Lots of interesting events that took place on June 18th. I haven't done one of these posts in some time, but thought today would be a good time to make such a post.
Tom
1776 - the New Jersey Provincial Congress declares Governor William Franklin (Ben's son) "an enemy to the liberties of this country"
1778 - after 9 months of occupation (after the Battle of Brandywine, the Battle of the Clouds, and some follow-up battles), 15,000 British troops evacuate Philadelphia, under the orders of British Gen. Henry Clinton. Because France and England has engaged in a new a war on June 17th, Clinton was forced to evacuate to New York City by land. Loyalists in Philadelphia, who feared for their safety with the evacuation, sailed aboard ships to New York. British Gen. William Howe had sought to take Philadelphia in 1777 in part to capture the Continental Congress. Unfortunately for him, the Continental Congress had abandoned Philadelphia for York, PA, a week before the British took Philadelphia on Sep. 26, 1777. Gen. Washington's troops marched out of Valley Forge and re-took Philadelphia the following day. US Gen. Benedict Arnold was named the military governor of Philadelphia, and started his seduction of Peggy Shippen, who later became his wife, and is buried next to him in London.
1798 - President John Adams signed the Naturalization Act. It was the 1st of 4 Acts that were collectively known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. At the time, France was threatening to go to war with the US. In response, Adams and his party were attempting to give more authority to the federal government, and to the President in particular, to deal with suspicious persons (which was mostly code for foreigners). The Naturalization Act raised the requirement for immigrants to reside in the US before becoming eligible for US citizenship from 5 years to 14 years. His Vice President was Thomas Jefferson (in those days, the person that came in 1st in the Electoral College balloting became President, and the person that came in 2nd became Vice President. Adams and Jefferson had polar opposite views about government. Jefferson was strongly opposed to the Acts. The other 3 Acts that were passed in the coming weeks were the Alien Act (gave the President the power to deport aliens during peace time), the Alien Enemies Act (gave the President the power to deport any alien living in the US with ties to US wartime enemies) and the Sedition Act (gave the President the power to define treasonable activity including false, scandalous, and malicious writing). The Sedition Act was a frontal attack on the First Amendment. Benjamin Franklin's grandson, who edited a newspaper in Philadelphia (one that opposed Adams and supported Jefferson) was one person that was arrested under the Sedition Act. In the end, Jefferson and his followers lost the battle but won the war, as they took control of Congress and Jefferson won the Presidency in 1800 in large part due to running against the abuse of Presidential powers and the threats to free speech that had been passed in the Aliens and Sedition Acts.
1812 - President James Madison signed the declaration of war, and so began the War of 1812 with the British. Other than the Star Spangled Banner, and resolution of the border with Canada, not a lot was gained or accomplished by this war.
1815 - Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington and an international army at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon's plan was to defeat the allied armies one by one before they could organize. He defeated the Prussians on June 16th. Alas, he made some tactical mistakes on June 18th, including failing to reinforce Marshal Michel Ney's forces when they had the advantage. His mistakes allowed the Prussians to join the battle, and when Wellington launched a general advance late in the day the French troops panicked and retreated. French casualties at Waterloo were 25,000 killed or wounded, and 9,000 captured. The international army had about the same number of casualties. Within the next month, Napoleon had abdicated in favor of his son, and surrendered to British protection. He hoped to go to America, but the British forced him to go to St. Helena, where he died 6 years later at the age of 51. Few would have predicted that this event would be referenced in a huge hit by ABBA 159 years later. ("My, My, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender ...")
