Journey to the American Founding
October 19 1773
The stories we’re seeing from the last half of 1772 and early 1773 are a mixture of change and continuity. Surrounding the mixture is an intensification of actions and decisions. The new and old twist together in revolving cycles. The pace is not what it once was—it has picked up speed.
Excerpts from: Americanism Redux: October 19, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago today, in 1773
It feels almost impossible to untangle a hundred threads knotted together. The feeling is prevalent in the latter part of October 1773.
Perhaps the most difficult tangle then rested below-decks, in the hold of the whaling ship Dartmouth. There, where whale oil usually sat in barrels, are chests of East India Company tea and a crate of copies of Phillis Wheatley’s newly published book of poems.
In the chests and crate alike sits the coming American struggle for freedom and founding.
TITLE: Americanism Redux: October 19, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago today, in 1773
By Dr. Dan Miller
To know us better then is to know us more fully now. Welcome to Americanism Redux and my one-a-week stories of 250 years ago. For the all the stories thus far, Visit Historical Solutions, Dr Dan Miller’s website>
Reference: The Remnant Trust Collection
Item #0453, Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin collaborate in 1787 to write “The Constitution of the Pennsylvania Society, for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully, Held in Bondage.” Of the two Benjamins, it is Rush who figures large in our story of October 19, 1773. He is one of the leaders behind the first important document produced at Independence Hall that will be part of the American founding. See today’s entry for Rush and the “Philadelphia Resolutions.”
View The Remnant Trust “Wisdom of the Ages Athenaeum PDF for reference>
Journey to the American Founding
Welcome to Americanism Redux, a series by historian author, Dr. Dan Miller. He explores what Americanism meant 250 years ago and its significance for America today.
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