During the 18th century the Maryland Eastern Shore town of Chestertown was a major seagoing port. The port town on the Chester River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, joined others in the cause to protest against King George III of Great Britain when asked to pay what they felt was unreasonable taxes.

In the Spring of 1774, just a few months after citizens of Boston dressed as Indians dumped a load of tea into the Boston Harbor, the town of Chestertown brought forward a list of grievances now known as the “Chestertown Resolves”.

Legend has it that on May 23, 1774 townsmen boarded the Geddes, a trade ship with a load of tea, and openly dump the tea into the Chester River. While the ‘Resolves’ are a part of record, there isn’t any primary evidence that the event occurred. It wasn’t until the local newspaper published a story from oral history in the late 19th century that the event was first record.

Since the mid 1970′s the town of Chestertown has held an annual Tea Party Festival on Memorial Day weekend. The highlight of the weekend is an reenactment of the protest against the British. Thousands come to the town each year to get a taste of the 18th century.

Whether or not it’s a legend or the truth, Chestertown did join in the protests that helped form a new, independent nation. And as much as the 19th century fountain in the town’s central park, its Colonial and Victorian Homes, and Washington College, the tea party has become a part of the town’s history.

Full text of the Chestertown Resolves:
Chestertown Resolves
1st- RESOLVED, that we acknowledge his majesty George III, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, to be our rightful and lawful sovereign to whom we owe and promise all dutiful allegiance and submission.

2nd – RESOLVED, that no duty or taxes can constitutionally be opposed on us, but by our own consent given personally, or by our own representatives.

3rd – RESOLVED, that the act of the British parliament of the 7th of George III, chapter 46, subjecting the colonies to a duty on tea, for the purpose of raising revenue in America, is unconstitutional, oppressive and calculated to enslave the Americas.

4th – RESOLVED, therefore, that whoever shall import, or in any way aid or assist in importing, or introducing from any part of Great Britain, or any other place whatsoever, into this town or country, any tea subject to the payment of a duty imposed by the aforesaid act of Parliament: or whoever shall willingly and knowingly sell, buy or consume, in any way assist with the sale, purchase or consumption of any tea imported as aforesaid subject to a duty, he or they, shall be stigmatized as enemies to the liberties of America.

5th – RESOLVED, that we will not only steadily adhere to the foregoing resolves, but will endeavor to excite our worthy neighbors to a like patriotic conduct, and to whoever, amongst, shall refuse his concurrence, or after complying, shall desert the cause, and knowingly deviate from the true spirit and meaning of these our resolutions, w will mark him out and inimical to the liberties of America, and unworthy member of the community, ad a person not deserving our notice our regard.

6th – RESOLVED, that the foregoing resolves be printed, that our brothers in the and other colonies may now our sentiments as therein contained.

Signed by order of the Committee, W Wright, Clerk

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Information about the Chestertown Tea Party Festival can be found at www.chestertownteaparty.com

As a result of this case the concept of ‘equal, but separate’ became acceptable by upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation in public accommodations (particularly railroads).

The case began as a result of a Louisiana Law that that required separate but equal accommodations for African Americans and Whites on railroads. The Citizen’s Committee to Test the Separate Car Act was formed by both whites and blacks and they enlisted Homer Plessy, who was 1/8 black, but under Louisiana Law considered black, to get arrested for sitting in the ‘White’ car.

The case was heard by Judge John Howard Ferguson who ruled that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroad companies as long as they operated within state boundaries and therefor not in violation of either the 13th or 14 amendment.

The Supreme Court with a ruling of 7-1, Justice David Josiah Brewer did not hear the case, allowed for the law to stand and made public policy the separation of the two races. Justice John Marshall Harlan was the only one to dissent and he predicted the court’s decision would become infamous. He wrote:

But in view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.

The Supreme Court overruled the Plessy decision on May 17, 1954 as part of the Brown v. Board of education case. The Brown case was presented to the court by future justice Thurgood Marshall, who was working for the NAACP. Unanimously the Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

He was wounded by friendly fire. One the moon lite evening of May 2nd he rode out onto the plank road to determine the feasibility of a night attack. As hhe and his staff was returning they were incorrectly identified as Union cavalry by men of the Second Corps who opened fire. The wound itself was not life-threatening although his arm was amputated

Jackson, who had gained the nickname Stonewall at the First Battle of Bull Run, is considered one of the most gifted tactical commanders in United States history. General Robert E. Lee considered the lost of Jackson to be just like losing his right arm.

