L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2024 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. *** A l t h o u g h t h e c o l o n i s t s declared themselves inde- pendent of England and set u p t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s o f America, a long war followed this declaration. It was not until April 30, 1789, that G e o r g e W a s h i n g t o n became the President 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 cap- ital. *** Columbus discovered A m e r i c a i n 1 4 9 2 . W h e n heads of European countries d i s c o v e r e d a n e w w o r l d , many of them tried to get a share of it, and a race of sort began. Spain took posses- sion of South America, Cen- tral America, Mexico, and all southern parts of today's USA. Then France, Holland, a n d E n g l a n d w a n t e d a share, but could not agree upon divisions that would s a t i s f y a l l f o u r . I n a w a r between England and Hol- l a n d , E n g l a n d w o n t h e Dutch colonies of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Then England drove out the French. The king sent a regiment from England to drive the French f r o m O h i o R i v e r V a l l e y . 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 deeds, and so on to make them valid. K i n g G e o r g e b e g a n appointing officers in Amer- ica to sell the stamps, but mobs visited the home of stamp officers, and very few w e r e b o l d e n o u g h t o s e l l them after that. *** Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, on business in L o n d o n , t o l d t h e k i n g h e " h a d n o b u s i n e s s t a x i n g colonists for the Sons of Lib- erty had already paid more than their share of the Eng- lish-French war by furnish- ing men and supplies for the army and for settling Ameri- ca and bringing it under the English flag." The English king and government gave up the stamp tax, but never stopped trying to get more money from the colonists. S o o n , a n o t h e r l a w w a s passed saying they had to pay taxes on certain goods b r o u g h t t o A m e r i c a f r o m England. This law made the colonists angry, and they stopped buying goods from England until the English merchants begged the gov- ernment to give up the law. "Okay," said King George, "but the tea tax stays." In December 1773, ships c a r r y i n g t e a a r r i v e d i n Charleston, 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 tea back to England, and he refused, a large party of men dressed up as Native Ameri- cans boarded the ships: with the tomahawks waving, they dumped 342 chests of tea overboard into the bay. This was the Boston Tea Party. *** B o s t o n p a t r i o t P a u l Revere had taken his mid- night ride on April 8, 1775, the eve of the Battle of Lex- ington and Concord. Quarrel w i t h E n g l a n d h a d b e e n going on for 10 years. On 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. July 4, 1776, the signing of the Declaration of Indepen- dence just formalized it. *** A t t h e o u t b r e a k o f t h e revolution, Italians and Ital- ian-Americans with angli- cized spelling of their names w e r e e a r l y g e t t i n g t h e i r share of fatal firepower from B r i t i s h s o l d i e r s . J a m e s Bracco, for instance, was killed in action on October 2 6 , 1 7 7 6 . B u t I t a l y c o n - tributed more than men to the American Revolution. E v e n b e f o r e t h e c o n f l i c t started, Italy was a source of i n s p i r a t i o n t o A m e r i c a n p a t r i o t s b e c a u s e o f t h e s t r u g g l e w a g e d b y Pasquale Paoli and his fel- low Corsicans for indepen- dence. The Corsicans had been for centuries under the domination of Genoa that treated them more as colo- n i a l s u b j e c t s t h a n f e l l o w Italians. They had tried sev- eral times to regain their freedom, beginning as far as 1 5 4 5 , b u t t h e i r s t r u g g l e reached epic proportions in 1755 when Pasquale Paoli, assisted by Carlo Bonaparte, 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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