Finally!

The nearly week-long weekend is over and I can finally put away all of those crappy old American history books to gather dust for another year. Thank goodness-- they sure were cluttering up the place.

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The Old State House in Philadelphia

[From Nation and State: Text-Book of Civil Government by George Morris Phillips, published by  Christopher Sower Company, Philadelphia in 1905]

July 8, 1776-- The Liberty Bell rings from the tower calling Philadelphians to hear Col. John Nixon read the Declaration of Independence (Bennett and Crib, The American Patriot's Almanac, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 2008). There's even a sad little poem:

The old bell now is silent,
And hushed its iron tongue,
But the spirit it awakened
Still lives-- forever young.