Thomas Jackson was the third child of Julia Beckwith (née Neale) Jackson (1798 – 1831) and Jonathan Jackson (1790 – 1826). Both of Jackson’s parents were natives of Virginia and were living in Clarksburg, in what is now West Virginia. He was named for his maternal grandfather.

Jackson was appointed to the United States Military Academy in the summer of 1842, at the age of eighteen years old. His appointment came due to another cadet, Gibson Butcher, who had resigned after one day of service. Jackson replaced him in the class. Four years later on June 30, 1846 he left as a commissioned Brevet Second Lieutenant.

He was 17th in his class of 59. Included in the class was Union General George B. McClellan, who was 2nd, and Confederate Generals Ambrose Powell (A.P.) Hill and George Edward Pickett, who was last. In all the class had 20 men who became Generals with 19 of them serving in the Civil War, 10 on the Union side and 9 for the Confederates.

“From the Halls of Montezuma,
To the shores of Tripoli”

The shores of Tripoli refer to the Battle of Derne which occurred on April 27, 1805 as part of the First Barbary War. An attachment of Marines under the command of Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon lead an attack on the city. By the end of the day an American flag was flown over the fortification. This was a first in American history.

Tripoli is the largest city in Libya. The city is a major sea port and in the early 19th century the area was prone to piracy. It was because of these practices that a naval force was sent from the United States to blockade Tripoli. Something that really hasn’t changed much in modern times.

The Barbary Wars gave the United states a better military reputation. Prior to this there had been little to no military action by the Americans outside of their own country. This showed the World that they could fight a war away from home.

Located at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland is The Tripoli Monument. It was carved of Carrara marble in Italy in 1806 and brought to the United States as ballast on board the USS Constitution. It is the oldest military monument in the U.S. The monument honors the heroes of the First Barbary War: Captain Richard Somers, Lieutenant James Caldwell, James Decatur, Henry Wadsworth, Joseph Israel, and John Dorsey.

For those who may be wondering the “Halls of Montezuma” refer to the Battle of Chapultepec which took place near Mexico City in September 1847 during the Mexican-American War.

On May 10, 1941 he left Germany suddenly for Scotland. His intention was to negotiate peace with the British a country in which he was not completely in favor of being in War.

Instead he was captured and imprison. Hess was declared insane by a bewildered Hitler, and effectively disowned by the Nazis.

He was tried at Nuremberg and in spite of his mental condition was sentenced to life in prison. He committed suicide on August 17, 1987 at age 92, the last of the prisoners tried at Nuremberg.

Although there are some who don’t believe he committed suicide. He was discovered with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck in a secure area of Spandau Prison. He also had severe arthritis in his fingers and needed assistance for small things such as tying his shoes.

Spandau Prison was constructed in 1876. After the end of World War II it was used to house the seven Nazi war criminals sentenced to imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials. After the death of Hess it was demolished in 1987 in part to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.

Richthofen was born on May 2, 1892 in Kleinburg, into a family of old Prussian nobility. He began his military training at 11 and upon completion of training he join a cavalry unit. When the War began he was still in the cavalry and with the change of art of combat with machine guns his cavalry unit saw little combat, something he disliked.

He applied for a transfer into the “Imperial German Army Air Service” was in training during the last half of 1915. He won his first aerial combat over Cambrai, France, on September 17, 1916.

From September 1916 until April 25, 1918 when he was killed in an arial plane fight, Von Richthofen had recorded 80 kills and was becoming a legend. As an aid for identification during air combat, Germany adopted red colourations with various individual marking. Some of Richthofen’s aircrafts was painted entirely red. This is how he received his name.

On the day of his death, the Red Baron had been pursuing a Sopwith Camel piloted by the Candian pilot Lt. Wilfrud May. During the battle the Red Baron was hit by a bullet. It was most probably a quick death, but one that occurred after he made a hasty controlled landing,

Even though he was an officer of Germany, the Allied air officers regarded their foe with respect and organized a military funeral. Richthofen’s aircraft was dismembered by souvenir hunters. Its engine is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.