Declaration of Independence

 Many thanks to the National Archives for making public these important documents, for ALL to read freely, to give all Americans the right to access this important information free of charge. The following was downloaded from
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
 
Three documents, known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, have secured the rights of the American people for more than two and a quarter centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States. The first of those was the Declaration of Independence.

 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

The Declaration of Independence states the principles on which our government, and our identity as Americans, are based. Unlike the other founding documents, the Declaration of Independence is not legally binding, but it is powerful. Abraham Lincoln called it “a rebuke and a stumbling-block to tyranny and oppression.” It continues to inspire people around the world to fight for freedom and equality.
 
The original became so faded that in …. They had a stone engraving done to preserve this document to endure the ages.
In 1820, the Declaration of Independence was already showing signs of age. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned printer William J. Stone to make a full-size copperplate engraving. This plate was used to print copies of the Declaration. The 1823 Stone engraving is the most frequently reproduced version of the Declaration.
There is a complete transcription on the above website, but here are the first and last paragraphs.
 
In Congress, July 4, 1776
 
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation……
 
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

America - The Land of the Free

 

https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=250th&msockid=36572a6063ca6688225c3edd62c267a4&asset_id=2012967189

I have often said, "I'm about as American as they get." That's because most of my family ancestorial lines go back to before the Revolution. My people helped carve out this great nation and made it a place where people from all over the world would want to come. We should always allow for immigrants to come legally here to become citizens.

I'm very proud of my heritage. As I have traced my lineage as a genealogist, I see that there are about 15 men and one woman that I could enter into DAR. I am a member of DAR, proudly documenting the service of Conrad Sherertz, and being the first to honor him with that recognition. 

Here is a list of other possibilities for direct lineage. These men also had brothers and sons who fought in the Revolution.

William Lawson, George Vineyard, Christopher Vineyard, George Campbell, James McNair, Samuel Henderson, Isaac Sowell, Lazarus Hood, James Hulsey, Charles Hulsey, Richard Calloway, Peter Haynie, Joseph Humphries, John Langston, Laodicea Langston. 

Love Them Anyway

 

Rooted in God's Plan

 

Follow a Beacon of Light

 Time and Time and TIME again...over the years, I have processed and let it go...for the greater good of everyone involved. I can't this time. After processing....... I can no longer commit myself as I've done.... over and over again. It's that chip, chip chipping away, that Mother always talked about....and now, the wall has fallen.

Not my choice but thrust upon me.... I have to let it go. I cannot be accosted and screamed at over the phone. I have never been spoken to by anyone, like what I was met with back in May. I know that my sister would have NEVER screamed at me like that. She loves me; she never treated me like that, ever! I was told that I just like to fight about things....and that I always want things my way. 

It is sooooooo foreign to me and then this morning…. I feel angry and I don't feel anger hardly at ALL. But I felt angry that someone I have loved and cherished and been such a part of her life…and have held out hope that it could return to normal and that I could be the person who could help….and she called and now it feels like she accosted me. So yes, this has gone over the top. And as I calm down, it makes me bitterly sad. I have a huge lump in my throat. How could alcoholics leave such a wake with things tattered and shattered on the floor?

Once the screaming started.... over my slow and deliberate and calm voice, I reached a point where I had to scream back, just to get her attention. With God as my witness, I speak this as truth... screaming and yelling has never been a part of my adult world. I don't plan for that to be the case again.

It doesn't make any sense to me, but neither does alcoholism. Years ago, I was faced down by the demon of alcohol on a completely different front, and I swore that I would never abuse the substance. I've kept that promise to myself, but that promise could not ward off the demons of someone else. And now I'm choosing to stop letting it steal my peace and energy.

Mother fought the demon of alcohol and by the grace of God, on her own, she WON the battle. She returned to her faith, became a Sunday School teacher, studying the Bible daily, and with God's help she defeated the demon. Her words were spoken with such wisdom and still ring true in my ears on many many days. I can still hear her voice when she told me two things about my personality. 1) that I never make quick decisions, and good things happen to me because of that.... And.... 2) be careful, you are the kind of person that can be taken advantage of (THAT DOESN’T INDICATE A FIGHTER, DOES IT?) nor does it indicate someone who always wants things my way. Two things I was accused of. Boy! This caller doesn't know me.

The anger has subsided and the sadness has set in like a heavy fog over the bay. I no longer have my sister in her healthy mental capacity, but I will follow the light to a place of my own inner peace and serenity. I will leave the rest behind me.

Sensical Approach to Cultural War

 

Events — The Book Lady Bookstore

Sensical Approach to Cultural War

Stop Moaning

“This country was born in turmoil and conflict.”

 I’ve done a lot of soul searching since the pandemic when the world seemed to be turned upside down. In May 2021, my own neighborhood was invaded The Black Lives Matter organization. It was disturbing and thought provoking. I spent time wondering what I have missed and how maybe my own perspective is distorted. Then I found an article written from an interview with Annette Gordon-Reed. Annette is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer. This article was about her book The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.  I think she covers it quite nicely.

As a child Annette loved to read, more specifically biographies. She read about George Washington Carver, George Washinton, Thomas Jefferson, Dolley Madison, etc. Jefferson was the most interesting to her because he loved to read, and he wrote the Declaration of Independence…but he was a slave owner. Sally Hemings’ children were fathered by Jefferson. Annette says that though they were enslaved people, bound by the institution of slavery, they were also mothers, fathers, sisters, aunts, friends, etc. They had different personalities, different ways of going through the world. Their opportunities were severely circumscribed because of slavery but she wants to view them as individual human beings.

She understands why people would not want to name something after Jefferson, but “we have to grapple with him, because he embodies the contradictions of this country, the good things and the bad things.” Members of the founding generation of our nation must be a part of the conversation. The statues and things named for them present an opportunity to talk about the way this country was born. Annette believes that we can’t take out those parts of history because they are less favorable, yet they make us who we are today.

Annette is optimistic about the young people today because they have grown up thinking there is a problem, and it’s a problem we must deal with. She believes that some don’t want to talk about history, and she thinks young people are resisting that. She plans to write more books about the Black progress that has been made.

In 1964, Annette Gordon-Reed was a child growing up in Conroe, Texas. She was part of the generation, just as I was, that lived during the integration of schools. It was intense because it was a big deal for a Black child to go to a white school. We lived during a time where we had separate waiting rooms at the doctor’s office and Blacks were seated in the balcony at theaters. We were part of breaking those barriers.

Today, we name things also for ALL people who have made a difference in communities, state, and nation. There are no barriers. The walls have crumbled, and we must be aware how much we have grown as a nation. A new school in Conroe was recently named Annette Gordon-Reed Elementary School. Let’s celebrate our successes and stop groaning about the history which led us to this place today.

KUOW - In 'On Juneteenth' Annette Gordon-Reed chronicles hardship and joy on the path to Black freedom

Mack's Son, Alfred McNair, Proof of Sarah's Name

 Alfred Minlus McNair

Alfred filed for a delayed birth certificate. It reveals his parents' names. What was of interest to me was that he gave his mother's name as Sarah Miranda Henderson. I have long said that her name was Sarah Merinda Henderson, but I have had a hard time substantiating that. Here is my proof.