First Recorded July 4Th Oration

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

First Recorded July 4Th Oration First Recorded July 4th Oration Ramsay served in the South Carolina legis lature throughout the Page 8. Rock Hill Times. July 5. 1984 Revolutionary War. Always busy. Dr. Arrested by the British, Ramsay wrote frequently South Carolina's Story he was exiled to St. for medical journals. For Augustine for a time. his writing he received Next, Ramsay was an honorary medical elected to the Continental degree from Yale. Congress. For a year he Ramsay was a meteor The first recorded served as the president Fourth of July oration in tempore in the place of ologist and geographer. America was made by John Hancock. He had a "health map" David Ramsay of Charles While in Philadelphia, drawn up. He believed ton on July 4. 1778. Ramsay married a that climate, forestation. Ramsay, then 29 years of second time. His new and disease were inter related. Ramsay was the age and a member of the bride was Frances Legislature, excelled as Witherspoon, daughter of first to use the terms "upcountry" and "low- an orator. Thomas Y. the president of Prince Hayne described him as a country" to describe ton. Again, a tragedy South Carolina geo By Louise Pettus and "remarkable, fluent, rapid, and ready" speaker. befell. Frances con graphy. Ron Chepesiuk of the tracted scarlet fever and Winthrop College faculty David Ramsay was By interest and temper died after bearing a son. ament, David Ramsay born in a one-room stone John Witherspoon Ram cottage in Pennsylvania. had been described as say. At her request, the Charleston's first public He was the son of a poor baby was reared by the Irish laborer who, while health office. In many Witherspoons. ways his contributions to illiterate himself, recog David Ramsay began nized the genius of three Charleston's civic life work on his heralded can be compared with sons: William. Nathaniel, History of the American and David. All three of the contributions of Revolution. His father- Benjamin Franklin to his the Ramsay brothers in-law, Dr. Witherspoon. beloved Philadelphia. were to graduate from and his friend. Benjamin Ramsay, however, was Princeton with honors. Franklin, gave Ramsay not destined to com At age 6.David Ramsay valuable aid. was tutoring others and pletely emulate Dr. held a regular teaching Franklin's rags-to-riches position at a good Returning to Charles success story. academy at age 12. When ton. Ramsay decided to Ramsay's father-in- David qualified for the interview Henry Laurens law. Henry Laurens, was junior year at Princeton ("Tower Henry") for his a very wealthy man, and at age 13, the faculty viewpoint. In 1787 from him Martha Ram Ramsay married Lau decided he was too young say inherited a con rens' daughter, Martha. and should enter the siderable estate. Through sophomore class instead. She bore him 11 children. bad investments. Dr. In 1772, David Ramsay Ramsay lost his wife's received a medical David Ramsay's son estate and all that he had degree from the College Nathaniel was the first acquired, also. of Pennsylvania. Dr. South Carolinian to be Ramsay bought con Benjamin Rush, the best vaccinated against siderable slock in the doctor in the colonies, smallpox. Dr. Ramsay Santee Canal venture, in was Ramsay's mentor sent to Savannah for the a homespun manufac and champion. About vaccine. Ramsay, other turing company, and in a Ramsay,Rush wrote:"He wise a handsome man, Charleston water com is far superior to any had had one eye damaged pany. Each business held person we ever graduated by the pox in his own more promise than : at our college...his talents youth. profits. All failed. In 1811, Martha Ram and knowledge univer Charles Wilson Peale sal." and Rembrandt Peale, say died. Four years later A year later Ramsay America's leading por Ramsay was shot four set up a medical practice trait artists, both painted times in the back by a deranged man he had in Charleston and was Ramsay so that his soon involved in local afflicted eye was not previously examined and affairs. He married shown. David Ramsay's pronounced insane. On Sabrina Ellis of a brother. Nathaniel, was a his deathbed, Ramsay generously forgave the prominent family. She brother-in-law of the asassin. died within a year. Peales..
Recommended publications
  • The History of the American Revolution, Vol. 1 [1789]
    The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. David Ramsay, The History of the American Revolution, vol. 1 [1789] The Online Library Of Liberty Collection This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, foundation established to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, or to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 900 books and other material and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and Web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the American Revolution, vol. 1 Edition Used: The History of the American Revolution, Foreword by Lester H.
