We have been discussing the removal of statues nationwide from cities and colleges. The National Park Service is now receiving fire over a plan to remove the statue of William Penn from a Philadelphia park commemorating his founding of Pennsylvania. The park is near his former home. The Biden Administration is explaining that removing Penn from a park in Pennsylvania will “provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors.” Nothing says Sylvania like a Penn-free park.
The park was built by the Friends of Independence National Historical Park in 1982 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Philadelphia with the arrival of Penn’s ship, Welcome.
In August 1682, Penn took 100 passengers and 36 crew members on a harrowing voyage from Deal, England to Pennsylvania. It took roughly 58 days in this crowded ship that was only 120 feet in length and 24 feet wide. The 100 passengers were mostly part of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, from Sussex, England.
The NPS announced that it wants to remove the statue as part of an “expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia” being developed in collaboration with representatives from the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, the Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.
The NPS site soliciting suggestions appears to rule out the retention of the statue as one of those options: “The Penn statue and Slate Roof house model will be removed and not reinstalled.”
I personally think that including contextual elements on the Native American tribes is a good idea. That can be achieved without the removal of the Penn statue and hopefully the NPS can still be convinced to opt for a design that still retains the focus on Penn and his ship, which was the worthy purpose of the park.
The story of Penn and these families is worthy of celebration. It was an example of the strength and bravery of families who came to these shores in search of freedom and opportunity.
Update: The NPS has withdrawn its plans to remove the statue of Penn from Welcome Park on inclusivity grounds. nps.gov/inde/learn/new The decision proves Penn’s point when he declared “only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.”
More totalitarian, anti-American action by the lawless, lying Biden Administration. They are clearly out to destroy our culture, diversity, and long-standing inclusiveness of America. Shame on them, and shame on the State of Pennsylvania for allowing this travesty.
I am waiting for the woke push to rename Washington DC. It’s coming – and we all know it if we do not put an end to this woke mental illness.
This move the by the park service is so insane it defies a comment. Pure Woke Supidity.
I hope if Trump is elected he tells them to put it back and bill the perpetrators personally.
I have officially given up on this country. I am in my late 60’s and will continue to vote, etc, but my Give a Damn’s broken…
The best thing is, maybe you and I won’t live to see the final demise.
I’m with you. I was a super patriot in my youth. I thought I’d be willing to defend the United States until my dying breath. Nowadays, I’m like meeeh, the country’s going to collapse in 50 years anyways so why give a damn.
AS mush as I might agree, that is exactly the response that the Soros types want – it makes it easier to destroy this nation and erect their dystopian utopia if we are all passive.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
I personally do not like to see any men or women deified by erecting a statue of them or naming anything after them. Some men and some women do extraordinary things that should be remembered, but deifying them is never warranted. This, however, is not the motivation of the leftist statue removers. They simply want to destroy the memory of any good things that a white man or woman may have done and replace it with a new leftist history. They would have us forget William Penn but remember George Floyd.
I dont disagree with the jist of what you said, but not a big fan of hyperbole.
deify
verb
worship or regard as a god.
I personally would like each and every “white person of privilege” to pull up stakes and take whatever white created wealth, invention, notion and anything else that is the product of the western white mind with them and leave the POCs to fend for themselves without the benefit of modern medicine, technology – anything based on the last 2000 years of western european civilization. No running water, no electricity, no internet, no modern science etc. I say, that if you hate white culture so much – do without it in entirety. Live in the world without it or else STFU.
This is all part of the new Cultural Revolution brought about by the CCP’s buying of Joe Biden and this corrupt administration, to destroy the Four Olds.. The Four Olds was a term used during the mass murderer and pedophile Mao Tse-tung’s Cultural Revolution by the Red Guards in reference to the pre-communist elements of Chinese culture they attempted to destroy: Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, and Old Habits. We are being attacked from within in what the two PLA colonel’s back in ’97 outlined in their book “Unrestricted Warfare.” Attacks on free speech, the family, and religion and spirituality by the forces of darkness are designed to destroy societies. We won’t let them.
Anti-White male racism rolls on.
With an old white guy lashed to the helm.
@JDF- Most inspirational thing I viewed this morning was young USA hockey team arm in arm singing the national anthem.
They don’t give participation trophies in hockey. Coincidence? I think not.
The notion that there existed a single, proper resident of so chunk of land, is stupid. There was always someone there before. Native Americans came across a land bridge. They displaced the inhabitants by taking it by force. By killing or enslaving the inhabitants. Like every place on the planet.
