Hey, there! Log in / Register
Tom Menino needs a history lesson
By adamg on Sun, 03/16/2008 - 8:17pm
Jimbo brings to our attention the most recent issue of the Boston Post-Gazette, which features a front-page article by Tom Menino on the importance of Evacuation Day and St. Patrick's Day. It starts like this:
Actually, Mr. Mayor, while the British left Boston in 1776, they stayed around in the other colonies until 1783 (the colonies didn't even get around to declaring their independence until four months after Evacuation Day). In fact, a few months after Evacuation Day, the British seized control of New York City (and almost captured Washington) in the Battle of Long Island. You might also vaguely remember stories about the crossing of the Delaware and some place called Valley Forge.
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
We Bostonians do not like to
We Bostonians do not like to admit that the British decided that Boston was no longer important in the overall battle and decided to put everything into protecting New York Harbor.
Most of the wealthy Bostonians loyal to the crown fled to Quebec and helped make Montreal into a major trading and banking center.
almost...
Not sure I'd say more important, but using NYC and the Hudson to split the colonies in two was a better strategy than to spend effort to keep control of one 'end' of the colonies...
You mean "Mr Mayor" as in
You mean "Mr Mayor" as in "the person who wrote this for the mayor?" I shudder to think of a column written by Mumbles.
The question we should ask
"Is our mayors learning?"
5 seconds and a quick dash to Wikipedia could give you enough to write a newspaper column on the topic...but I guess he and his staff couldn't even be bothered by that much effort?
I can't wait to see the next Metro Moments with the Mayor on this topic...
NYC is West of Worcester
NYC: 40.71°, -74°
Worcester: 42.27°, -71.8°
That could explain the misunderstanding.
The Athens of America?
The mayor of Boston reports that the British were "beaten in the American Revolutionary war" in March, 1776?
How completely priceless and how much this shows the rise of ignorance in the culture and government of this city.
Send the Post-Gazette a letter
Send them a Letter to the Editor. They'll probably print it, as they don't get very many.
In need of some learnin' here....
Perhaps Mistah Mayah should hop on the Red Line down to the Adams Historical Museum and peruse the archives of the preserved letters between John and Abigail Adams. If that's too much to ask for, last time I looked the Green Line is a pretty easy jaunt from City Hall to Copley Square.....
Copy editor?
Who is the copy editor for this slapdash paper, too? Someone should have caught that blatant of a stupidity in a read-back.
The Globe needs a history lesson, too
Apparently, Wikipedia is blocked at Morrissey Boulevard.
The Globe reports:
No, no, no. While the British did leave on March 17, the cannons were hauled up to Dorchester Heights on March 4. And as J.L. Bell has been chronicling, the British actually tried leaving before March 17, but couldn't because of bad weather.
Mayor Menino's error lies in
Mayor Menino's error lies in the word "finally." When the British military pulled out of Boston in March 1776, they basically were out of the thirteen colonies that became the U.S. of A.
Of course, the British still held many of their other North American colonies, including what became Canada, Florida, and many Caribbean islands.
The British military tried to come back to Charlestown, South Carolina, but were beaten back.
Thus, for about three and a half months in 1776, the thirteen colonies were independent. It was in that atmosphere that the representatives of those colonies at the Continental Congress voted for legal independence.
And at the same time they did so, the British military was returning to Staten Island, then Long Island. Most Americans anticipated such an attempt to reconquer the colonies, but they didn't expect the early months would go so badly for the Continental Army. After all, hadn't that army done so well in Boston?
Florida?
Wasn't that a Spanish colony at the time?
Minor nitpick: Charleston, SC, has no "w".
Secretary of State Galvin is a bit confused, too
from today's Globe:
"Try explaining to businesses from out of state that we are closed because the British evacuated Boston 300 years ago," Galvin said.