US Capitol Historical Society

#OTD in #history, 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin was published—inspiring opposition to slavery. Or as F. Douglass said: it lit “a million camp fires in front of the embattled hosts of slavery, which not all the waters of the Mississippi, mingled as they are with blood, could extinguish”

#OTD in 1860, William Jennings Bryan was born. He served in #Congress, as Secretary of State, & in the #USArmy. But above all, the “Great Commoner” served the People, stating: “My place in #history will depend, not upon what the people do for me but upon what I do for the people”

#OTD in #history 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. In #America, the tax incited “destructions, demolitions, and ruins,” prompting a devastating boycott of British goods. But as an English writer warned: “If we yield to them…they will from that moment assert their freedom”

#OTD in #history 1751, #JamesMadison was born. Lacking in stature, the intellectual giant towered over his peers. The Father of the #Constitution’s framework helped the #USA become “a more perfect Union.” In drafting the #BillofRights, he ensured our “liberties will be perpetual”

#OTD in #history, 1783, George Washington quashed a #USArmy revolt. The conspiracy was the threat of a coup unless soldiers' pensions were paid. But through the power of his message, and the weight of his report, he proved—even in the #military —the pen is mightier than the sword

#OTD in #history, 1967, #JFK’s body was moved to its permanent burial site @ArlingtonNatl. On that rainy day, a band played the #USNavy Hymn: “Most Holy Spirit, Who didst brood. Upon the chaos dark and rude. And bid its angry tumult cease. And give, for wild confusion, #peace.”

#OTD in #history, 1906, Susan B. Anthony passed away. She left our world 14 years before the #19thAmendment. Though, perhaps, no person was more responsible for its adoption. Decades prior, she was arrested for voting. But as she understood: “Nothing is hopeless that is right.”

#OTD in #history, 1947, #POTUS Truman asked #Congress for #ColdWar aid for “free and independent nations to maintain their freedom.” He explained: The “seeds” of despotism “reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive”

#OTD in #history, 1941, #POTUS Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act: allowing the #USA to sell, lease, or lend “Any weapon, munition, aircraft, vessel, or boat” to the #WW2 Allies. It came after Churchill’s plea to the “great Republic,” resulting in #Congress introducing H.R. 1776

#OTD in #history 1913, Harriet Tubman passed. She was a suffragist & Union spy—but her greatest contribution was on the underground railroad. For as she reflected: “I have heard their groans & sighs, & seen their tears, & I would give every drop of blood in my veins to free them”

#OTD in #history, 1933, #Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act. During the #GreatDepression, it gave the #POTUS new power over banks and supplied them capital if needed. Only after inspection were stable banks able to reopen. “Together,” #FDR told Americans, “we cannot fail.”

Happy #InternationalWomensDay! 250 years ago, the #USA was born, with women playing an important—albeit overlooked—role for the #USArmy. They served as nurses, seamstresses, & cooks; or spies who tracked enemy movement & carried messages & contraband. A small number even fought!

#OTD in #history 1965, peaceful protesters were attacked in #Selma. The tragedy— known as #BloodySunday —helped galvanize support for the Voting Rights Act. For if you “give us the ballot,” #MLK said, “we will no longer have to worry the federal government about our basic rights”

#OTD in #history, 1836, the Battle of the #Alamo ended in defeat for more than 180 defenders. But while Santa Anna intended to make them examples, he instead made them martyrs. Just one month later, #Texas won its independence, inspired by its rallying cry: “Remember the Alamo!”

#OTD in #history, 1770, the #Boston Massacre occurred. The bloodshed became a rallying cry. If the British could kill their kin in #Massachusetts, what colony—or liberty—was next? It was thus “On that night,” #JohnAdams believed, “the foundation of American Independence was laid”

#OTD in 1789, the sun rose on #America for the 1st time under our #Constitution. When Congress began its work, it did so, Madison said, “in a wilderness without a single footstep to guide us.” Yet our representatives would achieve the most important legislative term in #UShistory

#OTD in #history 1931, the #USA adopted the Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem. The Congressman who wrote the bill explained that during the War of 1812, the song “Lifted the national spirit from the vale of gloom & despair…to the sunlit heights of confidence & victory”

#OTD in #history 1867, the Reconstruction Act was passed. Though Lincon sought a postwar “With malice toward none,” the law was needed due to racial terrorism in the South; while the military occupation to follow brooded resentment that did little “to bind up the nation's wounds”

#OTD in #history, 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into effect. The #USA’s first government enabled it to operate during the #AmericanRevolution. But when the dust settled, the Articles’ weak central government threatened survival of the nation the revolution had birthed.

#OTD in #history, 1972, the Shanghai Communique was signed on #POTUS Nixon’s last day in #China. While the foundation was laid for lasting #USA-China cooperation, human rights have hindered the progress Nixon initiated. As he warned: “The world cannot be safe until China changes”