Separately the American Tribes of the time were relatively undeveloped.
These were stone age people – even that Aztecs and Mayas were more advanced.
They were pre-iron age, pre-bronze age.
They had limited farming – not nearly as advanced as Mesopotamia in 7000BC.
These facts are important. It means they had little concept of property. little or no concept of money or trade or wealth.
North american tribes were constantly at war with their neighbors, Further they were significantly migratory.
To the extent they farmed the land they farmed lost nitorgen and productive value after a few years requiring moving on.
This BTW contributed to the warfare between tribes.
Why is this important ?
Because they did not OWN anything. Thjey did not really claim to OWN anything.
Their scoiety was so backwards that it lacked the prerequistes for ownership.
They lacked the pre-requisties for societal organization much beyond the tribe.
iowan2 — On the contrary, the so-called Native Americans were the first humans to inhabit the americas.
I thought you said you were leaving, Lawn Boy
***In the 1860s, under the Indian removal policy, the U.S. federal government (Not William Penn) relocated most Lenape remaining.
The Treaty of Shackamaxon, also called the Great Treaty and Penn’s Treaty, was a treaty between William Penn and Tamanend of the Lenape signed in 1682. Penn and Tamanend agreed that their people would live in a state of perpetual peace.
Chief Tamanend (est. 1628-1700)—variously called Tammany, Temane, Taminent, etc.—was the principal Lenni-Lenape leader who welcomed William Penn upon his arrival to this region in 1682. Tamanend (the “Affable One” in the native language) partnered with Penn (“Mikwon”) to bring about the bold accord in which Quaker settlers and local Native Americans would live together peacefully in Pennsylvania.
While the legendary treaty itself was probably an informal unwritten pact, it did engender relatively little strife between the Quaker newcomers and the Lenni-Lenape (later known to the English speakers as Delaware Indians) living in the region. Back then, an interpreter read the deeds that Penn had prepared to the native leaders, who allegedly then made their marks. Mikwon paid for Indian land with various goods, which Tamanend divided among his people. The Affable chief then gave Penn a belt made of wampum beads as a sign of friendship.
Chief Tamanend reportedly announced during the treaty summit that the Lenni-Lenape and the English colonists would “live in peace as long as the waters run in the rivers and creeks and as long as the stars and moon endure.”
The Affable One was also highly regarded for years by local Quakers and other white settlers and their descendants. Tamanend appears to have been a brave, wise, and virtuous sachem, and his own Lenni-Lenape people esteemed his memory by bestowing his name on those that deserved those designations. In the American colonies, he was noted for standing for the politics of peaceful diplomacy, and he consequently became an all-American folk hero identified and venerated throughout the fledgling nation for both his nobility and his native roots. Tamanend was soon regarded as the “patron saint of America” and later nicknamed “King Tammany” as an insult to King George.
In 1777, John Adams—in Philadelphia attending the Second Continental Congress—wrote in a letter to his wife about the Tammany festival in Philadelphia:
May 1, 1777: This is King Tammany’s Day. Tammany was an Indian King, of this Part of the Continent, when Mr. Penn first came here. His Court was in this Town. He was friendly to Mr. Penn and very serviceable to him. He lived here among the first settlers for some Time and untill old Age… The People here have sainted him and keep his day.
The following May 1st, General George Washington and the Continental Army held a Tammany festival while camped at Valley Forge. These celebrations were so important that after the Revolutionary War, in 1785, George Washington appeared at the Tammany festival in Richmond, Virginia, with Virginia governor Patrick Henry. And starting in 1787, New York City had its first Tammany festival, with the chief eventually becoming known as the patron of New York’s Democratic political machine (a.k.a. “Tammany Hall”).
As for the Treaty of Amity and Friendship: The French philosopher Voltaire hailed it as “the only treaty between those nations and the Christian nations which was never sworn to and never broken.” Its imagery—the Treaty Elm in particular—became a worldwide symbol of religious and cultural tolerance and an inspiration to the drafters of the U.S. Constitution.
Native Americans have always respected the location of this legendary event along the Delaware River, handing down its story in their oral tradition.
the Penn Treaty Monument still resides in the park, weathered by nearly two centuries outside, commemorating the Treaty of Amity and Friendship between Penn, Tamanend, and their peoples.
