Balladeer’s Blog wishes a happy birthday to the USA! What happened in early July of 1776 certainly needs no rehashing so in keeping with my blog’s theme of addressing more out of the way subjects this post will examine various events that took place on other July 4ths throughout American history.
JULY 4TH, 1778 – George Rogers Clark led his rebel forces in taking the British stronghold of Kaskaskia, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers. Clark and his Rangers were on a mission for then-Virginia Governor Patrick Henry.
JULY 4TH, 1783 – The Massachusetts Supreme Court is finalizing its written decision holding that slavery has been illegal in the state since adoption of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights in 1780.
JULY 4TH, 1788 – The Constitution of the United States is starting to come into full effect this calendar year, instituting the government we are still officially ruled by. First elections are scheduled for later in the year.
JULY 4TH, 1789 – Congress passes a tariff that taxes goods imported in American ships at a rate 10% lower than on goods imported in ships under foreign flags.
JULY 4TH, 1794 – The “Whiskey Rebellion” is underway in western Pennsylvania. Farmers protesting a federal tax on grain alcohol act against it by refusing to pay it and by tarring and feathering the revenue agents sent to collect the tax money. They also take to burning down the homes of revenue officials. The rebellion ends in November. Continue reading
THE SPY (1914) – This four-reel movie was based on the 1821 novel of the same name by THE James Fenimore Cooper. The story is set largely at a home in Scarsdale, New York as American Rebel families share feuds, intrigues and romances with British Loyalists. 
THE CHASSEURS-VOLUNTAIRES DE SAINT-DOMINGUE – French assistance to the emerging United States of America during our Revolutionary War took many forms. One of the most often overlooked elements of such assistance came in the form of a unit from Saint-Domingue (renamed Haiti during the nation’s own revolution against French control in 1804). 
These Chasseurs arrived outside Savannah, Georgia on September 8th and served alongside the American forces and other French troops in besieging the city. In December of 1778 the British had taken Savannah as part of their operations in Georgia and the Americans were trying to take it back. 
BLACKHEART RUM – Made in America, this rum product is described by the distillers as “rich in flavor and edgy to the core.” Blackheart Rum comes in at 93 proof. 
WIN IT BY TWELVE – The SEATTLE STORM (11-6) welcomed the INDIANA FEVER (7-12). 
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the independent comic book character the Black Coat, a masked hero in 1770s New York City. 
The Black Coat is really Nathaniel Finch, brilliant young scientist and friend of Ben Franklin himself. Our costumed hero runs his own covert network of rebels called the Knights of Liberty, men and women who risk everything to fight against tyranny. His coal-black horse Phobos stands ever-ready as well.
THE BLACK COAT Vol 1 #1 (2006)
The saved Franklin visits with our hero in his civilian Nathaniel Finch identity at the New York Sentinel, Finch’s patriot newspaper. Rumors of war breaking out at any moment are everywhere. British General Savidge has secretly allied himself with shadowy conspirators called the League – an evil version of the Founding Fathers’ Masonic Lodges. 
With the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, here is another seasonal post from Balladeer’s Blog. When it comes to women who dressed up as men and served as soldiers during America’s Revolutionary War, Deborah Sampson gets most of the attention. Here’s a look at two other women who disguised themselves as men to serve in the war. 
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky did real-life work crucial to space-flight and is one of the neglected pioneers of Science Fiction. Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at a few of his works. 
These flying plant-people from the Asteroid Belt obtain nourishment through chlorophyll and solar radiation. They also have advanced technology like the harnessing of dismantled asteroids into rings, resulting in lower gravity for manufacturing work. 
OUT OF THE EARTH (1920) – Set in the year 2017 A.D. this tale features what readers are told is the first manned flight to the moon, some 48 years AFTER it happened in real life. 
FEBRUARY 1st – At Drake’s Farm near Metuchen, New Jersey. In reaction to British losses throughout January as part of what some have called the Forage War, British General William Erskine sought to lure American forces into a trap. 
AUGUST 1919 RETURN – From January of 1910 to July of 1917, James Larkin Pearson’s monthly Fool-Killer had been published, with his revival of the violent folk figure doing his ages-old job of bashing political and societal fools. In April 1917 America entered World War One and by July Pearson felt that a unified front for wartime was appropriate. 
In August of 1919, nine months after the end of the war, Pearson changed the name back to The Fool-Killer and resumed the hard-hitting political satire. That month’s targeted fools included: 
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