On This Date In History

On November 15, 1777, after 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress, sitting in its temporary capital of York, Pennsylvania, agrees to adopt the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on November 15, 1777. Not until March 1, 1781 would the last of the 13 states, Maryland, ratify the agreement.
In 1777, Patriot leaders, stinging from British oppression, were reluctant to establish any form of government that might infringe on the right of individual states to govern their own affairs. The Articles of Confederation, then, provided for only a loose federation of American states. Congress was a single house, with each state having one vote, and a president elected to chair the assembly. Although Congress did not have the right to levy taxes, it did have authority over foreign affairs and could regulate a national army and declare war and peace. Amendments to the Articles required approval from all 13 states. On March 2, 1781, following final ratification by the 13th state, the Articles of Confederation became the law of the land.
Less than five years after the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, enough leading Americans decided that the system was inadequate to the task of governance that they peacefully overthrew their second government in just over 20 years. The difference between a collection of sovereign states forming a confederation and a federal government created by a sovereign people lay at the heart of debate as the new American people decided what form their new government would take.
In 1787, an extra-legal body met in seclusion during Philadelphia’s summer heat to create this new government. On March 4, 1789, the modern United States was established when the U.S. Constitution formally replaced the Articles of Confederation.
Between 1776 and 1789, Americans went from living under a sovereign king, to living in sovereign states, to becoming a sovereign people. That transformation defined the American Revolution.

 

 

On November 15, 1943, Heinrich Himmler makes public an order that Romani people (often referred to as Gypsies) are to be put on “the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps.”
Himmler was determined to prosecute Nazism racial policies, which dictated the elimination from Germany and German-controlled territories all races deemed “inferior,” as well as “asocial” types, such as hardcore criminals. Roma fell into both categories according to the thinking of Nazi ideologues and had been executed in droves both in Poland and the Soviet Union. The order of November 15 was merely a more comprehensive program, as it included the deportation to Auschwitz of Roma already in labor camps.
That Himmler would promulgate such a program should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his resume. As head of the Waffen-Schutzstaffel (“Armed Black Shirts”), the SS, the military arm of the Nazi Party, and assistant chief of the Gestapo (the secret police), Himmler was able over time to consolidate control over all police forces of the Reich. This power grab would prove highly effective in carrying out the Fuhrer’s Final Solution. It was Himmler who organized the creation of death camps throughout Eastern Europe and the creation of a pool of enslaved laborers.

 

 

 

 

On November 15, 1806, approaching the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains during his second exploratory expedition, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike spots a distant mountain peak that was later named Pike’s Peak in his honor.
Pike’s explorations of the newly acquired Louisiana Territory of the United States began before the nation’s first western explorers, Lewis and Clark, had returned from their own expedition up the Missouri River. Pike was more of a professional military man than either Lewis or Clark, and he was a smart man who had taught himself Spanish, French, mathematics and elementary science. When the governor of Louisiana Territory requested a military expedition to explore the headwaters of the Mississippi, General James Wilkinson picked Pike to lead it.
Although Pike’s first western expedition was only moderately successful, Wilkinson picked him to lead a second mission in July 1806 to explore the headwaters of the Red and Arkansas Rivers. This route took Pike across present-day Kansas and into the high plains region that would later become the state of Colorado. When Pike first saw the peak that would later bear his name, he grossly underestimated its height and its distance, never having seen mountains the size of the Rockies. He told his men they should be able to walk to the peak, climb it, and return before dinner. Pike and his men struggled through snow and sub-zero temperatures before finally taking shelter in a cave for the night, without even having reached the base of the towering mountain. Pike later pronounced the peak impossible to scale.
The remainder of Pike’s expedition was equally trying. After attempting for several months to locate the Red River, Pike and his men became hopelessly lost. Or did they?
In the spring of 1807, Zebulon Pike led his expedition from Colorado southward to the border of New Mexico, which was under Spanish control. The entire party, Pike included, were apprehended and imprisoned by Spanish officials who accused them of illegally entering New Mexico.
Pike maintained that they were simply lost and didn’t realize they had crossed into Spanish territory. They were held in Santa Fe for several months while the U.S. military worked with the Spanish to secure their release.
Pike and his men were marched across Texas to Natchitoches, Louisiana, the location of the U.S. border, and were eventually released on July 1, 1807. Pike immediately reported to the U.S. military, sharing the notes he took on his observations of Santa Fe.
He pointed out weaknesses in their military stations, relayed information about the security around the city, and noted the potential for overland trade with Mexico through the Southwest.
Was Zebulon Pike merely a keen observer? Or had he purposely allowed his party to be captured so he could spy on the Spanish in Santa Fe? There are no records or documents to prove or disprove his intentions, though some historians have speculated about Pike’s ulterior motives.
After returning to the United States, Pike wrote a poorly organized account of his expedition that won him some fame, but little money. Still, in recognition of his bravery and leadership during the western expeditions, the army appointed him a brigadier general during the War of 1812. He was killed in an explosion during the April 1813 assault on Toronto.

 

 

 

 

 IN RECOGNITION OF THE NOTABLE CAREER OF
ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE.
SOLDIER -- EXPLORER
THE PEOPLE OF COLORADO
HAVE PLACED THIS TABLET ON THE SUMMIT
OF THE GREAT MOUNTAIN FIRST SEEN BY PIKE
NOVEMBER 15, 1806
GENERAL PIKE WAS BORN AT LAMBERTON,
NOW TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, JANUARY 5, 1779,
DIED APRIL 27, 1813. AFTER A VICTORIOUS ATTACK ON
YORK... LATER TORONTO, CANADA.

BURIED AT MADISON BARRACKS, NEW YORK.
THIS TABLET COMMEMORATES THE ONE HUNDREDTH
ANNIVERSARY OF PIKE'S SOUTHWESTERN EXPEDITION.