L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear readers, in J u l y , l e t m e r e f r e s h y o u r m e m o r y a n d m i n e o n t h e Declaration of Indepen- dence, signed July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. Although the colonists declared them- selves independent of Eng- land and set up the United States of America, a long war followed this declaration, and it was not until April 30, 1789, that George Wash- ington became the Presi- dent of the United States. Washington took the first US presidential oath of office on the balcony of City Hall in New York, the new nation's temporary capital. *** C o l u m b u s d i s c o v e r e d A m e r i c a i n 1 4 9 2 . W h e n heads of European coun- t r i e s d i s c o v e r e d a n e w world, many of them tried to get a share of it and a race of sorts began. Spain took possession of South America, Central America, Mexico, and all the southern parts of today's USA. Then France, Holland, and Eng- land wanted a share, but could not agree upon a divi- sion that would satisfy all four. In a war between Eng- land and Holland, England won the Dutch colonies of N e w Y o r k , N e w J e r s e y , Delaware, and Pennsylva- n i a . T h e n E n g l a n d d r o v e out the French. The king sent a regiment from Eng- l a n d t o d r i v e t h e F r e n c h from the Ohio River Valley. Eventually, England, too, will go. A few years after the war w i t h F r a n c e , t h e E n g l i s h c o l o n i s t s , t h e Y a n k e e s , began to quarrel with the mother country. The king of England had won the war a g a i n s t F r a n c e b u t h a d ended up deeply in debt and wanted the colonists to help p a y f o r i t . S o i n 1 7 6 5 , h e p a s s e d t h e S t a m p A c t , which meant that every time s o m e k i n d o f g o o d s w e r e bought or sold, it was neces- sary to buy stamps to put on n e w s p a p e r s , d o c u m e n t s , deeds, and so on to make t h e m v a l i d . K i n g G e o r g e began appointing officers in America to sell the stamps, but mobs visited the homes of stamp officers, and very few were bold enough to sell them after that. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, on business in London, told the king he had no business taxing the colonists for "these Sons of L i b e r t y h a d a l r e a d y p a i d more than their share of the English-French war by fur- nishing men and supplies for the army and for settling A m e r i c a a n d b r i n g i n g i t under the English flag."The English king and govern- ment gave up the stamp tax, but never stopped trying to get more money from the colonists. Soon, another law was passed saying they had t o p a y t a x e s o n c e r t a i n goods brought to America f r o m E n g l a n d . T h i s l a w made the colonists angry, a n d t h e y s t o p p e d b u y i n g goods from England until t h e E n g l i s h m e r c h a n t s begged the government to give up the law. "Okay," said King George," but the tea t a x s t a y s . " I n D e c e m b e r 1 7 7 3 , s h i p s c a r r y i n g t e a a r r i v e d i n C h a r l e s t o n , Philadelphia, and New York. When people refused to buy the English royal tea, it was stored in damp cellars to rot. But in Boston, after the colonists asked the governor to send the tea back to Eng- land and he refused large party of men dressed up as Native Americans boarded the ships. With tomahawks waving, they dumped 342 chests of tea overboard into the bay: this was the Boston Tea Party. Boston patriot Paul Revere had taken his midnight ride on April 8, 1775, the eve of the Battle of L e x i n g t o n a n d C o n c o r d . Quarrel with England had been going on for ten years. On July 4, 1776, the signing of the Declaration of Inde- pendence just formalized it. *** Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. A t t h e o u t b r e a k o f t h e R e v o l u t i o n , I t a l i a n s a n d I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n s w i t h anglicized spelling of their names were early getting their share of fatal firepow- e r f r o m B r i t i s h soldiers. James Bracco, for instance, was killed in action on October 26, 1776. But Italy contributed more than men to the American Revolution. Even before the conflict started, Italy was a s o u r c e o f i n s p i r a t i o n t o American patriots because o f t h e s t r u g g l e w a g e d by Pasquale Paoli and his fellow Corsicans for inde- pendence. The Corsicans h a d b e e n f o r c e n t u r i e s u n d e r t h e d o m i n a t i o n o f Genoa, that treated them more as colonial subjects than fellow Italians. They had tried several times to regain their freedom begin- ning as far as 1545, but their struggle reached epic pro- p o r t i o n s i n 1 7 5 5 w h e n Pasquale Paoli, assisted by C a r l o B o n a p a r t e , Napoleon's father, landed on the island from Italy and fought heroically against the Genoese. For 14 years, Paoli fought with all the means at his disposal, arousing the administration of free men all over the world, particu- larly in England and Ameri- ca, until 1768 when Genoa sold Corsica to the French. It was then that Paoli and 400 of his followers left the island and sought refuge at L e g h o r n . E v e n t u a l l y , h e moved to England, where he died in 1804.

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