with 12 colonies voting in the affirmative and New York, who had no instructions from their assembly on the independence question, abstaining.  That vote on July 2nd was the critical vote, and it wouldn’t have been possible without three men who have largely been lost to history – Caesar Rodney, John Dickinson and Robert Morris.  Rodney, of Delaware, had been absent in Congress on July 1, when the first vote was taken – a vote of 9-2-2, with South Carolina and Pennsylvania voting against independence, New York abstaining and Delaware deadlocked internally with one delegate voting for, one against, and Rodney absent.  Nobody knew where Rodney was on July 1st and while a rider had been dispatched to find him, no one knew when he would return.  Thankfully, Rodney got the message and rode an incredible 80 miles in one night to arrive for the vote on July 2.

Dickinson and Morris, on the other hand, were more important absent than present.  Two of the most ardent anti-independence delegates, both were members of the Pennsylvania delegation, and their votes tipped the scale for Pennsylvania, 4-3 against independence.  Knowing they were in the minority, the two had the courage of their convictions and were unwilling to vote for independence but weren’t going to stand in the way of history.  Morris would later sign the Declaration; Dickinson did not. They willingly absented themselves from Congress on the 2nd, allowing Pennsylvania to vote 3-2, led by Ben Franklin, for independence.  With Delaware and Pennsylvania flipping, South Carolina was left in the nay column, and the South Carolina delegation later switched in order to make the vote unanimous.

July 2nd was the big day.  So big that Adams wrote later in a letter to Abigail that “[t]he second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”  Adams was wrong.

July 3rd, the next day, was spent debating the text of the Declaration of Independence.  The document, which was heavily influenced by George Mason’s Declaration of Rights for Virginia, was written primarily by Jefferson, but heavily altered by Congress.  Congress deleted or altered over a quarter of the text.  The document itself, according to Jefferson in a letter to Henry Lee in 1825, contained no new ideas.  It was a synthesis of many of the leading thoughts on liberty and freedom, with influences dating as far back as the English Declaration of Rights in 1689.

July 4th was not a busy day in Congress.  The real work had been completed on the 2nd of July, and the bulk of the changes to the document were completed on the 3rd.  Business began on the 4th of July and concluded at 11 AM, when the vote was taken on the final draft of the Declaration.  The vote was a mirror of that on July 2, and Congress ordered the document finalized and printed.

Only John Hancock, President of the Congress and the Secretary, Charles Thomson, signed it.

David McCullough’s book John Adams (where many of the facts I’ve written about came from) notes that the rest of the day was so innocuous, most members of Congress didn’t bother writing about it. Adams said nothing about the 4th.  Jefferson’s diary notes that he took time off to shop for ladies’ gloves and a new thermometer, spending 3 pounds 15 shillings of money he didn’t have (Jefferson was a notorious spendthrift).

The first officials news of the Declaration came on July 8th at noon, when the Declaration was read aloud from a Dunlap broadside edition in the State House Yard in Philadelphia.  From there, the Declaration spread far and wide, being read on July 9th to Washington’s assembled troops in New York – Washington wasn’t there for the vote, nor did he sign the Declaration, having given up his seat in Congress to take command of the Continental Army in June of 1775.  Most of the other signatures were affixed in dribs and drabs over the next month.  And the American “republic” wouldn’t officially be born  until 1781 when the Articles of Confederation were ratified, even though they’d been in effect for all intents and purposes since November 1777.

It wasn’t even that hot that day – a summer storm had broken the heat wave on the 3rd.

Yet despite simply being the day that the text of the Declaration of Independence was finalized, the 4th of July has become the nation’s premiere secular holiday.  It is the quintiessential American holiday, celebrated with feasts and fireworks.  Americans, no matter where they are, from DC to Afghanistan, around the world and back, share in the Fourth.  It is our annual celebration of freedom and a chance to enjoy the simple pleasures of living in the United States of America.

Like many other historical events, the Fourth has become shrouded in its own legendary history, made real to millions by movies like 1776 and through countless books and stories we’ve heard from childhood.  Regardless of whether we get the history right, celebrating the annual founding of the world’s oldest democracy is as right as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.