1873 - Susan B. Anthony was fined $100, plus the costs of the prosecution against her, for voting in the Nov. 1872 Presidential election. On Nov. 1, 1872, she led a group of women to the voter registration office in Rochester, NY . They demanded that they be allowed to register under the protections of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution. Election inspectors initially rebuffed her request. However, after Anthony argued with them for over an hour, and threatened to take the matter to court, the inspectors allowed her and 14 other women to register. On Nov. 5, they voted at the West End News Depot in Rochester. Anthony voted for Ulysses S. Grant in the election, and 2 of the 3 inspectors at the poll voted to allow her vote, so it became official. On Nov. 14, 1872, US Commissioner William Storrs issued a warrant for the arrest of Anthony and the 14 other women, as well as for the election inspectors that had allowed them to register. She was indicted in January, 1873. At her trial, Anthony's attorney argued that she did not violate the Enforcement Act, which specifies that a person cannot knowingly vote illegally, because she believed that the 14th amendment gave her the right to vote. Citing recent Supreme Court decisions which had narrowed the definition of citizenship under the 14th amendment, the judge in Anthony's case ruled that the amendment did not guarantee women the right to vote. He found that Anthony was aware that she could not legally vote, and hence the fine. I should note that Anthony refused to pay the fine, and little to no effort was ever made during Anthony's life to collect the fine. It would be 47 years until the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote.
1923 - the first Checker Cab rolled off the assembly line at Checker Cab Manufacturing Company, in Kalamazoo, MI. The initial Checker Cabs were produced in 1921, at Joliet, IL. When demand outgrew the initial facilities, Morris Markin, the founder of the company, moved the company's production line to Kalamazoo. Checker later expanded into producing auto parts, and manufactured war material during WW I, as well as passenger cars in the late 1950s. Its peak production year was 1962, when Checker manufactured 8,173 cars, most of which were taxis. Unfortunately, the Checker Cab was a gas guzzler, and they fell out of favor in the 1970s during the 2 gas embargoes. In 1982 Morris's son David announced that they were halting production, and the last cab produced at the Kalamazoo plant was on July 12, 1982.
1967 - the Monterey Pop Festival, a 3-day festival held during the Summer of Love, reached its apex on the final day. Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Ottis Redding, the Animals, Jamis Joplin, the Association, the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Greatful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, the Mamas and the Papas were some of the acts that appeared at this festival. Even if you did not attend, or have never seen film of the festival, you've probably heard the song "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)." This was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie, as a promotional tune for the Festival. Sadly, I don't think peace and love, which were to focuses of the Summer of Love, became as entrenched as many that attended the Festival thought they would.
Tom
1776 - the New Jersey Provincial Congress declares Governor William Franklin (Ben's son) "an enemy to the liberties of this country"
1778 - after 9 months of occupation (after the Battle of Brandywine, the Battle of the Clouds, and some follow-up battles), 15,000 British troops evacuate Philadelphia, under the orders of British Gen. Henry Clinton. Because France and England has engaged in a new a war on June 17th, Clinton was forced to evacuate to New York City by land. Loyalists in Philadelphia, who feared for their safety with the evacuation, sailed aboard ships to New York. British Gen. William Howe had sought to take Philadelphia in 1777 in part to capture the Continental Congress. Unfortunately for him, the Continental Congress had abandoned Philadelphia for York, PA, a week before the British took Philadelphia on Sep. 26, 1777. Gen. Washington's troops marched out of Valley Forge and re-took Philadelphia the following day. US Gen. Benedict Arnold was named the military governor of Philadelphia, and started his seduction of Peggy Shippen, who later became his wife, and is buried next to him in London.
1798 - President John Adams signed the Naturalization Act. It was the 1st of 4 Acts that were collectively known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. At the time, France was threatening to go to war with the US. In response, Adams and his party were attempting to give more authority to the federal government, and to the President in particular, to deal with suspicious persons (which was mostly code for foreigners). The Naturalization Act raised the requirement for immigrants to reside in the US before becoming eligible for US citizenship from 5 years to 14 years. His Vice President was Thomas Jefferson (in those days, the person that came in 1st in the Electoral College balloting became President, and the person that came in 2nd became Vice President. Adams and Jefferson had polar opposite views about government. Jefferson was strongly opposed to the Acts. The other 3 Acts that were passed in the coming weeks were the Alien Act (gave the President the power to deport aliens during peace time), the Alien Enemies Act (gave the President the power to deport any alien living in the US with ties to US wartime enemies) and the Sedition Act (gave the President the power to define treasonable activity including false, scandalous, and malicious writing). The Sedition Act was a frontal attack on the First Amendment. Benjamin Franklin's grandson, who edited a newspaper in Philadelphia (one that opposed Adams and supported Jefferson) was one person that was arrested under the Sedition Act. In the end, Jefferson and his followers lost the battle but won the war, as they took control of Congress and Jefferson won the Presidency in 1800 in large part due to running against the abuse of Presidential powers and the threats to free speech that had been passed in the Aliens and Sedition Acts.