William Penn was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quaker (Protestant groups breaking with, established Church of England. The quakerism extend the most important principle of modern political history – the rights of the individual – upon which modern democracies were later founded. Refuse to participate in war, oppose slavery, and participant philanthropic efforts, including abolition of slavery, prison reform, and social justice. Penn was an advocate of democracy and religious freedom known for his amicable relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Native Americans (Delaware people, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands) who had resided in present-day Pennsylvania prior to European settlements in the state.
https://hiddencityphila.org/2014/05/respectfully-remembering-the-affable-one/
Modern progressives still don’t realize that the first progressive immigrant was Penn.
*Penn drafted a charter of liberties for the settlement creating a political guaranteeing free and fair trial by jury, tolerance and freedom of religion, freedom from unjust imprisonment, free elections and a lot of political freedom based on a representative assembly establishing the legal framework for an ethical society where power was derived from the people, from “open discourse”, under a constitution with the right to amendments.
*He did promote good treatment for slaves, including marriage among slaves, cousins, signed the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery.
*Most importantly, religious diversity was succeeding. Despite the protests of fundamentalists and farmers, Penn’s insistence that Quaker grammar schools be open to all citizens was producing a relatively educated workforce.
*Quakers were especially modern in their treatment of mental illness, decriminalizing insanity and turning away from punishment and confinement.
*Voltaire praised Pennsylvania as the only government in the world that responds to the people and is respectful of minority rights.
*As a pacifist Quaker, Penn considered the problems of war and peace deeply. He developed a forward-looking project and thoughts for a United States of Europe through the creation of a European Assembly made of deputies who could discuss and adjudicate controversies peacefully. He is considered the first intellectual to suggest the creation of a European Parliament and what became the present-day European Union in the late 20th century.
Enlightening post, lynnmariealvarez…👍👍!
Thank you! With stories as beautiful as these, of true inclusion and diversity, coexistence and tolerance, I don’t understand what the purpose of the wock cancellation culture is.
just further proof of how left-wing our government has become. The Smithsonian is the worst under the “leadership” of Lonnie Bunch
How about Warrenvania? She’s an Indian.
The nickname could then be “The 1/6000th State”
Lmao
If Warren were ever elected President, would the White House address become 1600th Sylvania Ave?
Delshawhaudavania? Why not just Indian Acres and be done with it.
The removal of Biden from office would be a great tribute to Americans worldwide. First thing first.
@Csthy – whoever’s behind the curtain and his followers will have to be removed first. This guy is not in charge!
The solution is obvious.
Rename the state Transylvania.
I love it !!
Why not replace it with a statue of Angela Davis or Joann Chesimard? That should satisfy the goals of these braindead defacto insurrectionists.
I’m not real big on all the name change statue removal things.
We have a lot of mountains here and a history of bloodthirsty wars with Indians. Like many wars there was plenty of horrific acts from both sides, and some of the people we name mountains after were generals, governors, etc I’d rather go slow on re naming things. Not close the door in the idea but pursue in a very slow and deliberative manner.
William Penn had a state named after him, I’d want to know a lot more before I condoned pulling down a statue.
History is replete with all of those things – bloodthirsty wars, slavery, economic disasters, land acquisition. NO ONE lives on land that wasn’t “colonized” or previously used by others. Penn was a man in 1600’s that crossed an ocean that no Democrat would ever cross in a ship like he did. He was a proponent of Democracy and Religious Freedom. He challenged the British King on many issues and went to prison for it. And he settled in a land that was wild – NO CELL PHONE, NO INTERNET!
The Left and Democrats need to stop destroying our history and attempting to re-write it. Their actions show they are Neo Marxist, Fascists using the tools of those groups to destroy the country – the USA – that has delivered the most good to the most people ever in the world’s history. Leftists and Democrats are on the WRONG side of history – I hope they pay a huge price. Anyone voting for them is voting for destroying the most successful country ever.
including contextual elements on the Native American tribes is a good idea. That can be achieved without the removal of the Penn statue and hopefully the NPS can still be convinced to opt for a design that still retains the focus on Penn and his ship
But that’s not the agenda.
The agenda is to replace facts with a canned leftist narrative.
Native Americans could have been using the gambling profits, to advance their historical significance. But alas, according the NPS, Native Americans(the proper one, to the ones replaced by this group) are just to stupid to do the right thing, and require the govt to tell them what is important and DO IT FOR THEM.
Hitorians all agree, History only matters that happened before 1492
History after that date is wiped from all material.
I note that every woke marxist lefty still sleeps on land that didnt belong to them. None of them have the courage and virtue to GTFO
When a civilization begins to erase its history something is terribly wrong.
🦤
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