    [Show full text]
  • H. Doc. 108-222
    34 Biographical Directory DELEGATES IN THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS CONNECTICUT Dates of Attendance Andrew Adams............................ 1778 Benjamin Huntington................ 1780, Joseph Spencer ........................... 1779 Joseph P. Cooke ............... 1784–1785, 1782–1783, 1788 Jonathan Sturges........................ 1786 1787–1788 Samuel Huntington ................... 1776, James Wadsworth....................... 1784 Silas Deane ....................... 1774–1776 1778–1781, 1783 Jeremiah Wadsworth.................. 1788 Eliphalet Dyer.................. 1774–1779, William S. Johnson........... 1785–1787 William Williams .............. 1776–1777 1782–1783 Richard Law............ 1777, 1781–1782 Oliver Wolcott .................. 1776–1778, Pierpont Edwards ....................... 1788 Stephen M. Mitchell ......... 1785–1788 1780–1783 Oliver Ellsworth................ 1778–1783 Jesse Root.......................... 1778–1782 Titus Hosmer .............................. 1778 Roger Sherman ....... 1774–1781, 1784 Delegates Who Did Not Attend and Dates of Election John Canfield .............................. 1786 William Hillhouse............. 1783, 1785 Joseph Trumbull......................... 1774 Charles C. Chandler................... 1784 William Pitkin............................. 1784 Erastus Wolcott ...... 1774, 1787, 1788 John Chester..................... 1787, 1788 Jedediah Strong...... 1782, 1783, 1784 James Hillhouse ............... 1786, 1788 John Treadwell ....... 1784, 1785, 1787 DELAWARE Dates of Attendance Gunning Bedford,
    [Show full text]
  • Founding U.S. Presidential Facts #1
    •The Journals of the Continental Congress and the United States, in Congress Assembled report that there were six Presidents of the Continental Congress and ten Presidents of the United States, in Congress Assembled before George Washington's Inauguration in 1789. •Two of the Presidents, John Hancock and Samuel Huntington served in both offices bringing the total number of men holding the Pre-1787 Constitutional offices from 1774 – 1788 to fourteen. • A fifteenth founder, Samuel Johnson of North Carolina was elected the 2nd President of the United States, in Congress Assembled but refused to accept the office. •David Ramsay of South Carolina served as the Chairman of the United States for the absent President, John Hancock, from November 23, 1785 – May 12, 1786. •Upon Ramsay’s resignation, Nathaniel Gorham took over the Chairmanship until John Hancock resigned. Each Colony/State elected delegates to the Continental Congress and the United States, in Congress Assembled. From 1774 to 1788 the delegates elected fifteen Presidents with only one declining to serve. Each State, regardless of population or the size of their delegation, had only one vote in both the Continental Congress and the United States, in Congress Assembled. Journals of The United States in Congress Assembled, October 16, 1781 – Stan Klos Collection – www.ForgottenFounders.org Articles of Association, passed October 20, 1774, named and organized the Continental Congress. Peyton Randolph, Henry Middleton and John Hancock served under the Colonial Articles of Association as Presidents of the Continental Congress of the United Colonies from September 5, 1774 to July 1, 1776. John Hancock, Henry Laurens, John Jay, and Samuel Huntington served as the Independent States Articles of Association as Presidents of Continental Congress of the United States from July 2, 1776 until March 1, 1781.
