CategoryHeather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]

• America has no heroes left, but heroism is not about being perfect or doing something spectacular.
• It is about regular, flawed human beings choosing to put others before themselves, even at great cost.
• Examples of heroism include General Dwight D. Eisenhower writing a letter praising the troops before D-Day, Anne Frank writing in her diary that she still believes people are good at heart, John Hancock signing the Declaration of Independence, Sitting Bull defending his people’s right to practice a religion he didn’t share, and Rosa Parks sitting down when she was told to stand up.
• On April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech in support of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.
• He said that, if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed, because only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.
• He knew he was in danger as he worked for a racially and economically just America, but he was determined to do God’s will.
• Heroes are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what.

Published January 16, 2023. Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post.

• Ratification Day is the anniversary of the day in 1784 when members of the Confederation Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War and formally recognized the independence of the United States from Great Britain.
• The Treaty of Paris was signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay for the United States, and David Hartley for Great Britain.
• The Treaty of Paris was a testament to the negotiating skills of the U.S. team, as they got independence, a promise to forget all past misunderstandings, repatriation of prisoners of war, no reparations, and more.
• The Treaty of Paris established the western boundary of the new nation at the Mississippi River, gave both Americans and British the right to transport goods along that waterway, and gave the United States fishing rights on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
• Congress had six months from the September 3 signing to get the treaty across the Atlantic Ocean, ratify the agreement, and get it back across the ocean to England.
• On January 14, 1784, Congress approved the treaty and issued a proclamation to notify all the good citizens of the United States.
• The ratification of the Treaty of Paris marked the beginning of the journey to become the United States of America.

Published January 15, 2023. Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post.

• Russia released American Taylor Dudley, who had been held since April in Kaliningrad, a slice of land between Poland and Lithuania.
• Cervical cancer rates have dropped 65% among women in their early 20s, likely due to HPV vaccinations.
• Inflation rates have slowed due to falling gas prices and airfares, and the federal budget deficit fell significantly in 2022.
• The US is about to hit the debt ceiling, and House Republicans are preparing an emergency plan to breach it, which would cut off 20% of government spending.
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the US economy.
• Former President Trump was fined $1.6 million for a tax fraud scheme, and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes approved prosecutors’ request to investigate him for inspiring the January 8 attack on Brazil’s presidential offices.

Published January 14, 2023. Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post.

• President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil gathered around him the president of the supreme court and the governors or vice-governors of each state, the senators, the attorney general, and congressional representatives to condemn the coup and reclaim the vandalized buildings.
• Police have arrested about 1500 participants and have warrants for the arrest of two key law enforcement officials close to Bolsonaro.
• Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon remains adamant that Lula must be replaced, while Bolsonaro is in the U.S. on an A-1 visa.
• The House voted on the rules package McCarthy promised to the far-right Republicans, which includes a threat to McCarthy and plum committee assignments for the far-right group.
• Jim Jordan will chair the select subcommittee in the Judiciary Committee to investigate the “weaponization of the federal government”.
• President Joe Biden’s lawyers found “a small number” of classified documents from his vice-presidential years in a locked closet in Biden’s former office and immediately contacted the National Archives and Records Administration.
• Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in jail at New York’s Rikers Island complex and five years probation after pleading guilty to 15 felonies.

Published January 11, 2023. Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post.

• Supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro attacked the presidential palace, congress, and supreme court in Brazil, demanding military intervention to remove current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from office.
• Bolsonaro is a far-right leader who has attacked LGBTQ people, women, and democracy.
• International democratic leaders, including Secretary-General of the U.N. António Guterres and President Emmanuel Macron of France, condemned the rioters in Brazil.
• As of 11:00 tonight, neither House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) nor Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had any comment on the events in Brazil.
• By Sunday night, Brazilian police had retaken control of the vandalized buildings and arrested 170 rioters.

Published January 8, 2023. Visit Letters from An American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post.