I read recently that Kobe Bryant will be honored with a statue in the National Garden of American Heroes, as nominated by President Trump on his last day in office. The Garden is in the concept stages and 244 persons from throughout the country’s history were in the executive order. I suppose rapists who have enough money to settle civil suits and convince victims to not testify are deserving of such honors (eg. Bryant’s “consensual” encounter with the hostess at the Cordillera (CO) Lodge & Spa in June of 2003). Which brings us to another stupefying development, the ongoing efforts of the US Treasury to replace that dastardly slave owner Andrew Jackson with a more politically correct visage of Harriet Tubman on the twenty dollar bill. When the Confederate monuments were attacked by anarchists as well as local governments, I warned (including in a letter to then New Orleans Mayor and Louisiana liberal icon Mitch Landrieu) that Andrew Jackson, “Hero of New Orleans” would be next along with our founding fathers. Well, there have been countless other American heroes lambasted and attacked by the progressive history revisionists including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (as well as Lincoln and Grant and any other such white privileged figures).
Those
on our US currency are some of the great thinkers and shapers in the history of
our country including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Hamilton, Jackson, Grant
and Benjamin Franklin on our paper denominations today. So, what would justify honoring one with such
recognition? Thought it might be
enlightening to compare Jackson and Tubman
and illuminate their accomplishments so you can decide for
yourself. According to https://learnodo-newtonic.com/andrew-jackson-accomplishments,
Jackson was a war hero, handing “a crushing defeat to the British at the Battle
of New Orleans in 1815”, leading a force of 5000 against an invading British
force of 7500 resulting in 71 US casualties to 2037 British. He also “successfully led the US forces in
the Creek War” (also part of the War of 1812).
“Jackson served as the seventh President of the US from 1829 to
1837. He was the main founder of the
modern Democratic party. Jacksonian
democracy led to greater democracy for
the common man, spreading power from the elites to the ordinary voters. He played a leading role in all white males
being granted the right to vote”, allowing suffrage for even poor white
males. “Jackson resolved the Nullification
Crisis”, leading the adoption of the Compromise Tariff of 1833, avoiding
escalation into conflict with SC regarding tariffs (as contrasted with Buchanan
and Lincoln some 28 years later with the Morrill Tariff). “Trade was increased substantially during his
term as President”, a 70% increase in exports and a 250% increase in
imports. “He reduced corruption in
government” including replacing the Postmaster General. Finally, “Jackson authorized the United
States Exploring Expedition” which led to the growth of science especially
oceanography. Detractors will highlight
his authorization of the Trail of Tears and of course, his slaves.
Harriet
Tubman was the fifth of nine children.
She “was forced to care for her younger siblings when she was as young as
five years old while her mother worked in the “big house””. By Tubman’s recollections, she was often
“hired out to temporary masters, some of whom who were cruel and negligent. She
recalled being whipped daily as a very young child by an exacting mistress, who
left scars still visible eighty years later. She was also forced to labor in
icy cold winter waters setting muskrat traps.” Her master hired out his slaves
and ultimately sold some (including some of Tubman’s siblings) as “his farm was
too small to productively use all the enslaved labor he owned”. She was almost killed in the mid-1830s when
an overseer threw an iron weight at a fleeing slave and it inadvertently struck
her on the head. “The severe injury left
her suffering from headaches, seizures, and periods of semi-consciousness,
probably Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, which plagued her for the rest of her life.
The head injury also coincided with an explosion of religious enthusiasm. Tubman’s faith was deep and founded upon
strong religious teachings.” (Noted
Christian religion and not African tribal.) “Tubman hire(d) herself out, after
paying (her master) a yearly fee of sixty dollars for the privilege to work for
herself. This allowed her to earn enough money to buy a pair of oxen, enabling
her to maximize her wage earning potential.
Around 1844, (she) married John Tubman, a free man at least five years
her senior.” Five years later, her master died and fearing that she might be
sold, she fled north to Canada. (Her
husband) was not interested in joining her in the North, and he married another
woman in the community - a free woman named Caroline with whom he had four free
children. Broken hearted, Tubman,
refusing to sacrifice her freedom by returning and fighting for her marriage,
instead committed herself to liberating her family and friends. In the early spring of 1858, Tubman met John
Brown (who was) later hanged for treason” following his Raid on Harper’s
Ferry. “Starting in the spring of 1858,
she became a fixture at abolition and suffrage meetings throughout Central New
York and the Boston area” after moving back to New York. “Tubman’s total commitment to destroying the
slave system eventually led her to South Carolina during the Civil War, where
she alternated her roles as nurse and scout, cook and spy, in the service of
the Union army. Eventually, she became the first American woman ever to lead an
armed raid (guid(ing) Colonel James Montgomery and his Second South Carolina
Black regiment up the Combahee River) into enemy territory. In early 1862,
Tubman joined Northern abolitionists in support of Union activities at Port
Royal, South Carolina.” After the War
she helped found the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged in Auburn NY.
(http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/harriet-tubman-biography.html)
It
has been said that “Tubman rescued 300 people in 19 trips from all over the south.”
along the “Underground Railroad”. She
rescued about 70 people – family and friends (only) – during approximately 13
trips (only) to Maryland.” Another myth was
that “Tubman had a $40,000 "dead or alive" bounty on her head”. The only reward for Tubman’s capture was (an)
October 1849 advertisement (her mistress offered in the sum) of $100 (if)
caught outside Maryland”. Further,
“Tubman (did not) help build Stewart's Canal” in Maryland which was used to
transport timber into Chesapeake Bay.
Another myth was that “Tubman carried a rifle on her UGRR rescue
missions. Tubman carried a small pistol
with her on her rescue missions, mostly for protection from slave catchers, but
also to encourage weak-hearted runaways (friends and family) from turning back
and risking the safety of the rest of the group.” (http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/harriet-tubman-myths-and-facts.html) It may be noted that in the years prior to
the War for Southern Independence, despite the vile institution which slavery
represented and which our founding fathers recognized, “In “Notes on the State
of Virginia”, Jefferson described the institution of slavery as forcing tyranny
and depravity on master and slave alike” (
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/founding-fathers-and-slaveholders-72262393/
) aiding escaped slaves was in violation of United States federal law at the
time. But, at least she wasn’t a
rapist.
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