Have a happy, safe and enjoyable 4th of July!

It’s hard to believe but it Common Sense is one year old this month! Common Sense launched during the second week of June, 2010.  Since we’ve launched we’ve enjoyed tremendous success, rising in the ranks to be one of the top ten conservative blogs in Virginia, and one of the top 25 political blogs across the Commonwealth. We’ve added a number of great contributors, and we’ve had more than 84,000 visitors who have viewed over 167,000 pages.  We’ve provided news, information and commentary on a wide range of issues and helped contribute to the local political dialogue here in Northern Virginia.

I’m proud of the hard work and dedication of all our submitters, but we couldn’t have done it without our readers. Thanks for staying with us – especially during my campaign when my contributions have been scaled back significantly – and we look forward to a great second year!

As we continue to remember the events as they unfolded during the Civil War sesquicentennial year, I have been doing my best to put up a post marking the milestones of each major day, particularly for those of us in Virginia. Today marks the 150th anniversary of one of the sadder days of the war, the day Virginia’s secession from the union was complete.

Following the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12-13, 1861, the most northern states of the south – Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas and North Carolina – found themselves in a quandry.  While these states had withstood the earlier secession of the Deep South cotton states, they were now faced with a decision – to join their fellow slave states in seceding from the Union, or to allow their territory and their militia to be used by the Federal government to put down the insurrection in the South.

Virginia was not as predisposed towards secession as some of its fellow southern states.  Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, on November 15, 1860, Virginia Governor John Letcher had convened a special session of the General Assembly to take up the issue of secession.  The General Assembly then voted to hold a special secession convention, which began on February 13, 1861.  In addition to the secession convention, the General Assembly also voted to sponsor a Peace Convention, to be held in Washington in February to try to develop a compromise that could save the Union.  The Peace Convention failed.  But so did the secession convention in Richmond – at least, for a time.  Virginians who favored immediate secession pushed through a resolution that would have removed Virginia from the Union – a resolution which failed by a vote of 88-45.  The convention adopted a number of other resolutions, most of them favoring Southern policy positions, but also including a resolution that the eight slave states that remained in the Union at the time meet to discuss a way to compromise and return the 7 Cotton States to the federal fold.

That meeting never happened.

After Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, public opinion began to shift.  Those in Virginia who had been staunch unionists blanched at the idea of fighting their colleagues in South Carolina.  When President Lincoln telegraphed Governor Letcher, requesting he call out the militia to support Federal efforts to suppress the hostilities in South Carolina, he received the following response:

“Executive Department, Richmond, Va., April 15, 1861. Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War: Sir: I have received your telegram of the 15th, the genuineness of which I doubted. Since that time I have received your communications mailed the same day, in which I am requested to detach from the militia of the State of Virginia “the quota assigned in a table,” which you append, “to serve as infantry or rifleman for the period of three months, unless sooner discharged.” In reply to this communication, I have only to say that the militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in view. Your object is to subjugate the Southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object – an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the Constitution or the act of 1795 – will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil war, and, having done so, we will meet it in a spirit as determined as the administration has exhibited toward the South.”

The die was cast. two days later, the secession convention voted to provisionally secede from the Union on an 88-55 vote.  Of the delegates who voted against secession, many came from Northern Virginia, including the President of the Convention, John Janney and John Armistead Carter, both of Loudoun, George William Brent of Alexandria, and William H. Dulaney of Fairfax.

The ordinance of secession was provisional pending a referendum of the entire Commonwealth, which was held on May 23rd, 1861.  The final vote was 132,201 in favor of secession and 37,451.  Virginia became the heart of the new Confederacy of southern states, and seven days after ratification, Richmond began serving as the capital of the new nation.

Half a decade later, the Commonwealth would be in ruins, Richmond nearly destroyed, Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah ravaged, and almost 15,000 Virginia men would have died from combat or disease.  123 battles would be fought on our soil.  And countless thousands of civilians would have been displaced, their lives changed forever.