From Learn Your History ~ Mike Huckabee
| JULY 9 – JULY 15 July 9Learn Our History Today: On July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted, granting citizenship, and protecting the liberties of former slaves. The 14th Amendment has three clauses: the Citizenship Clause,  |
| the Due Process Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause. The Citizenship Clause overruled the previous Dred Scott vs. Sandford Supreme Court ruling which stated that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. The Second Clause, the Due Process Clause, stated that State and local governments could not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without certain measures being taken to ensure fairness. The final clause, the Equal Protection Clause, stated that each State was required to give equal protection under the law to all people living under its jurisdiction, black or white.Also, on this day in U.S. history:1776: The Declaration of Independence is read to George Washington’s troops in New York.1950: President Zachary Taylor died in office after serving less than two years.1956: Dick Clark debuts as the host of American Bandstand. |
 July 10Learn Our History Today: On July 10, 1943, during World War II, the Allies launched the invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky. After being ousted from mainland Europe in 1940, the Allies knew they needed to hit |
| back against the Germans. Knowing they could not attempt a re-invasion of Western Europe at that time, they resolved to strike the Germans on a more peripheral front, North Africa. After many hard-fought battles, Germany was forced from the African continent and plans for a new invasion began.The target would be Sicily, which was vital to controlling the Mediterranean Sea and its shipping lanes. The invasion began with large airborne assaults by the British 1st and the American 82nd Airborne divisions. In this first major Allied airborne operation of World War II, the drops were badly scattered, with troops being dispersed throughout the Sicilian countryside. These had the effect of confusing and creating mass panic among the enemy (very similar to what occurred on D-Day nearly a year later).Following the airborne assaults, thousands of British and American troops stormed Sicilian beaches. The coastal defenses they ran into were manned by demoralized Sicilian troops who offered little resistance to the landing Allies. Within three days a suitable beachhead was established, making way for the landing of 150,000 more soldiers. The fighting in Sicily lasted just over a month, with many a fierce battle being fought in the steep mountains found on the island. On August 17, American troops under General George S. Patton arrived in Messina, prompting a withdrawal of all remaining Axis forces from Sicily to the Italian mainland.Also, on this day in U.S. history:1850: Millard Fillmore is sworn in as the 13th President of United States.1919: The Treaty of Versailles is delivered to the Senate by President Woodrow Wilson.1938: Aviator and businessman Howard Hughes flies around the world in 91 hours. |
July 11Learn Our History Today: On July 11, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton fought their famous duel near Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton and Burr had been political rivals for years, and they  |
| had campaigned vigorously against one another in many elections. After one particularly brutal attack on his honor by Hamilton, Burr finally challenged Hamilton to a duel. To decline a duel would have meant a massive mark against Hamilton’s honor and despite Burr’s status as Vice-President, he agreed.At 7:00 a.m. on July 11, the two met on the dueling grounds. What actually happened is still a subject of debate today. Some say that Hamilton decided at the last minute that their duel was wrong and fired his pistol into the air. Others say that Hamilton fired at Burr and missed. What is not debatable is that Burr did fire at Hamilton, hitting him in the stomach with the bullet lodging near the spine. Alexander Hamilton would die the next day. Aaron Burr was soon charged with murder in the states of New York and New Jersey, but he escaped prosecution by returning to Washington D.C., where he was immune while he served out the remainder of his term as Vice President.Also, on this day in U.S. history:1767: President John Quincy Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts.1798: The Marine Corps is established by an act of Congress.1914: Famed baseball player and future Hall of Famer Babe Ruth makes his major league debut as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. |
 July 12Learn Our History Today: On July 12, 1780, during the American Revolution, the Battle of Williamson’s Plantation (also known as Huck’s defeat) was fought in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War’s Southern |
| Campaign. The Revolutionary War in the South had not gone well for the Americans during 1780. Essentially the entire American Army was captured when the city of Charleston, South Carolina was taken by the British in May 1780. After that, most major towns of South Carolina were seized by British forces. Raiding parties of mounted Loyalists, who were Americans loyal to the British, began ravaging the state, seeking out Patriot militia or civilians. Few Patriot military units continued to operate in South Carolina.On the evening of July 11, Captain Christian Huck and around 130 Loyalists arrived at the plantation of Patriot Colonel William Bratton, with the intent of capturing him. Unfortunately for them, Bratton was away leading raids on some local Tories, leaving only his wife Martha at their home. Huck’s Loyalists soon began vigorously questioning her as to her husband’s whereabouts, with one Loyalist even pressing a reaping hook against her neck. While this was happening, a slave on the Bratton’s plantation named Watt escaped and found Colonel William Bratton, telling him of the Loyalists’ presence.Bratton then mobilized his Patriot militia, numbering around 150 men, and moved off toward a plantation owned by James Williamson, where Huck’s men had moved on to and camped. Arriving the next morning, July 12, in total darkness, the Patriots crept up on the sleeping camp of Tories. They took careful aim, with some even using a fence as a support, and opened fire. The result was devastating. The Loyalists were caught completely off guard by the Patriot militia. Their commander, Captain Christian Huck, quickly and frantically mounted a horse, trying in vain to rally his men. He did not get far. A Patriot rifleman quickly spotted him, leveled his weapon, and sent a ball flying into Huck’s head, killing him instantly. Some of the Tories attempted to surrender and others tried fleeing, but in the end almost the entire force was killed, wounded, or captured by the Patriots. The battle was a huge morale boost to Americans everywhere and was one of the first Patriot victories in the Southern Campaign.Also, on this day in U.S. history:1812: U.S. forces led by General Hull invade Canada in the War of 1812.1862: Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor, the highest award given for military valor in action.1954: President Eisenhower presents a plan for an interstate highway system. |
