rank has its privileges

     I read a history article recently that mentioned a man in England centuries ago who was  forbidden to own a gun, because only gentlemen were permitted to carry firearms. Here in America, we are all political equals, and some notions of rank are difficult to understand. In an old-fashioned monarchy, everyone had a rank. Weapons were a part of what defined that rank. People who wielded no weapons were of the lowest rank. They got to hide in the castle when the enemy approached. Pikemen ( you may have seen these in Robin Hood ) were a part of the lower ranks. Archers had some rank, too. Men with battle axes were above archers. Men who could fight with a sword, on horseback, were of the highest rank. Above them all was the man who could command and make good use of the men on horseback--the king.
     It took a lot of practice to learn to use an old-fashioned weapon effectively. Chances are slight that anyone would know what to do with a weapon, unless he had been trained to use it. When guns were invented, they were equated with swords--something you could really use best to fight face-to-face, or from horseback.  The man who wanted a gun, even thought hat wasn't his "rank" , was assuming a position in the army, not just in society--a  position he hadn't been trained for.
    

the shot heard round the world

     The "shot heard round the world" was the first shot fired by an American in 1775, in the war that became known as the American Revolution.  The Americans had a store of arms and ammunition at Lexington ( Massachusetts )  and another at Concord. They had been training as a militia, and were supposed to be able to turn out in one minute--hence the name "minute men". The British found out about the American store of weapons, and their army marched out to seize the American's guns and ammunition. The "minute men" were informed of the movements of the British, by the famous "midnight ride of Paul Revere" . When the British army got to Lexington and Concord, the Americans were waiting for them. The British retreated to Boston, and the Americans kept their arms.
     Two poems tell this story--"Concord Hymn", by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

the suffragettes

     A "suffragette" was a woman who agitated for the right to vote for women, in the days before the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution made voting legal for females. That was in 1920, the first time that women across the nation had the right to vote in a presidential election.
     Women had been told that their husbands and fathers voted, anyway. People were worried that women would vote irresponsibly--for the better-looking candidate, instead of  for the best leader.  Many people insisted that a woman's place was in the home, and that if women went out to vote, their duties as wives and mothers would be neglected.
     By the time of World War I  there were women in prison for causing disturbances while demonstrating for the right to vote. They went on a hunger strike, and were force-fed by prison authorities. This caused such an uproar that President Wilson promised to try to help them get the vote if they would refrain from public disturbances until the war was over. The war ended in 1919, and women in the United States were given the vote, as promised.

where do juries come from?

     The people who make up a jury ( or an inquest ) are selected at random from the population. The sheriff's office does this, using the phone book, driver's license information, and voter registrations. Some counties use only one of these methods to "find" potential jurors, some use two or all of them. If you drive a car, have a phone, and are registered to vote, you will be called for jury duty some day.
     If you are called for jury duty, you will get a notice in the mail to appear in court at a specified time, on a particular day. After you get there, and if the court case you were summoned for is proceeding as scheduled, you will experience the part you might have seen on TV in a courtroom drama, where the lawyers may "challenge" a juror and ask that he or she be removed from the case.
     If you would like to see a jury in action, you might watch Twelve Angry Men--either the classic black and white version, or the newer remake.
    

our national anthem

     Our national anthem, the "Star Spangled Banner", is nearly 200 years old. To many people, the words of our anthem make a stirring and wonderful picture. Unfortunately, the meaning of the words is also lost on many people. So here is an attempt to tell them what the rest of us hear--

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

The sun is coming up, and it is getting light out. Can you see if the American flag is still flying over Fort McHenry? We were so pleased, while a prisoner on this enemy ship, to see that it was still waving when the sun went down last night. If we don't see the flag, we'll know that we have lost the battle, and perhaps the war, and will no longer be an independent nation. Personally, if we lose, I will remain a prisoner, perhaps accused of treason, and even executed.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there

Over the walls of Fort Mc Henry ( in Maryland ), we could see the red and white stripes, and the blue field with white stars, that make up our flag.  Even though it was dark, every time a bomb went off, we could see the American flag waving by the red light of the explosion.

Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

Is the flag we fought for years ago still there? Or did we fight a war to make our own country, a country where we vote for our leaders, just to lose it now?

Francis Scott Key wrote those words while a prisoner on a British ship. He was actually able to watch the battle from the ship. This was during the War of 1812, less than thirty years after the end of the American Revolution.. America  fought the British from 1775 to 1783, and won. That was the beginning of the United States. By 1812, the British had been refusing to acknowledge that America was a separate country. Ships of the British navy stopped at American ports and "impressed" Americans into the service of the British crown. They woke up out at sea on a ship, and were told that they were in the navy.  Much of the war was fought with ships, including the bombardment ( bombing ) of Fort McHenry, in Maryland. The British burned down the White House in Washington, D.C. The war ended in 1814, and the Americans won and remained a nation--but it was more than a hundred years before America ever allied itself with England.

remember the ERA?

    































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































      "ERA" stands for "Equal Rights Amendment", meaning equal rights for women. The ERA was proposed and rejected in the 1970's, and generated a lot of controversy. The amendment simply stated that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex". It doesn't sound controversial. Women already had the vote, and could own property, although a woman rarely had credit in her own name ( only in her husband's name ).
    Some people ( male and female ) were afraid the ERA would mean that women would be drafted to serve in the army, although there were no such plans. Others went so far as to claim that if women had equal educational and career opportunities, they wouldn't need to marry, wouldn't have any children, and the human race would die out ( I didn't make that up ).
     On the other side of the controversy, some people ( male and female ) were afraid that without a specific guarantee of their rights in the U.S. Constitution, any rights that women had ( except for the right to vote ) could be legislated away by a conservative majority in congress.
     Would the ERA pass today? It would need to be passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and by 3/4 of the states ( 38 states ) to become a part of the Constitution.

some of us still get worked up thinking about it

     You may have read about the Watergate scandal of the 1970's, or perhaps you have seen All the President's Men. Some people who worked for the committee to re-elect the president--C.R.E.E.P ( really, I'm not making this up ) broke into a psychiatrist's office, and were caught. They were trying to get some dirt on the man who had "leaked" classified government documents to the press.
    Some people wanted to prove that the president, Richard Nixon, had known about the break-in, or that it had been done at his direction. The Watergate hearings were on TV for an entire summer. Some of the president's  aides went to prison. The president resigned his office on national TV.
     When something happens to the president, the vice-president becomes the new president. Everyone knew that--that's what happens when a president dies while in office. But a president had never resigned before .The odd thing was that the vice-president, Spiro Agnew, had already resigned, because of a different scandal. President Nixon had appointed a new vice-president, Gerald Ford, who was confirmed by the senate. So Gerald Ford became the president, even though he had not received a single vote.