... Scene From Signing of the Consitution |
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Skip To Saturn-Pluto Mutual Reception (06 Oct 2012) which last occurred: Dec 1776 - Jan 1778 during the American Revolution (Is another "Revolution" on the way?) |
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Why This Particular USA Chart?
Because: This is the Chart of:
The United States of America Under the Constitution
(and it actually has a documented date & time!)
- On September 17, 1787 the Constitution was completed at the Federal Convention in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin was there and gave a speech. He said that although only "9" states were needed to ratify the constitution ... for it to be active and legal; still, it was important to achieve a consensus ... a "unity" among the states. So, the Constitution was submitted to the 13 States for their "Ratification" for consensus, agreement and Unity. Legally, only nine of the states were actually needed.
- On June 21st, 1788, New Hampshire had become the 9th state to ratify the Constitution thereby making it legal according to Article 13 of the Articles of Confederation.
Then, from New Hampshire word of the "official" ratification was sent to the Congress of the Confederation. According to the New Hampshire Historical Society Librarian; the notification to Congress was sent by mail to Philadelphia and took several days to arrive. The actual final vote for ratification took place in Concord at about 1:00 PM on June 21st.
- Finally that government... the "Congress of the Confederation" (under the Articles of Confederation) declared that as of March 4th, 1789; the "Government under the Constitution" would automatically take effect and The United States of America Under the Constitution would officially begin.
- Thus ... The United States of America under the Constitution has "by law": both an official "start date" and and official "start time", 12:00:01 AM on March 4th, 1789.
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- The Constitution is the second of the three Charters of Freedom along with the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, with later amendments.
- The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. It was completed on September 17, 1787, with its adoption by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was later ratified by special conventions in each state. It created a federal union of sovereign states, and a federal government to operate that union. It replaced the less defined union that had existed under the Articles of Confederation.
- It took effect on March 4, 1789 and has served as a model for the constitutions of numerous other nations. The Constitution of the United States of America is the oldest written national constitution in use.
— Excerpted from United States Constitution on Wikipedia
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THE NATAL CHART OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER THE CONSTITUTION |
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Click On Chart To Enlarge |
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Click On Chart To Enlarge |
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USA Natal Chart With Fixed Stars (click on chart to enlarge) |
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Natal USA Chart |
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USA SOLAR RETURN CHART FOR 2012
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NOTES:
- It doesn't "bode well", that there is an Interception during a Presidential election year. The Interception is (unfortunately) most likely a financial one as it is in the 2nd & 8th houses. Money that is earned vs. money that is taxed & money that is borrowed. Also monetary fluctuations... the Federal Reserve ... insurance companies & loans.
- In terms of an election: the 2nd house indicates "Your Vote" & "The Future"; the 8th house refers to Endings & Research. Yhe ruler of the 8th is the Moon (the People) in the 7th House of Elections, Foreign Affairs, & Lawsuits.
- The "Collective" is conjunct Uranus (in the 3rd) at 03º Aries 29'. The 3rd house rules "The Polls", Communication, The Media. Uranus rules "Disruption" or Innovation". So ... Disruption or Innovation ... at Polling Places?
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Click on Chart To Enlarge |
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United States Presidential Election - 2012
- The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election is scheduled to take place on November 6, 2012.
- Also on the ballot will be 33 Senate Seats and House Representatives for the 113th Congress along with at least 11 State Governors.
- As the Lunation equals the World Grid (exact, no orb); a global impact for these particular elections is suggested.
- The time of the World Chart Lunation is in GMT/UTC; thus, this Lunation will take effect BEFORE the polls close on Election Night In Washington, DC on the evening of Nov. 6th, 2012. ....
SO: this Lunation (for Washington D,C,) will take place at 7:35:07 PM EST (Nov. 7th, 2012 - 00:35:07 - GMT/UTC) ... thus, voting will conclude within this Lunation.