July 13Learn Our History Today: On July 13, 1863, the New York City Draft Riots began after a new law was put in place by Congress initiating a draft. At this time, the Civil War had been raging since April 1861, and the death toll from the battles  |
| was only getting worse and worse. Gettysburg had just cost the Union more than 20,000 casualties. More men were needed to continue the fight and not enough were willing to join. Congress saw compulsory service in the form of a draft as the only way. In New York City, working class citizens began staging protests to vent their disgust at the new law.They were disgusted especially at a clause which allowed wealthier men to be exempt if they paid $300 to hire a substitute. The protests soon turned bloody. The crowds grew to massive proportions, and they began setting many a building aflame. Reports of the devastation and chaos prompted President Abraham Lincoln to call up Union troops previously engaged in the epic Battle of Gettysburg to help the New York City Police Department quell the riots. After three days, the rioting finally stopped, but only after more than 120 people had been killed and millions of dollars’ worth of property damage had been done.Also, on this day in U.S. history:1787: Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance.1832: Geographer Henry Schoolcraft discovers the source of the Mississippi River.1923: The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles. It originally read “Hollywoodland”, but ‘land’ was dropped after renovations in 1949. |
 July 14Learn Our History Today: On July 14, 1881, the famous gunslinger Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. Born as either William H. Bonney or Henry McCarty (historians do not know for certain), Billy the Kid committed |
| his first crimes at only fifteen years old, stealing food and robbing a Chinese laundry. He lived a rough and tumble life in the American Southwest, serving as a ranch hand for several different ranchers. Billy the Kid truly rose to prominence in the Lincoln County War, which was the result of a rivalry between rancher John Tunstall and a faction of businessmen headed by Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan. They all competed for beef contracts and power in the town of Lincoln, New Mexico.Billy worked for Tunstall, and following Tunstall’s murder, which ignited all-out conflict between supporters of each faction, he went with others on the war path to avenge him. In several high-profile gun battles, one of which took place in the streets of Lincoln, Billy made a name for himself and was known to have killed several men. Following this he became an outlaw, on the run and wanted for the previously mentioned murders along with several others. Billy was eventually captured following a siege near Stinking Springs, New Mexico. Put on trial and convicted, Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang.On April 28, 1881, however, while being held in the Lincoln County Courthouse, Billy overpowered his guards, killed them both, and escaped. After escaping from prison, Billy the Kid took flight and hid with some friends at a place called Maxwell’s Ranch. After three months of searching, Sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln finally discovered the Kid’s location. As Garrett sat questioning the owner of the ranch Pete Maxwell in a darkened bedroom, the Kid unexpectedly entered the room. Billy quickly drew his pistol and asked, “Who is it? Who is it?” in Spanish. Upon recognizing the Kid’s voice, Pat Garrett drew his own pistol and fired twice, striking Billy the Kid in the chest. Billy immediately fell to the floor, gasping for air and dying within a few minutes. He was thought to be just twenty-one years old.Also, on this day in U.S. history:1870: Congress grants Mary Todd Lincoln a lifelong pension of $3,000 a year.1945: The Battleship USS South Dakota is the first U.S. ship to bombard Japan.1976: At the Democratic Convention in NYC former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter is nominated for president and US Senator Walter Mondale, from Minnesota, for vice president. |
July 15Learn Our History Today: On July 15, 1862, during the Civil War, the Confederate ironclad, the CSS Arkansas, one of the deadliest ironclads of the entire war, did battle with the ships of Union Admiral David Farragut on the  |
| Mississippi River. Built along with another ironclad in the strategic town of Memphis, Tennessee, the Arkansas barely made it out of the city before Memphis was captured by Federal troops in May 1862. The other ship was not so lucky, and it had to be burned by the Confederates to avoid its capture by the Union.After adding a few finishing touches to the vessel, the Arkansas was made ready for battle in early July. Carrying a crew of over 100 men, the vessel sailed towards the mouth of the Yazoo River on July 15, where the bulk of Union Admiral David Farragut’s fleet was located. Farragut had had a stranglehold on the lower Mississippi River ever since his taking of New Orleans earlier in the year, and the Arkansas would try to change all that. As soon as the menacing ironclad was spotted, three Union vessels were dispatched to intercept it, but they were no match for the Arkansas. After a brisk battle, the three ships were heavily damaged and forced to retreat, allowing the Arkansas to sail directly towards the rest of Farragut’s fleet.Sailing amongst the flotilla of vessels, the Arkansas’ cannons fired every which way, delivering damage to sixteen of Farragut’s ships. The CSS Arkansas’ battle with Union ships at the Yazoo River temporarily gave the Confederates dominance along the Mississippi, so much so that the Union was forced to build their own ironclad and send it after the Arkansas. This new Union vessel, known as the Essex, caught up with the Arkansas in early August, but there was no climactic battle. The Arkansas was suffering from extensive mechanical problems brought on by its flight from the Essex, and after the ship ran aground, the crew was forced to blow up the vessel to keep it from Union hands.Also, on this day in U.S. history:1870: Georgia is the final confederate state to be readmitted to the United States.1932: Herbert Hoover, America’s 31st President, cuts his own salary 15%.1988: The iconic film “Die Hard” starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman is released in the United States. |