Weird History: 2

When One Has The Last Word

What a person decides to have put on their headstone can say a lot about what was important in life. One would think that a man like Thomas Jefferson might need several headstones to list all his accomplishments. But the inscription he wrote left out a few things. His headstone reads, “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American independence, of the Statute of Virginia for the Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.” He made no mention he was the second vice-president or that he was the third president.

A Town By Any Other Name

When the pilgrims settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, this of course after originally being dumped in Provincetown, because the crew of the Mayflower was tired of the complaining. The town was called Plymouth since they set sail from Plymouth, England., or so the story goes.

The truth is—the city was already called Plymouth.

In 1614, Captain John Smith mapped out the northeast coast starting from Jamestown, Virginia, and he returned to England with a map where the landmarks listed had Indian names. Smith asked Prince Charles to replace those names with good old fashioned English names, and Charles complied.

When Prince Charles came to the name “Accomack”, he changed it to Plymouth. The fact that the Mayflower set sail from one Plymouth, only to dock in another we can say was nothing more than pure luck.

On a side note: Of the U.S.' first twelve presidents, the only two never to own slaves were John Adams, and his son John Quincy Adams; the first of which famously said that the American Revolution would not be complete until all slaves were freed.

Strange Facts About U.S. History

Chapter 1 of 51

Danceinsilence

Weird U.S. History

Within each post, every Thursday and Saturday, what you will read are times and events throughout American History you may or may not remember, yet again never knew the truth about. You will read of some events never spoken about when going to school and, for those of you who are, question your history teacher on this and see his or her reaction.

And try not to be surprised when you read the truth about certain things placed here. You could almost say I am a Myth-Buster of sorts.

As for myself, I see this as stupid U.S. History. Things that happened that are incredible to believe, but what you will read, did in fact—happen.

So, sit back, take a read and smirk, laugh, or shake your head in disbelief.

Somewhere in this mix, there will be two long pieces that tie together as parts I and II. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Better Than The Best

History books have idolized our founding fathers to such an extent, a lot of people believe they were perfect. If you read the first line of the Constitution you will find they were far from perfect, and they especially weren’t more perfect. The first line of the preamble to the Constitution reads, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union.”

If something is perfect, then—it’s perfect. It can’t be more perfect. Ask any English teacher, and they will tell you that “more perfect” ain’t good English.

Better Late Than Never

General Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson (the nickname came about as he was hard as a hickory tree) was victorious over the British army intent on taking New Orleans during the War of 1812. It became a major boost over the war effort, but even more so a boost for Jackson’s career. He used his hero status to become the seventh president of the United States, but there are two things about the battle that was interesting. The war was already over before the Battle of New Orleans began. The Treaty of Ghent, which officially ended the War of 1812 had been signed on December 14, 1814. The Battle of New Orleans took place January 6, 1815. The other interesting aspect to this was the help of one Jean Lafitte. A French pirate, thief, smuggler, and slave trade runner, used his vessel to moved troops into position to help Jackson win the war. Lafitte didn’t do this because he had a heart. His entire fleet of ships were captured by the U.S. Naval force, and to avoid prison, agreed to help Jackson and in doing so, he would receive a pardon.

Even as far back as then, politics came into play. Just goes to show that some things never change.

On a side note: Rachael, Andrew Jackson’s wife, was the only First Lady who smoked a pipe.