Words That Built a Nation

11 annotations • Apr 2024 – May 2024 • data

Benjamin Franklin published this annual almanac in Philadelphia. It contained a calendar, weather predictions, recipes, medical advice, farming tips, and an astrological guide. Franklin also included Poor Richard's proverbs—brief, clever sayings related to daily life. These sayings reflected the value of hard work and common sense
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANACK He that waits upon a Fortune, is never sure of a Dinner. Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee. Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise. Diligence is the Mother of Good-Luck. Do not do that which you would not have known. Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it. God helps them that help themselves. Don't throw stones at your neighbours, if your own windows are glass.

LETTER TO JOHN ADAMS …I long to hear that you have declared an independency—and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation. That your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical is a Truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute, but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend. Why then, not put it out of the power of the vicious and the Lawless to use us with cruelty and indignity with impunity. Men of Sense in all Ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the vassals [servants] of your Sex. Regard us then as Beings placed by providence under your protection and in imitation of the Supreme Being make use of that power only for our happiness.

Enslaved and free blacks, abolitionists, and other opponents of slavery were overjoyed. In the North, members of Lincoln's Republican party tended to support the document, while the opposing Democratic party criticized it out of fear of the potential power of free blacks. Many Southerners attacked the proclamation, saying that Lincoln was a dictator who had overstepped his authority. Many feared it would cause slaves to rebel. By making the elimination of slavery a goal of the Union, Lincoln blocked the European powers from aiding the Confederacy, since most of them had already outlawed slavery. The bravery of African-American soldiers solidified Northern opposition to slavery, especially among Union fighters.

Kennedy asked Theodore Sorenson, his speechwriter, to discover "the secret" of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which he hoped to use as a model. The speechwriter reported to him, "Lincoln never used a two-or three-syllable word where a one-syllable word would do, and never used two or three words where one word would do."

When a bright young woman graduate starts looking for a job, why is the first question always: "Can you type?" A history of prejudice lies behind that question. Why are women thought of as secretaries, not administrators? Librarians and teachers, but not doctors and lawyers? Because they are thought of as different and inferior. The happy homemaker and the contented darky are both stereotypes produced by prejudice.
It is women who can bring empathy, tolerance, insight, patience, and persistence to government—the qualities we naturally have or have had to develop because of our suppression by men. The women of a nation mold its morals, its religion, and its politics by the lives they live. At present, our country needs women's idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.
Chisholm's outspokenness served her well as a trailblazer and as an agent for change, but it hampered her as a legislator. Many of her male colleagues, perhaps envious of the high profile she had gained during her presidential bid, refused to cooperate with her. Her leadership and her writing, however, inspired younger women to run for office and speak out against discrimination.

The nation had never experienced such a dramatic and devastating terrorist attack on its own soil before September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush had been in office for less than a year, and he now faced the biggest test of leadership of his presidency. He had to inform and reassure the nation, and express empathy for the terrible personal losses that had affected so many people. He had to tell people how the government would answer to these attacks, and show the rest of the world how the United States would respond to such a bold and calculated act. Perhaps most importantly, he had to set the tone for how the nation should behave.
In response to the 9/11 attacks, President Bush introduced the USA Patriot Act, which eliminated certain civil and criminal legal protections in order to make it easier for investigators to detect, prevent, and prosecute acts of terrorism. The Patriot Act also created more comprehensive rules to prevent money laundering, which had been used to fund terrorism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze—a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns—this too widens the racial divide and blocks the path to understanding.