L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 13 L'Italo-Americano Dear Readers, July, the month we celebrate Independence Day, our national holiday, commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the document in which the 13 English Colonies in America asserted their independence from Great Britain, through action by the Continental Congress of July 4, 1776, is a good time to remind you about Filippo Mazzei, good friend of Thomas Jefferson who eloped draft the declaration. In addition to the contributions of Mazzei, I want to share with you the fact that back in the 1970s, I along with Italo Americans from "sea to shinning sea" were "molto" hot under collar, when the U.S. Postal Service wanted to honor Mazzei with a postcard instead of a commemorative stamp. Finally after much "agitazione" a 40c Philip Mazzei airmail stamp was issued in 1980, by the United States Postal Service, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mazzei's birth, in Poggio a Calano, Italy back in 1730. *** A commemorative stamp or a postcard doesn't seem to make much difference at first glance, but I know from personal experience what a big difference it does make. I was an educator, a cum laude graduate, and well over twenty one years of age; however, never had I received any indication from my school history books that Italians had played any part in the life of colonial America. After Columbus, it seemed that anything notable or worthwhile was done by the English or descendants of those that came over on the Mayflower. Truthfully, when it came to U.S. history, as an Italian American, I felt left out. Then, in 1976, our Bicentennial Year, various Italian American organizations thought "BASTA! Enough of this after Columbus "niente" bit." In bits and pieces various items of information that my father had imputed, like Meucci inventing the telephone, Marconi the radio and Mazzei being the inspiration for Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, were being confirmed in print for the first time. My biggest thrill, however, was to discover in the company that Filippo Mazei kept, names like Benjamin Franklin, the Madison Brothers and Thomas Jefferson, I was ecstatic. I could now walk Boston's "Freedom Trail" and Philadelphia's Betsy Ross House and Independence Hall with a new insouciance. After all, as an Italian American I had the same "roots" as Mazzei and I was just checking out a friend's old neighborhoods. *** I will not assume you already know all about Mazzei, I want to share a few highlights so Readers will better know why we wanted to honor Mazzei with a commemorative stamp and why we were incensed over a proposal that Italian Americans accept a postcard instead. Filippo Mazzei, born in near Florence, studied medicine but practiced outside of Italy as a surgical assistant in Constantinople. He later served as a ship's doctor aboard a British vessel, went to London and stayed there 15 years. In London he gave Italian lessons and later became a wine and oil dealer. A letter from the Florence Museum curator for a Franklin stove caused Mazzei to strike up a friendship with Ben Franklin, then in London as agent for the Colony of Pennsylvania. At Franklin's suggestion he began a correspondence with a Virginia landowner who wanted to improve his Italian, Thomas Jefferson. In 1773, at Jefferson's invitation, Mazzei went to Virginia to start an experimental farm. He bought a 400 acre tract of land adjacent to Jefferson's Monticello. In 1774 he joined the militia and met the Madisn brothers (James later became president 1809-1817). In 1775 Jefferson suggested Mazzei write a series of articles explaining the philosophical grounds for revolution against England. Mazzei wrote:"A true republican form a government cannot exist except where all men, from the very rich to the very poor, are perfectly equal in their natural rights. All men are by nature equally free and independent:. *** The first day of issue ceremonies for the Mazzei 40 cent air mail stamp held on October 13, 1980, a U.S. Postal Official revealed that "this country might never have acknowledged Mazzei's accomplishments had Italian Americans not labored long and hard to bring it about. This stamp should be viewed by the whole world as evidence of Italian Americans pride in their dual heritage. "It was decided to feature Mazzei'son an airmail stamp because I believe it is important that people in other nations, as well as Americans, know he is honored by America. It is particularly important that the people of Italy know that Mazzei is being honored. A stamp restricted to domestic use in this country would not have accomplished this. "I am confident that the Philip Mazzei story will have an audience everywhere liberty is prized, and I trust that the stamp will cause many who see it to delve into the history of this fascinating man. For Philip Mazzei was, indeed , a machinating man". Many members of Congress assisted at the announcement of the stamp. Among these were Congressman Joseph Addabbo of New York, Josehp G. Minish and Matthew Rinaldo of New Jersey, and Senator Peter V. Domenici of New Mexico. And, behind the scenes were also the efforts of the late Frank Befera, of Duluth, Minnesota, World War II, veteran, L'Italo Americano reader, businessman and personal friend of Vice President, (1977-1981) Walter Mondale. *** John F. Kennedy, our president 1961-1963, while still a Senator, wrote in his 1958 book, "A Nation of Immigrants", "No one man can take complete credit for the ideal of American democracy." History agrees and has given at least some credit for the Declaration to Jerfferson's friends, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, who authored other founding documents from which Jefferson drew inspiration. In his book, however, Kennedy argued that history still needed to acknowledge one other man, Philip Mazzei. Mazzei came to America in 1773, and taught Virgina's planters how to cultivate vineyards. In Virginia, Mazzei settled on a plantation near Jefferson's. The two became friends and corresponded regularly about politics and philosophy. In Mazzei's letters. Jefferson found a phrase he would later borrow for the Declaration of Independence: "All men are created equal". Although not an exact quote, as Mazzei and Jefferson corresponded in Italian, both Kennedy in his 1958 book and the U.S. Congress in 1994, recognized that fundamental phrase as originating in Mazzei's writing. Those words weren't Mazzei's only contributions to the cause of liberty. He later served as an emissary for Virginia in Italy and helped smuggle arms to the Continental Army. His words to Jefferson, however, remain his most enduring contribution. *** Mazzei's most enduring contribution to me and thousands of Italo Americans across the United States was his finally being honored via a commemorative stamp in 1980, after a six year campaign that informed the public about his efforts in the crucial years immediately preceding the Revolutionary War. Mazzei, a Freeholder of Virginia collaborated with the learders of that colony on political ideas and plans. He promoted American independence through his writings which were published in Europe and America before the essays of Thomas Paine appeared. He was a significant historical figure. His political inspiration predates the Declaration of Independence and Mazzei's Instructions of the Freeholders of Albemarie County to the Delegates in Convention was published in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. In later years, he also inspired President Thomas Jefferson to create the United States Marine Band. (1805) and helped recruit the 14 Italian musicians led by Gaetano Carusi. Mazzei's last service to his adopted homeland was to return to Italy at Jefferson's request to hire sculptures and stone masons to work on our new Federal Capitol in Washington. *** In 1792 he became an adviser to Stanislaw II, the last king of independent Poland, and in 1802 he began to receive a pension from Russia. Through out his lifetime Mazzei continued to correspond with Jefferson, who served as our 3rd president (1801- 1809). LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE

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