New audiobook release: John Hancock: The Picturesque Patriot

I feel like we're actually leading a sort of a revival here. There comes a time when a vision is seen, and then only later on can that vision be shown to others because it has materialized in some meaningful way.

Today I'm very happy to announce that Lorenzo Sears' biography of Founding Father John Hancock has been released for general use!

John Hancock: The Picturesque Patriot

Now be honest, how many of you actually know much at all about John Hancock, other than that he's that one guy who lived somewhere in a northern state and his autograph on the Declaration was the easiest one to see because its the largest? Seriously, very few people know much at all about John Hancock. But that can change, and for many it surely will change. That includes me, I'll raise my hand right now. I don't know much about Hancock myself.

We have a huge problem in this country, and we need to face it face on. Americans do not know their own Founding Fathers.

This is half because schools stopped teaching it generations ago. The other half is because of inconvenience - Why would anybody pick up a book written over a century ago to learn about John Hancock when they can read a compelling novel? Maybe Jurassic Park? Why would anybody buy a new book written about John Hancock (There are precious few, I'll get to this in a second) when they could go watch a football game? Or even beyond that, how many people prioritize family time most of all, or time put aside for spiritual pursuits and going to church?

There are hundreds of ways that the Founding Fathers get shoved out of our lives, even for some of the most noble of priorities. We have got to stop shoving the Founders out. It's killing us.

Convenience is king.

Most of you aren't going to take as much time as you should to read the Founders or read biographies about the Founders, so then it will be actively read to you and you only need to listen. Now the Founding Fathers can fit into your busy day, now you can learn while you are on a business flight between cities, now you can learn while you jog for an hour in the morning, or during the long commute. Maybe you listen to audio books or podcasts at night while you wind down for the day. Maybe you work solo all day in a warehouse. There are nearly endless possibilities.

A big target for me is home schoolers. The end-run-around that home schoolers commit against the school system is fantastic. But the problem is, it's expensive and its loaded with gatekeepers. Going to a discussion of one single book isn't saving one person all that much. $5, $10 maybe? But we now have more of a pile of books we can point to. So when budgets are tight and we have a good dozen or so books in audio format (which also highlights their written aspect) which can be offered, now you have something compelling that any home schooler would want at least some part of. Due to their age and sometimes rarity, many of these books are not cheap or can't be had altogether.

Now, as to shoving the Founding Fathers out. Yeah, this is happening a lot. The markets themselves are proof of this, go to the book store. There are not a constant flow of new written works about the Founding Fathers very often and why is this? On the one hand, most people who are interested only really focus on one or two Founders and the rest kind of don't exist. There are new books written about Jefferson or Washington or Franklin from time to time. But the rest of the Founders? Nah. There just isn't a big interest level. It's true. No customers means no new books, no interest means no customers. That is where we are actually at in this country, and it needs to change. And I'll tell you what, it isn't going to change because person A shoved a brand new book into person B's face for the cool new price of $39.95. That may get a dozen people, but a free audio book that makes people's lives more convenient will go quite a bit further. And since there are no customers anyways, a free open source audio book is the perfect fit.

Finally, let's not forget that this book about John Hancock is free and open source in the public domain. So, what of the gatekeepers? Let's talk about that a little bit. Have you ever attempted to buy a new book and look up the footnote, only to find that you had to go through another footnote which only meant another footnote? Historians do this "footnote maze-ing" on purpose as a way to protect their fiefdoms. If you cannot get out of their maze then you are captive and they have guarded their gate. Conversely, are you spending $10 a month for an Audible subscription for nonsense entertainment titles or are you getting solid audio books about the Founding Fathers for absolutely free? Yes, among other things, this is a jab (however small) at big tech. Specifically, Amazon. There may be some solid audio books you can get with that subscription. However, now a new and free audio alternative is being developed.

Why give money to big tech when you do not have to.

Robert's Rules of Order (free audio book)

Recently I discovered totally by accident that Robert's Rules of Order was completed at LibriVox. I know many of you will appreciate having this alternate way of accessing this material. Here's the summary:

"Originally written in 1876 by Major Henry M. Robert of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Robert's Rules of Order is the most widely used authority in the United States today for "parliamentary law, based...upon the rules and practice of Congress" for "organizing and conducting the business of societies, conventions, and other deliberative assemblies.""

