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The Gadsen Flag Hi Kit, Eric Desmond From Atlantic Funding here. I spoke with you
in the past about historical speeches, etc. You are flying the "Don't
tread on me " flag on your site. Good choice. Please remind me why there is a snake on the
flag. I cannot remember the reason. And didn't the colonists have a few different flags?? Regards, (flying at the masthead on the website and our up-graded
version) Thank you. I have
been waiting for someone to ask me.
I ran it right after September 11 for about a month. It is known as
the "Gadsen" flag. You are right
on about the colonists having many different flags. The yellow flag with the rattlesnake in parts above "Don't Tread on Me" was the first official American Flag. It was adopted by Colonel Christopher Gadsden
of South Carolina, who had it approved by the South Carolina Congress.
It was first flown by Commodore Esek Hopkins, commander of the new Continental
fleet, carried a similar flag in February, 1776, when his ships put
to sea for the first time. On January 4,1776 it was flown as he landed
in Bermuda and recognized as an American. This is considered the first
naval battle of the Revolutionary War. If there was a popular saying in the colonies, it was "Don't
Tread on Me." This was aimed
at the British, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish and others who were
fighting to claim the new world as theirs.
The settlers were a mixture, who fled the lifestyle of Europe
and wanted to change their life: freedom, not rule by a monarch ( dictator.) One of the first things they did
was to change the inheritance law. In
Europe, everything went to the eldest son. In America, it was divided among all the males (and sometimes
women were named, too). First of all, social customs and things were different at
the end of the 18th century. Yellow
was not a "warning sign,” as it is today, but the most popular
color for a flag. Rattlesnakes did not have the meaning that they have today,
as the population had not moved out past Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio,
including Louisiana and Texas, who were not even territories at the
time. The rattlesnake was one of Benjamin Franklin's and New England's
favorite symbols. It was on many flags. There were many farmers who found the reptile catching rodents,
gophers, and they were used often as symbols on our flags and literature---not the connotation
we have today from Westerns on TV and the movies. As I said, things were quite different in those days. The
early ports of commerce for Europe was Bermuda. It was also a favorite “pirate”
hide out as it was in the main lane of commerce between the United
States and Europe. Hopkins captured large stores of British cannon and military
in the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War. He made a statement,
but his original mission was another port. His name is not popular
grammar school American history because he was censured by Congress
for the Bermuda “invasion” and dismissed from the Navy for not following orders. His explanation was the weather and ice, and he was
supported by President John Adams. He was not supposed to engage in
military action in the Bahama's. By
the way, he was replaced by Lieutenant John Paul Jones ( yes, the same
one who said: "I have not yet begun to fight,." but that is another story for This Day in American History. As an additional point, military troops of the day carried
the Gadsen flag. The official
stars and stripes was to come much later, and in reality, not adopted
and changed to the format we know today where stars represent the states
( not stripes) until the early 19th century. By 1818, the union consisted
of 20 states. A Congressional act on April 4th mandated that the number
of stripes be fixed at 13 and that one new star was to be added for
each new state, the July 4 following its admission. However, nothing
was written about what arrangement the stars should be in.
We had the “Grand Star” flag for a while ( the stars were layered
out in the form of a star) or staggered or not in rows. During the course
of the Civil War, stars were not deleted, although the states succeeded. Stars
also were not added the same year each state joined the union, as Congress became
the body to make the proclamation. Pledge of Allegiance" first published in a magazine
called "The Youth's Companion." Authorship was claimed for
James B. Upham and Francis Bellamy. In 1939 the United States Flag Association
ruled that Bellamy was the author of the original pledge. The words,
"under God" were added on June 14, 1954. In pledging allegiance
to the flag, stand with the right hand over the heart or at attention.
Men remove their headdress. Persons in uniform give the military salute.
All pledge together: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” http://www.propertyrightsnc.com/Don't_Tread_on_Me_Flag.htm http://www.jastown.com/flags/fl-210.htm http://www.armysurplusoutlet.com/noname42.html http://www.gettysburgflag.com/Historical.htm http://www.quarterman.org/who/essexhopkins.html http://hometown.aol.com/tjoschultz/connavcru.html
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