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07 Nov 2012 - Last Quarter Lunation: "America Votes" |
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- Formula for: "The Nation Votes" = Lunation on Dial (Radix - Conjunct Sun in 4th)
- Formula for Solar Arc "USA President" = Lunation's "The President" by 00º 22'
- Natal "USA President" conjunct Uranus in 8th
- Last Qtr. Lunation Moon: (15º Leo 00') is EXACT Aries & The World Grid on the Dial
- Solar Arc USA "Nation Votes" conjunct Pluto in SA USA Chart in 3rd house of "The Polls"
- "America votes" (SA USA Natal Chart) 24º Pisces 48' ... in Last Qtr. Lunation 7th House (An election) conjunct the 8th House Cusp
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"Let me issue and control a Nation's Money, and I care not who writes the Laws" ...Mayer Amschel Rothschild
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| FOCUS ON 2011 Solar Eclipse: 04 Jan 2011 USA Solar Return 2011 (04 Mar 1789)
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- Update Note: 01-13-2011: Given all that has occurred in the U.S.A. since the 2008 Presidential Election; The Tea Party, The House of Representatives Turnover; the Political Rhetoric has turned increasingly to the subject of: "The United States Constitution". (What is now referred to as The Tea Party Movement had its beginnings on March 13th, 2009) - (Link: Tea Party Page)
- The United States is Founded on ... and guided by ... this groundbreaking Document. The Constitution is, in essence, the "Law of the American Land". It is also under siege by members of the branches of its government who want to see it marginalized if not altogether ignored or even done away with or replaced.
- At this junction in American History .... the People are indeed fighting for (or against): The United States of America ... "Under the Constitution".
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BIG NOTE: This Solar Eclipse World Chart also had the Fixed Star "Wega" conjunct the Eclipse: "The Falling Eagle". At the time the question posed by this Chart was whether or not this might refer to the United States whose symbol is: "The Eagle"? |
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Aspect Grid & Orbs of Separation (Click on Image to Enlarge) |
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- The USA has in fact been in a steady decline of fortunes ever since. Did the 2012 Election turn this trend around ... or ... continue it?
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- The "Falllng Eagle" : WEGA - CAPRICORN
For Jan 4th, 2011: 13º Capricorn 27' 48" (within orb for conjunction to eclipse)
- The "Flying Eagle" : ALTAIR - AQUARIUS (Note: Altair was in Capricorn in 1789 - Altair is now in Aquarius at 01º 24')
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| USA SOLAR RETURN FOR 2011 (& Connection to Falling Eagle Fixed Stars in Solar Eclipse)
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Midheaven of SR 2011 Chart same degree & minute of Solar Eclipse 04 Jan 2011: On 90º Dial: Midheaven Exact Solar Eclipse & Octile Natal USA Mars by 04' orb.
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Click On Chart To Enlarge: USA Solar Return for 2011 |
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Note: This chart takes effect as of March 4th, 2011
- REALLY BIG NOTE: The Midheaven of this USA Solar Return Chart is exact by Degree & Minute the Solar Eclipse of 04 Jan 2011. On the 90º Dial .... they would be EXACT. It is also across the dial from the Natal USA Mars (Octile by a 04' orb)
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America's National Bird ... The Bald Eagle .... - "Challenger" the 5 week old survivor of a Louisiana Storm now the ambassador & symbol of the USA |
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Click Below to See the USA Chart on the rotating 90 Degree Dial |
What the Cardinal Angles Indicate: "America In A Nutshell" |
The Midheaven
The Social Destiny of America
"Giving Birth
to an "Answer to a Prayer" " "Giving out
Blessings & Charity to the World" "A People Going to Work"
The Ascendant
The Outer Face of America How America Appears to Others
"A
Strong Military with Strong Cultural
Values" "Distinction"
coupled with Strong Faith and an Equally Strong
Diplomacy"
"The Victorious One" "The Victor"
The Descendant
What America Attracts to Itself What America Offers to Others
"The Marketing of Skills &
Products" "Ingenuity, Inventiveness, Concrete Ideas & Works of
Value to the World" "Something (the above) that may "Get Out of Hand" (i.e.
