Goldwater at Notre Dame, Feb. 1962
Goldwater, Time Magazine, 1964
The following is a link to Barry Goldwater’s speech—one of his best—given at Notre Dame, February 1962.
Goldwater’s ally and friend, Russell Kirk, actually wrote the speech for the Arizona senator.
By all accounts, the University of Notre Dame community received the talk well.
And, well they should’ve! It’s a great statement about the essence and meaning an purpose of conservatism.
http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2012/11/the-best-presidential-campaign-speech.html
Timeline, American Crises, 1763-1774
“Crises Points, Leading to Revolution, 1763-1774”-by Brad Birzer. The following comes from a number of sources over twenty five years of reading and teaching founding. Please let me know if you see any errors. Much appreciated!
Opening to Crisis, 1763-1765
- Bureaucracy tried to enforce the Sugar taxes. Taxed molasses and sugar at half the rate of the Navigation Acts. But, in reality, that tax had never been enforced! So, this tax was huge to the settlers. Hit New England hardest.
- In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. Every single legal transaction had to have a stamp on it(meaning it had been taxed). Pervasive and intensely bureaucratic.
- In 1765, Parliament also passed the Quartering Act (another tax), forcing average citizens to give up their homes to soldiers who needed housing. Especially hit New York, the headquarters of British forces in America.
American Responses, 1765
- Pamphlets
- Protests. mass meetings, parades, bonfires. Groups began to call themselves the Sons of Liberty. Would meet under “Liberty Trees” and erect liberty poles, often with effigies hanging from them. Sons of Liberty led a mob against the Massachusetts home of Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson. Literally tore the house down and drank his wine.
- Under the leadership of Patrick Henry, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed a series of Resolves against the Stamp Act. Henry even spoke of regicide, the assassination of King George III. When told that was treason, he replied “If this be treason, make the most of it.”
- John Adams is the first American to call for Independence.
British response to American Protests
July 1765, Rockingham, a pro-American Prime Minister, elected Prime Minister. Rockingham Whigs chose Edmund Burke as their main advisor.
- Repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 and reduced the Sugar Tax to one penny (less than the cost of a bribe)
- But to pacify the opposition, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act–stated that Parliament had control of the colonies in all matters.
New Parliament, 1767
In the spring and early summer of 1767, the Parliament passed the Townsend Acts which
- Suspended the New York Assembly for refusing to supply homes and assistance to British Troops
- Placed a tax on colonial imports—glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea
- Set up an office in Boston to monitor smuggling
Boston Massacre, 1770
On March 5, 1770, a crowd gathered and began throwing snowballs at the soldiers, protesting the standing army as tyranny. Soldiers opened fire on the crowd. Americans began calling the army the “corrupt arm of British despotism.” The soldier were tried, defended by John Adams. All were acquitted but two who received light punishments.
1772
- Off of Rhode Island, a British ship looking for smugglers (the Gaspee) ran aground. Colonists stormed the ship, kicked the sailors off, and burned it. Parliament established an independent commission to investigate–had power to try out of normal courts. Colonists viewed this as a violation of rights.
- In November 1772, Sam Adams formed the first of the Committees of Correspondence. They soon developed throughout the colonies—information distribution; relay stations
1773
In Spring of 1773, the East India Company was experiencing a real drop in business. Had 17 million pounds of tea rotting in British warehouses. Parliament granted the company a monopoly on tea—even allowed to sell it cheaper than the colonists could get it from the Dutch. Thought the colonists were motivated by material considerations. All the colonists could see was the monopoly granted to the East Indian Co.
- Under the leadership of Sam Adams, a group of men dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded a British ship and dumped its tea into the harbor. Meanwhile, large crowds on the docks cheered.
Coercive Acts, March 1774
- Closed the Boston Port
- Set up martial law under the Governor
- Close the courts in trials of British
- Soldiers could lodge anywhere
Quebec Act, Summer 1774
- First Continental Congress called, September 1774
- Independence from Parliament declared, September 1774
James Otis, 1764
Founding father, James Otis.
But let the origin of government be placed where it may, the end of it is manifestly the good of the whole. Salus populi supreme lex esto, is of the law of nature, and part of that grand charter given the human race, (tho’ too many of them are afraid to assert it,) by the only monarch in the universe, who has a clear and indisputable right to absolute power; because he is the only One who is omniscient as well as omnipotent.