Enjoy!

https://librivox.org/roberts-rules-of-order-by-henry-m-robert/#

New audiobook release: The Jefferson-Lemen Compact, by Willard C. MacNaul

Thomas Jefferson was an abolitionist.

I am well aware that the above statement is going to piss off quite a many. Ask me if I care. Most of them will be progressives anyways.

Today's notable release is the documentation regarding the deal Thomas Jefferson made with James Lemen, a Baptist Preacher who made it his mission to head into the new Northwest Territory and spread the good gospel of slavery abolition. At Jefferson's request, of course. Click here for the text of the documentation click here for the audio book recording of that text. Our Founding Fathers deserve every benefit of the doubt they can be given, because they truely were great men, great people, they did great things, and yes, they were on the correct side of history.

I bet most of you have never even heard of James Lemen. Yes, that is on purpose: such is the state of American history after progressives have ravaged American history through their schools and their books for over 120 years.

New audiobook release: Poems of American Patriotism, by Brander Matthews

Good morning! Today's release is another book but as a collection of short poems its a little on the lighter side. At the time that I picked this one up I needed a few more works to have as actively being managed, but now here it is.

To be honest, this author had been unknown to me and still mostly is, but there are some interesting things in here with roughly 70 poems. I hope you can find some enjoyment.

https://librivox.org/poems-of-american-patriotism-by-brander-matthews/

The Federation of the World, an early puff piece on globalism

Sometimes, the best way to highlight an ugly fact is simply to let them speak about the things they love most. There were not many microphones in 1910, but that's ok we can make up the difference.

In 1910, Journalist Hamilton Holt wrote traces the history of getting to a place where international government is a mainstream idea. Some guys hundreds of years ago had some nebulous thoughts about it, among others mentioned are Kant, and also Hugo and Burritt, but Holt really spends most of the meat of his article discussing the much-less-theoretical. First, the Hague, and second, President Theodore Roosevelt's call for globalism.

A lot of people want to avoid this. It's really not avoidable. Globalism is as old as progressivism itself and goes right back to the two original progressive globalist presidents in the early 20th century, Woody and Teddy. The fact just is, and facts are stubborn things.

Hamilton Holt is pretty clearly in love with the speech Roosevelt gave in 1906 when he accepted his Nobel Prize lauding world government, and as a reminder you can read/listen to that speech here, along with listen to or read Holt's article here.

We cannot hide from the history of those who wanted to foist global government against us, we should not hide from it.

New audiobook release: Patrick Henry; life, correspondence and speeches, by W.W. Henry

Some people don't like it when I'm activist. But if I was just sitting around and only complaining, how would things like this get completed?

Today, a "big fish" has arrived. For many, Patrick Henry is the GOAT. All I can say is please download and please share. This work is free to access, it is open source in the public domain. Patrick Henry; life, correspondence and speeches

New audiobook release: Elementary catechism on the Constitution of the United States: for the use of schools

Today I am happy to show off another audio book release, Arthur J. Stansbury's Elementary catechism on the Constitution of the United States: for the use of schools, a book as it says, was always intended for young children in schools.

This book is written as a catechism form, which for those Christian readers need no introduction here, a catechism form is often used in religious instruction. The book's author, Arthur Stansbury was an American Presbyterian minister and newspaper reporter who was also a noted lithographer, poet, and children's author.

It's important to understand the context here. This is a book that was written in 1828 and was designed to be consumed by students in the late 1820s, 1830s and beyond which were all religious schools at that time. Government hadn't taken over schools yet. The process of the government takeover of schools wouldn't begin until about 1840 in Massachusetts, and federally at the turn of the 20th century. So these were schools which were eager to teach love of God, and at the same time, teach love of God's gift of individual liberty and the Constitution which was established to respect that God-given gift.

This book came to my attention through Wallbuilders, and you can see a video of David Barton briefly discussing this book here with his very old copy in hand.

From the LibriVox description:

Elementary Catechism on the Constitution of The United States was written in 1826 by Arthur J. Stansbury (1781-1865) a New York Presbyterian minister who was known for his sermons that discussed political events. It was written in a unique question and answer format for usage in grade schools to introduce the concepts of the US Constitution to elementary School children. He was unabashedly patriotic in his writings and sermons. This book is an important cultural marker written at the time of the Jubilee Anniversary (50 years) of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July 1826 was approaching. There was a great deal of interest in the US Constitution, more so given that two former U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826-the day of the Jubilee, within hours of each other.