"Capitalism")
The Nadir
America's Past & Its Present Foundation
"Men Who Walked Together on
the Path of Illumination" "Faithful to the Mission" "Integrity
versus Corruption"
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Notes on the Planetary Rulers & Decanate & Degree Meanings of: USA Cardinal Angles |
Notes on the Cardinal Angles
- [1] The Nadir shows Our Past & Our Foundation
- [2] The Midheaven Indicates to Future Goal We Strive For
- [3] The Ascendant is that "Face" we Present to the World; our "Persona"
- [4] The Descendant shows both what we Offer Others & What we Attract
- [1] Neptune rules our Nadir, & thus our Past
- [2] Mercury rules our Midheaven, & thus our Future & its Goals
- [3] Pluto rules our Ascendant, so; our "Persona", our Face to the World
- [4] Venus rules our Descendant, so; What we Offer and What we Attract
- Neptune is Inspiration or Delusion & Deception / But also the "Unseen": So, our Past & the Foundation of our Country was founded upon, one or the other or both...& probably something or someone that couldn't be Seen.
- Mercury is Communication & the Media, either True or False: So, our Future & our Goals are ruled by our Communications & our Media...being either True or False or both.
- Pluto is Power & Great Riches along with Great Change; Applied Constructively or Destructively:
- So, the Face We Present to the World is "Power", "Wealth" & "Change"; either Applied, Misapplied or both.
4 . Venus is Peace & Prosperity & Brotherhood
- So, Foreign Relations or Discord , Materialism & Greed
- So, We Attract & Offer; one or the other or both.
NEPTUNE-MERCURY-PLUTO-VENUSThese are the 4 Planets that Rule the Beginning of the Story that the Natal USA Chart has to tell
A Word About the U.S. Part of Fortune
The U.S. has a Part of Fortune in Virgo in the 9th house:
This indicates a "Robotic Efficiency" combined with a Philosophy... ...Regarding Finances, Economy & just plain "Money"
- This degree meaning indicates that "Money, and the Efficient Use of Money", is in fact a matter of Philosophy where this degree is pertinent.
- It indicates a philosophy that borders on a belief system incorporating the concept that: "Right Conduct" is in fact to be rewarded with money"...that the money is thus somehow "deserved", or an entitlement.
- Since this Part of Fortune's Ruler is Mercury, and in this chart ..... Mercury rules the Midheaven; then Mercury in this chart indicates that Future conduct (Midheaven) is also a Past Conduct or Condition ... as the Part of Fortune shows something one brings from the past to positively influence the present & future.
- In point of fact...this degree meaning indicates "being caught up in a repetitive pattern" (a karmic pattern, if you will), akin to an addiction in its scope....like trying to re-capture the wealth & grandeur of a bygone age.
- If so, it may be said that THIS Part of Fortune is both Blessing & Curse. But it must also be said that Discovering or Uncovering the "Truth about Money" will bring "real" "Fortune"
- So, the right understanding, the correct Philosophy, about money is the key to the U.S. Part of Fortune
- So, "A reformed Ebeneezer Scrooge" or "Scrooge McDuck"...Which Way? Or is there yet another way?
| Notes on the Rulers of the Cardinal Angles
- Neptune, things both Inspirational & Unseen (ruling the Nadir or Past) is in the House of the "Senate" or "Republic" (Neptune can also indicate an "Undermining", "Undoing", or a Collapse) :
- In a degree indicating: Being Misguided and led into Ventures which can bring "failure and regret"
- So, our past is a "ruling body", like a Senate or a Republic, that though Inspired; perhaps was also misguided on some level that they later came to regret
- Mercury indicating Commerce & Communications (ruling the Midheaven of Future & Goals) is in the House of the Nadir, our Past...So our Future apparently IS our Past
- In a degree indicating: "Getting our way Militarily or Forcibly"
- So, we may tend to repeat a past tendency toward attaining Commerce & Communication goals with too much force on one or more levels.
- Pluto indicating the Rich & Powerful (ruling the Ascendant or The Image the World Sees) is in the Third House of "The Press & The Media"
- In a degree indicating: "To be heard by many"..
- So, to the outside world, we may have a "Rich &
- Powerful Image...."in the Media".