    [Show full text]
  • South Carolina in the American Revolution
    South Carolina in the American Revolution An Exhibition from the Library and Museum Collections of The Society of the Cincinnati South Carolina in the American Revolution An Exhibition from the Library and Museum Collections of The Society of the Cincinnati Anderson House Washington, D. C. October 21, 2004 – April 9, 2005 his catalogue has been produced in conjunction with the Texhibition South Carolina in the American Revolution on display from October 21, 2004, to April 9, 2005, at Anderson House, Headquarters, Library and Museum of the Society of the Cincinnati, 2118 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008. The exhibition is the eighth in a series focusing on the eft mainly to her own resources, contributions to the American Revolution made by the original it was through bloodshed thirteen states and the French alliance. L and devastation and the depths Generous support for this exhibition was provided by the of wretchedness that [South Carolina’s] Society of the Cincinnati of the State of South Carolina. citizens were to bring her back to her place in the republic by their own heroic courage Also available: and self devotion, having suffered more, Massachusetts in the American Revolution: “Let It Begin Here” (1997) New York in the American Revolution (1998) and dared more, and achieved more New Jersey in the American Revolution (1999) than the men of any other state. Rhode Island in the American Revolution (2000) Connecticut in the American Revolution (2001) — George Bancroft, (2002) Delaware in the American Revolution History of the United States (1857) Georgia in the American Revolution (2003) Text by Ellen McCallister Clark Front cover illustration: Captain Jacob Shubrick by Henry Benbridge.
    [Show full text]
  • The Slavery and the Constitutional Convention: Historical Perspectives
    THE SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL end slavery at the Convention. Neo-Garrisonians also depict the CONVENTION: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES southern slave owning delegates as staunchly proslavery, unified in defending the institution, and expert bargainers. Paul Finkelman is Ryan Ervin perhaps the strongest critic of the founders. Depicting the southern delegates as a slave lobbying group, he writes “Rarely in American political history have the advocates of a special interest been so From September 17, 1787 to the present day, the United States successful. Never has the cost of placating a special interest been so Constitution has been the subject of much debate. Its vague language high.” When Finkelman asks whether the framers could have done and ambiguous wording have created disputes for generations about more to slow slavery’s growth and weaken its permanence on the the true meaning of particular clauses or the original intent of the American landscape, he says, “surely yes.” In fact, the delegates’ lack Framers. In its essence, the Constitution is a framework, an outline, of conviction in doing anything substantial about slavery “is part of for government, leaving future generations to add color and depth to a the tragedy of American history.” 1 broad, somewhat undefined blueprint. James Madison’s detailed notes Neo-Garrisonian criticism has not only focused on the three on the Convention have partially illuminated the struggle going on specific clauses which historians have generally agreed mention some behind the closed doors of Independence Hall, but they have also aspect of slavery; they have also cited any clause which tends to raised still more questions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Black Vomit in Charleston: Dr
    The Black Vomit in Charleston: Dr. David Ramsay and the Reopening of the Slave Trade in Early National South Carolina, 1803-18081 By Benjamin A. Concannon Smith Abstract In December 1803, the South Carolina General Assembly voted to reopen the African slave trade, which operated in full force until it was federally banned in 1808. Approximately 75,000 slaves––nearly one-fifth of all slaves imported to North America– –were imported during this short four-year span. Immediately before the trade reopened, the Medical Society of South Carolina advised state officials to relax quarantine measures for yellow fever. This advice was issued at a precipitous moment during an ongoing national debate over the contagiousness of yellow fever and whether or not it was imported. This paper examines the intersection between private interest and the state through the lens of public health. It suggests that the Medical Society of South Carolina– –under the direction of Dr. David Ramsay––placed public health at risk in order to facilitate the slave trade by relaxing quarantine measures for yellow fever prior to its reopening. 1 For the purpose of clarity I will refer to Charles Town as “Charleston” throughout this paper. The city was officially Charles Town from 1670 to 1783. 2 Mr. William Weaver to Mr. Jacob Weaver, Dated Kingston 3d of June 1794 communicated to the governor by Mr. Robert Ralston: “The Yellow Fever is raging very bad on board the shipping here. The fleet arrived a few days ago and have most all of their crews down with it, and die very fast; and a great many gentlemen, who came passengers have died.