1812 - President James Madison signed the declaration of war, and so began the War of 1812 with the British. Other than the Star Spangled Banner, and resolution of the border with Canada, not a lot was gained or accomplished by this war.
1815 - Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington and an international army at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon's plan was to defeat the allied armies one by one before they could organize. He defeated the Prussians on June 16th. Alas, he made some tactical mistakes on June 18th, including failing to reinforce Marshal Michel Ney's forces when they had the advantage. His mistakes allowed the Prussians to join the battle, and when Wellington launched a general advance late in the day the French troops panicked and retreated. French casualties at Waterloo were 25,000 killed or wounded, and 9,000 captured. The international army had about the same number of casualties. Within the next month, Napoleon had abdicated in favor of his son, and surrendered to British protection. He hoped to go to America, but the British forced him to go to St. Helena, where he died 6 years later at the age of 51. Few would have predicted that this event would be referenced in a huge hit by ABBA 159 years later. ("My, My, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender ...")
1873 - Susan B. Anthony was fined $100, plus the costs of the prosecution against her, for voting in the Nov. 1872 Presidential election. On Nov. 1, 1872, she led a group of women to the voter registration office in Rochester, NY . They demanded that they be allowed to register under the protections of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution. Election inspectors initially rebuffed her request. However, after Anthony argued with them for over an hour, and threatened to take the matter to court, the inspectors allowed her and 14 other women to register. On Nov. 5, they voted at the West End News Depot in Rochester. Anthony voted for Ulysses S. Grant in the election, and 2 of the 3 inspectors at the poll voted to allow her vote, so it became official. On Nov. 14, 1872, US Commissioner William Storrs issued a warrant for the arrest of Anthony and the 14 other women, as well as for the election inspectors that had allowed them to register. She was indicted in January, 1873. At her trial, Anthony's attorney argued that she did not violate the Enforcement Act, which specifies that a person cannot knowingly vote illegally, because she believed that the 14th amendment gave her the right to vote. Citing recent Supreme Court decisions which had narrowed the definition of citizenship under the 14th amendment, the judge in Anthony's case ruled that the amendment did not guarantee women the right to vote. He found that Anthony was aware that she could not legally vote, and hence the fine. I should note that Anthony refused to pay the fine, and little to no effort was ever made during Anthony's life to collect the fine. It would be 47 years until the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote.
1923 - the first Checker Cab rolled off the assembly line at Checker Cab Manufacturing Company, in Kalamazoo, MI. The initial Checker Cabs were produced in 1921, at Joliet, IL. When demand outgrew the initial facilities, Morris Markin, the founder of the company, moved the company's production line to Kalamazoo. Checker later expanded into producing auto parts, and manufactured war material during WW I, as well as passenger cars in the late 1950s. Its peak production year was 1962, when Checker manufactured 8,173 cars, most of which were taxis. Unfortunately, the Checker Cab was a gas guzzler, and they fell out of favor in the 1970s during the 2 gas embargoes. In 1982 Morris's son David announced that they were halting production, and the last cab produced at the Kalamazoo plant was on July 12, 1982.
1967 - the Monterey Pop Festival, a 3-day festival held during the Summer of Love, reached its apex on the final day. Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Ottis Redding, the Animals, Jamis Joplin, the Association, the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Greatful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, the Mamas and the Papas were some of the acts that appeared at this festival. Even if you did not attend, or have never seen film of the festival, you've probably heard the song "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)." This was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie, as a promotional tune for the Festival. Sadly, I don't think peace and love, which were to focuses of the Summer of Love, became as entrenched as many that attended the Festival thought they would.
