By Carol Fisher-Linn
As a history buff, I think I have a handle on some of the more unusual bits about our country. I decided to noodle around to see if I could find things I could share with my readers, so we would all be more informed on this Independence Day of our beloved America.
New York trivia: Anyone remember the Three Jolly Fishermen song from their childhood? “They should have gone to Amsterdam. Amster, amster, dam, dam, dam…” Perhaps it harkens back to the days when New York State was once called New Amsterdam? Around 1624 a Dutch settlement grew up on the southern tip of Manhattan Island named New Amsterdam. (Manhattans were the native Indian tribe occupying those lands). According to history.com here is where that legend emerges of the Manhattans (part of Algonquins) agreeing to give up the-land for trinkets valued at $24. Fifty years later, after ownership wars, changing of hands, and strife, the lands were returned to the English – called New York at that time. New York was “the first city in the colonies to receive a royal charter. After the American Revolution, it became the [one of the] first capital[s] of the United States.”
Remember, Washington D.C. was just a gleam in our founders’ eyes until 1790. Where to house the new American government? Philadelphia had the first honor until the Philadelphia Mutiny of 1783. In 1789 it was moved to NYC until December 1800 when the new capital in D.C. opened its doors.
Another interesting NYC fact. New Jerseyites like to say Lady Liberty is actually in New Jersey. Britannica experts tell us that “Although the monument is within New Jersey waters, Liberty Island and a portion of Ellis Island are within the territorial jurisdiction of New York state.” Sorry, Jersey.
How we grew: We were a young republic. We needed to expand. Alas, through exploration, settlement and wars, France controlled lands from New Orleans northeast to the Great Lakes and northwest to the modern-day Montana. We know that Thomas Jefferson will long be honored as the person who singlehandedly wrote the Declaration of Independence (with edits from others), but one of his most important achievements is the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. On his watch, the United States added 828,000 square miles of territory doubling the size of our young nation at less than 3 cents an acre. 15 states were created in part, or completely by this purchase. Kudos Super Shopper, TJ.
Alaska: More growth. Our northern sister state celebrates a state holiday every October 18, celebrating the US purchase and formal transfer of Alaska from Russia (1867) for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre. Alaska is about 2.5 times the size of Texas – 663,268 sq miles vs 268,820 sq miles. And we inherited the highest mountain peak in the US, Mt. Denali at 20,310 feet!
St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city, and oldest continuously occupied European town in America, was once claimed by Spain’s Ponce De Leon in 1513. Then a Spanish Admiral, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed and established a colony, naming if St. Augustine in 1565. Visit a timeline of the city at https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/staugustine/timeline/.
Ever hear of Morgan Island in South Carolina? No one lives there, except for about 4,000 free-ranging, Indian origin rhesus monkeys. There’s another colony in America in Silver River, Florida.
Don’t like monkeys? How about horses? Visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina to observe the wonder of the many herds of about 100 feral stallions, mares, and foals (Colonial Spanish Mustangs) who have called the Outer Banks home for more than 500 years. Ahhh, America! Freedom for all, even horses and monkeys.
Presidential Facts: Three Presidents died on Independence Day – Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day (1826 – 50 years after The Big Event) and James Monroe followed them five years later. George Washington, Father of our country, never lived in the White House., and no, he did not have wooden teeth and, he was NOT the first person featured on the $1 bill. Greenbacks were not introduced until Lincoln’s time and when he introduced “greenbacks” in 1862, U.S. Treasury secretary Salmon P. Chase selected his own portrait to adorn the $1 banknote. Seven years later he was replaced with George Washington. The gall of him, right? Abraham Lincoln created the Secret service earlier on the day he was assassinated. But his legacy also remains in the Wrestling Hall of Fame having won 299 of his 300 matches. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only President to serve four terms between 1933 to 1945.
If you want any more fun facts about the birth and growth of our nation, open those history books. Happy, safe Fourth of July!