Norris vandenBerg

Nathan Hale was arrested as a spy for the Colonials in a Manhattan tavern by British Major Robert Rogers of the Queen’s Rangers. Physical evidence of Hale’s espionage was found on his person. On the morning of September 22, 1776, he was marched to the Park of Artillery (66th street and Third avenue) and hanged. While there are several interpretations of his final words, he is famously remembered as having said, “I only regret that I have but one life to give to my country.”

On this day in 1787, the final meeting of the Constitutional Convention was held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Forty two of the fifty five delegates signed the historic document. Congress then sent printed copies to each of the state legislatures for ratification.

One of the last significant actions in the Battle of New York was the conflict at Harlem Heights on September 16, 1776. Washington, with 1800, men was attacked by a British force of 5000. As the Colonials began an orderly retreat, the British General had his bugler sound a fox hunting call signifying retreat. This infuriated the Americans who reorganized and drove the British back giving Washington his first land battle victory.

The first British casualties of the American Revolution were two soldiers killed on April 19, 1775 at North Bridge over the Concord River, at Concord, Massachusetts. These men are memorialized by a beautiful verse written by James Russell Lowell and inscribed on a granite stone.

They cane three thousand miles, and died
To keep the past upon the throne.
Unheard behind the ocean tide,
Their English mother made her moan.

On this date, Colonel “Light Horse Harry” Lee conducted a daring raid on the British defenses at Paulus Hook (Jersey City) New Jersey. While sustaining very few losses, Lee’s forces killed 50 British redcoats and captured 158 as prisoners. This victory reinvigorated the spirit of many patriots. Lee was awarded a medal from the Continental Congress, one of only 8 such given.

September is a beautiful time to be in upper New York State (as long as you stay away from the politicos in Albany). And there may be no better place to celebrate our heritage than at Fort Ticonderoga. Make note of two key events:
The Annual Revolutionary War Encampment on the 12th and 13th and
The Sixth Annual Seminar on the American Revolution from the 25th to the 27th.
Check out Fort-Ticonderoga.org.

In ‘The Waterman’ our hero has a bloody encounter with a few pirates in the Florida Keys in the 1770′s. At that time most pirates, especially those in the Keys, were pretty desperate folks, no more than scavengers from ship wrecks on the coral reefs. And those shipwrecks were often caused by the scavengers themselves with false light signals from the shore. Survivors were not tolerated, for they would only tell the wrong tales.

Modern pirates are no less desperate, think of the Somalis, but their means for extracting wealth is from larger ships and is usually ransom based. Fortunately, hostages often survive the ordeal.

However, we still have those attacks of smaller vessels in certain dangerous waters. In those situations, modern day pirates are no less lethal than their ancestors. So, most long distance cruisers in small vessels are very well armed. To not be so prepared can be quite foolish.

In ‘The Waterman’ we find Dr. Tobias Greene, a fictional physician in a small Massachussets town in 1776. Dr. Greene is a well educated and enlightened man for his time, although his tools for healing fall short of modern medicine.

Dr. Greene is a product of his times, a colonial prepared to live by his own devices. His view of the role of government is to protect his security and to exercise a rule of law that provides for safety and the freedom to pursue his own happiness. In his mind, industry, education and health care are the province of individual citizens and local communities. Dr. Greene would help those in his village who needed it and he surely expected his village would ‘stand to’ for any unfortunate family.

Consistent with this opinion which prevailed at the time, there is no specification for national health care in the Constitution. The government’s role is described succinctly in Section 8 and is proscribed as national defense, regulation of commerce, protection of intellectual property and implementation of a post office and national roads.

We have come a long way, but have we been on the right national road?