To read all of Otis’s speech (and you should!), please go here: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-rights-of-the-british-colonies-asserted-and-proved/
American Revolutionary Timeline, 1774-1784
Revolution Timeline–Created by Brad Birzer
Pretty obvious!
I’ve created the following–for what it’s worth–from a variety of sources beginning from own college days when I had the privilege of studying the American Revolution with the profoundly wonderful Gregory Dowd (a man of equal parts brilliance, scholarship, and personality). And, I’ve added to it as I’ve had the privilege to teach founding at Hillsdale College and at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Feel free to use it (students, teachers, interested parties). If you see errors in it, please let me know!
Thoughts of American Independence, 1633-1755
Colonial home. Built for a wealthy and expansive people.
From the moment Englishman began to settle America, ideas here as well as in England began to drift toward some form of independence. Some quotes taken from an excellent 1974 article:
American Birthrates, Colonial-1870
Nugent’s 1981 masterpiece on American demographic history
While an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame (B.A., 1990), I had the immense pleasure of working with Professor Walter T.K. Nugent, a scholar of remarkable talents. Not only did he serve as one of my main professors, but I had also a full year as his research assistant. I admired him immensely and still do. One of his many expertise was the demographic history of the United States. As he taught in the 1980s, the world had never seen a birth rate equal to the American birthrate (for whites, but blacks were not far behind), 1720-1870. It is nothing short of astounding.
Here are a few quotes to illustrate:
“Fertility was enormously high as long as the young couple could form their own household on their own land. Females reached menarche at about age fifteen in 1800 and perhaps a few months earlier in 1850. If a woman married soon after that, as many did, the ultimate size of her family could be prodigious. The American and Canadian census manuscripts are crowded with cases of women marrying at sixteen or seventeen and producing a child every eighteen to twenty-four months–about the biological maximum because of breast-feeding and pregnancy intervals–until reaching menopause in their mid-forties. The average number of children born per woman in her lifetime, as of 1790, was almost eight. . . . Newly married women could look forward to twenty or even thirty fertile years.” [Nugent, STRUCTURES, 57-58]
Rachel Gough on Parenting
When my daughter was born, my heart shattered with love. . .
A beautiful lightning essay by my former student and always-friend, Rachel Gough. Enjoy.
http://kindredmag.com/2016/02/03/parenting-is-an-extreme-sport/
Larry Reed on Edmund Burke
Portrait of Lord Rockingham and Edmund Burke (unfinished). Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792). Oil on canvas, 145.4 x 159.1 cm, c.1766.
My friend and hero, Larry Reed, has written an excellent piece on Edmund Burke and the quest for real liberty over at FEE.org. Please check it out.
http://fee.org/articles/among-a-people-generally-corrupt-liberty-cannot-long-exist/
I would only add this to Larry’s great piece: that Burke was even more radical than Smith, noting in his 1795 paper on scarcity that government intervention in the market–at whatever level–always endangers security and prosperity. He also noted that the free working market allowed for “discovery.”
Yogapants; Or, Why We Should Culturally Appropriate
My favorite Seattle restaurant.
My most recent piece at The Imaginative Conservative.
I was also extremely hungry….
About a block from the hotel, I spied an Asian restaurant, Bahn Thai. I trepidatiously crossed the street and walked up the stairs to the entrance. For some strange reason, I was the only customer. The owner—who spoke almost no English and who was as kind as could be—treated me as royalty, and I still regard this as the most memorable meal I have ever had. I had never eaten anything like it. Excellence resided in every aspect of the meal, but my mouth was especially partial to the melding of various spices in ways I had never imagined.
My Thoughts on the Draft and Virtue–11 Years ago
For what they’re worth, my thoughts on the draft and republican virtue. 11 years ago. If anything, I’m even more of a curmudgeon now.
Frank Sheed Interviews Christopher Dawson, 1958
Christopher Dawson, 1889-1970
Excellent interview. Two of the finest Christian humanists of the 20th century. Enjoy.
No Safe Spaces: My Ancestors Arrive in Kansas, 1876
An actual description of my great, great, great grandparents arriving in Hays, Kansas:
“Their presence is unmistakable; for where they are there is also something else, – a smell so pungent and potent as to make a strong man weak.”–Hays City SENTINEL, August 16, 1876.
The surrounding community despised them. My ancestors did not scream “privilege” or demand a “safe space.”
They worked like mad, and I am here because they did.
Stormfields 