    [Show full text]
  • Demise of Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress; 1774
    Qood-by "Charle": The J^ee-zjfdams Interest and The Political 'Demise of Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress; 1774-1789 HEN death finally rescued Charles Thomson from senility, almost fifty years to the day after the meeting of the First WContinental Congress, we lost forever the intimate knowl- edge of the scholar who had been "the graphic faculty of the old Congress, the hand and pen of that body" during its fifteen-year life. Even before the definitive treaty of peace between the United States of America and Great Britain had been signed, John Jay urged Thomson to devote at least one hour of each four and twenty to a political history of the Revolution. It "will be most liable to misrepresentation, and future relations of it will probably be re- plete with both intentional and accidental errors. Such a work would be highly advantageous to your reputation, as well as highly important to the Cause of Truth with posterity." By 1785, Thomson had prepared more than a 1,000 pages based on everything omitted from the Journals; as John Adams and other students of the Revolution have complained, that included much of the business as well as the politics of Congress. But sometime after 1789 Thomson destroyed his history and the appeals of historians who promised to stress his role in exchange for what he knew elicited only brief, unrevealing replies.1 Why the reticence? "I 1 Part of the research for this article was conducted with a grant from the National Endow- ment for the Humanities. Charles A.
    [Show full text]
  • When Freedom Wore a Red Coat
    1 2014 Harmon Memorial Lecture “Abandoned to the Arts & Arms of the Enemy”: Placing the 1781 Virginia Campaign in Its Racial and Political Context by Gregory J. W. Urwin Professor of History Temple University Research for this lecture was funded in part by an Earhart Foundation Fellowship on American History from the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan; a Tyree-Lamb Fellowship, Society of the Cincinnati; a Mellon Research Fellowship from the Virginia Historical Society; and two Summer Research Awards from Temple University. 1 2 On October 25, 1781 – just six days after Gen. George Washington attained the apex of his military career by forcing the surrender of a British army at Yorktown, Virginia – he issued an order to his troops that has been scrupulously ignored by historians of the American Revolution. Washington directed his officers and “persons of every denomination concerned” to apprehend the “many Negroes and Mulattoes” found in and around Yorktown and consign them to guard posts on either side of the York River. There free blacks would be separated from runaway slaves who had sought freedom with the British, and steps taken to return the latter to their masters. In other words, Washington chose the moment he achieved the victory that guaranteed American independence to convert his faithful Continentals into an army of slave catchers.1 This is not the way Americans like to remember Yorktown. We prefer the vision President Ronald Reagan expressed during the festivities marking the bicentennial of that celebrated turning point thirty-three years ago. Reagan described Yorktown to a crowd of 60,000 as “a victory for the right of self-determination.
    [Show full text]
  • The Religious Cosmos of Martha Laurens Ramsay (1759-1811)
    Colby Quarterly Volume 25 Issue 3 September Article 7 September 1989 Many Gracious Providences: The Religious Cosmos of Martha Laurens Ramsay (1759-1811) Joanna B. Gillespie Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq Recommended Citation Colby Library Quarterly, Volume 25, no.3, September 1989, p.199-212 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Quarterly by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. Gillespie: Many Gracious Providences: The Religious Cosmos of Martha Laurens Many Gracious Providences: The Religious Cosmos of Martha Laurens Ramsay (1759-1811) by JOANNA B. GILLESPIE Oldest surviving daughter of a leading pre-Revolutionary War Charlestonian (Henry Laurens was the only Southerner to serve as President of the Continental Congress, 1778-79), Martha was educated by her brothers' tutors. Her oldest brother, John, aide to Washington and Lafayette, was a war hero - killed in one ofthe last battles ofthe Revolution (1782). Her adolescence was spent with a little sister (the mother died as Eleanor was born) in the household of Papa Henry's childless brother and wife, while Papa took her three brothers, John and two younger brothers, Henry, Jr., and Jamie, to England for schooling (1770-74). Uncle James's failing health transplanted that household to England; stranded there by the outbreak of war, Martha eventually moved with them to France, where living was less expensive and there was less hostility toward Americans. At the end ofthe war she served as herfather's hostess andsecretary during his appointment as one of the Peace Commissioners for the new nation (1782-84).
