Good morning, Whitewater.
Thursday in town will be cloudy with a high of fifty. Sunrise is 7:24 AM and sunset 5:52 PM, for 10h 28m 16s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 9.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1775, King George III addresses Parliament, and expands on his earlier Proclamation of Rebellion:
The Proclamation of Rebellion, officially titled A Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition, was the response of George III of Great Britain to the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill at the outset of the American Revolutionary War. Issued August 23, 1775, it declared elements of the American colonies in a state of “open and avowed rebellion.” It ordered officials of the British Empire “to use their utmost endeavours to withstand and suppress such rebellion.” The Proclamation also encouraged subjects throughout the Empire, including those in Great Britain, to report anyone carrying on “traitorous correspondence” with the rebels so that they could be punished.
The Proclamation was written before Colonial Secretary Lord Dartmouth had been given a copy of the Olive Branch Petitionfrom the Continental Congress. Because the king refused to receive the petition, the Proclamation effectively served as an answer to the petition.[1]
On October 27, 1775, King George expanded on the Proclamation in his Speech from the Throne at the opening of Parliament.[2] The King insisted that rebellion was being fomented by a “desperate conspiracy” of leaders whose claims of allegiance to him were insincere; what the rebels really wanted, he said, was to create an “independent Empire.” The king indicated that he intended to deal with the crisis with armed force, and was even considering “friendly offers of foreign assistance” to suppress the rebellion. A pro-American minority in Parliament warned that the government was driving the colonists towards independence, something that many colonial leaders had insisted they did not desire.[3]
The Second Continental Congress issued a response to the Proclamation on December 6, saying that while they had always been loyal to the king, the British Parliament never had any legitimate claim to authority over them, because the colonies were not democratically represented. Congress argued that it was their duty to continue resisting Parliament’s violations of the British Constitution, and that they would retaliate if any supporters in Great Britain were punished for “favouring, aiding, or abetting the cause of American liberty.” Congress maintained that they still hoped to avoid the “calamities” of a “civil war.”
On this day in 1864, a solider from Waukesha does his part for the Union:
1864 – Waukesha Soldier Sinks Confederate Ship
On this date William Cushing led an expedition to sink the Confederate ram, the Albermarle, which had imposed a blockade near Plymouth, North Carolina and had been sinking Union ships. Cushing’s plan was extremely dangerous and only he and one other soldier escaped drowning or capture. Cushing pulled very close to the Confederate ironclad and exploded a torpedo under it while under heavy fire. Cushing’s crew abandoned ship as it began to sink. The Albemarle also sunk. Cushing received a “letter of thanks” from Congress and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. He died in 1874 due to ill health and is buried in the Naval Cemetery at Annapolis, Maryland. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes, p.274-285]
JigZone‘s puzzle for Thursday is of a tipi: