A Berry Fourth of July!
I hope you have a beautiful Fourth of July weekend, wherever you live and however you intend to celebrate the 249th Birthday of the United States of America. We have a lot of things planned for this long weekend, most of it involving work in the garden. By this time of year, everything is growing wildly and needs to be harvested or weeded. My job every year is picking the blueberries and preserving them in such a way that we can make copious jars of jam later in the season.
We are also drying herbs, fermenting pickles, snipping and freezing spinach, and a host of other exhausting yet somehow rewarding tasks that make summer a beautiful freaking season to behold.
And yes, there’s plenty that could be said today about America, history, and politics, but you know what? Not really feeling it this year, go figure.
And yes, I did write three great “popular” history books about the U.S., which I certainly hope you will check out. (They are great because we’ve sold about 200,000 copies of them, so that accounts for something.)
Herewith you will also find portions of a post I try to run each year about this time. Short and sweet factoids about the men who created this country. Check them out, watch the little video, and go to town.
Beyond that, I really hope you get a chance to eat some crazy-good local produce in your neck of the woods. It’s really the best time to bury your face in berries and juicy peaches and watermelon. You only live once.
Bosom buddies Samuel Adams and John Hancock can’t stop nodding their Huzzahs in assent!
To be clear, the books in question are Signing Their Lives Away, and Signing Their Rights Away. These (affiliate) links will take you to the books.
Signing Their Rights Away
And you can find out more about both books on the Signer page on this website.
People always ask what the books are about. Here’s the deal: 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, 39 signed the U.S. Constitution. Our books offer pithy, often-hilarious mini-biographies about every single one of the men, from the famous ones to the most obscure.
Five Quick Facts about the Signers of the Declaration and U.S. Constitution:
* So much of what people know about the Declaration Signers is based on folklore, exacerbated by the Internet about how much they suffered for our freedom. The truth is far more complex. (Example: None of the signers lost his life because he signed the Declaration of Independence.)
* The Signers of both documents are a hilarious mix of great men and scoundrels. A lot of the Signers ended up broke from bad land investments. Two signers of the Constitution were outright embezzlers. One was such a crook Congress tried to arrest him—but he skipped town. Their stories are relevant today because they touch on subjects such as political corruption, the sex scandals of politicians, or political figures being “upside-down” on their loans.
* The Signers were fallible men, like our politicians today. Rather than insist on revering them, it’s probably wiser to accept that “imperfect men created a more perfect union.” It is easier to relate to people who had real issues, real faults, and made real mistakes, yet were still part of an incredible moment in history.
* The documents we revere today grew out of debate and compromise. The Signers fought and argued constantly. The Constitution we regard as sacrosanct was viewed as suspect by many Americans in 1787, the year of its presentation to the American public. Modern Americans think that once the Revolutionary War was over, so were our troubles. Not true. The US was a fragile, brand-new country, with serious deficiencies that only a strong constitutional document could resolve.
* Most people can name about five famous signers for each document. For every Adams, Franklin, or Hancock, there’s a Hart, Morton, or Morris that most people have never heard of. History is often made by so many more people than those highlighted in the history books.
I know: The books sound awesome, don’t they? Check them out elsewhere on my website. If ebooks are not your thing, you can always arrange for autographed copies via my local bookstore.