    [Show full text]
  • Southern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War
    Southern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War Phase III: Research in the United States Final Report For the National Park Service Southeast Region Atlanta, Georgia Submitted by Evans-Hatch & Associates 510 Duane Street, Astoria, Oregon (503) 325-1313 / [email protected] June 2005 ii CONTENTS PART I: Narrative Report A. Introduction Objectives Methodology B. Regiments List: British and Loyalist C. Repositories Contacted D. Observations and Findings Resources Investigated General Findings E. Suggestions for Future Activities F. Bibliography Printed Primary Sources Guides and Finding Aids Books and Other Published Material G. Appendices 1. Sample “Inventory of Records” form 2. Sample letter of inquiry sent from Evans-Hatch to repositories 3. Letters to Evans-Hatch from repositories 4. Copies of selected research material 5. “Microform Holdings Master List” at The David Library of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing, PA 6. Examples of on-line resources “The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies” “Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution” newsletter, October 2004 and January 2005 PART II: Archive Document Record Index Summary of Record Content Inventory of Records Electronic Report Final Report in MS WORD Inventory Data Base in MS ACCESS iii iv PART 1: Narrative Report A: Introduction This report presents the results of a survey conducted by Evans-Hatch & Associates to identify primary documentation that focuses on British involvement in the American War of Independence. The survey, which is the third and final phase of a three-phase project organized by the Southeast Regional Office of the National Park Service, aimed to locate and record data housed in repositories in the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • THE FEDERALISTS and the WEST 1783-1803 Michael Allen
    THE FEDERALISTS AND THE WEST 1783-1803 Michael Allen The emigrants to the frontier lands ... are the least worthy subjects in the United States. They are little less savage than the Indians; and when possessed— of the most fertile spots, for want of Industry, live miserably. timothy Pickering to rufus king, 1785 1 the American Revolution, thousands of pioneers poured Followingover the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains into Western Pennsylvania, the Ohio country, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This west- ward surge of the 1780s was just the beginning of what would become the "Great Migration" of the 1800s. Meanwhile in Congress, the Confederation government began to formulate a policy for the West — to establish territorial government, to provide for sales of the public lands, and to make treaties with the Indians as well as the British and Spanish in the trans-Appalachian West. As the Confederation Congress began to create the first American western policy, it soon became obvious that there was considerable disagreement over just what that policy should be. The division over the West was largely sectional, but ithad great political implications. Eastern Nationalists, 2 those northeasterners who advocated more power for the national gov- ernment (ultimately via the federal Constitution), were wary of west- ward expansion. Men like John Jay, Rufus King, Timothy Pickering, Nathan Dane, and Gouverneur Morris feared that new western states Michael Allen was born and raised in Ellensburg, Washington. After serving in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, he received his B.A. from Central Washington State College in 1974, and his M.A.in history from the University of Montana in1977.
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Generated by "Newgen R@Jesh"
    OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – REVISES, Fri Jul 19 2019, NEWGEN i The Trials of Allegiance 9780190932749_Book.indb 1 /17_revised_proof/revises_ii/files_to_typesetting/validation 19-Jul-19 10:06:22 PM OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – REVISES, Fri Jul 19 2019, NEWGEN iii The Trials of Allegiance Treason, Juries, and the American Revolution z CARLTON F.W. LARSON 1 9780190932749_Book.indb 3 /17_revised_proof/revises_ii/files_to_typesetting/validation 19-Jul-19 10:06:22 PM OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – REVISES, Fri Jul 19 2019, NEWGEN 1 Introduction When dawn broke on the morning of October 4, 1779, in the fifth year of the American War for Independence, James Wilson of Philadelphia was not expecting to face combat. If he had stood on ceremony, he could have called himself Colonel Wilson (he was formally a colonel in the Cumberland County militia), but his countrymen would probably have rolled their eyes. A scholarly, bespectacled lawyer with no obvious martial abilities, Wilson had yet to draw his sword in battle (Figure I.1). But he had contributed notably to the cause of American independence with an even more powerful weapon— his pen. After emigrating from his native Scotland in his twenties, Wilson had become a leader of the Pennsylvania bar and the author of an influential pamphlet advocating the cause of the American colonies.1 Elected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Wilson had proudly signed the Declaration of Independence at the Pennsylvania State House, the building that future generations would enshrine as Independence Hall. Wilson’s conduct had thus made him one of the most prominent American traitors to Great Britain and a rich prize for any British military unit that man- aged to capture him.
    [Show full text]