- And the world may see us through our Media...or as we are depicted by our Media; and our Media reaches all over the world.
- Venus indicating Peace, Prosperity & Foreign Relations (ruling the Descendant or What we Offer & Attract] is also in the Third House of "The Press & the Media" and is conjunct Pluto.
- In a degree Indicating: "The production & preserving of Original Works".
- So, what we offer & attract is:
- the "Production & Preserving" of original works of:
- "Peace, Prosperity & Foreign Relations...in the arena of the Press & the Media,"
- So, what we "Produce & Preserve" is:
- The written & spoken Word through our Press, our Media, and that includes our "Movies"...worldwide.
- BUT, that also would include Treaties, Peace Accords, Trade & Commerce Agreements & International Agreements & Documents of all kinds pertaining to Commerce, Peace, & Foreign Relations, and even Conflicts (Wars).
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What the USA's Natal Horizon Chart Has to Say: America's "Birth Announcement" written in the Skies |
The Primary Planets of the USA Horizon Chart (with Decanate Meanings)
FIRST - What's Up Front & On the Surface...The Conscious Intent of the Congress of the Confederation..What they Wanted Done :
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The Moon & its South Node - Groups that Come Together for a Common cause or Purpose Who Have Already Been Together in the Past
- Jupiter - The Desire for Significance...A Political Pronouncement
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Uranus - To Declare a Great Resolve...To Make a Declaration of a Great Aspiration
The Secondary Set of Planets Rising & Their Decanate Meanings
SECOND - The Inner Goals of the Congress of the Confederation & Hidden Motives if Any]
- Mercury - A Totally New Beginning......The Old Way is No More
- Sun & Saturn - Integrity vs. Corruption
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Venus & Mars - A Distortion of Destiny
- Pluto - A Symbolic Act......A Special Mission
The New Beliefs & Values that the Congress of the Confederation Was Hoping to Instill Within the Country as They Give Birth to the USA Governing Chart
THIRD - What the Congress was Hoping Would Come to Pass
- The Moon & its South Node - A Group with a Common Cause From the Past
- Mercury - The End of One Thing & The Beginning of Another......Transition from the Past to the Future......Wanting A Totally New Beginning...So That The"The Old Way Is No More"
- Sun & Saturn - Integrity vs Corruption
The Philosophy of the Congress of the Confederation As Reflected in the Horizon Chart which Announced the Birth of the USA Under its Constitution
FOURTH - Overall...Any Grand Plan or Design - "The Big Picture"
- The Fixed Star POLARIS - The Pole Star - Known as "The Star of Humanity"...This Star Indicates the Urge to bring Something or Someone back to their "original source"...their "True Places of Origin".....in order that they they may re-align themselves with something that has been lost...their original Purpose or Form... or Plan.
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BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT "HIDDEN MOTIVE"?
- It is interesting that, only in the set of Horizon Chart rising planets that has a position that allows for a "Hidden Motive"...does one show up.
- This Hidden Motive, as represented by Venus & Mars, refers to "A Distorted Destiny" . The Degree Meanings further indicate the following:
- (1) Early on...Open to New Possibilities...Everything needed is found readily available...and Original "Works" are Produced.
- (2) But these were Works that did not...could not...last.
- (3) A Sudden Rise Occurs, but is Hard to Maintain. And then; there comes an End accompanied by Great Sorrow.
- (4) "An Intelligent Foresight Capable of Preparing for the Future" was intended to be the "The Destiny"...
- (5) But there was The "Distortion" of that Destiny; which was a "Lack of the Necessary Imagination " to "Prepare for the Future".
- But, Why? What was missing, or else present; that did not, or would not, allow for the "Necessary Imagination"?
- The Sort of Imagination, that would be capable of seeing the Need to Prepare for the Future ... Instead of Only the Short Term?
- The Sort of Imagination, that could See the Way to prepare for whatever was coming
"Down the Road"?
- We are told that the problem was: The pursuit of "meaningless luxury"...and...
- Taking things for granted...and...
- Believing that "all would be taken care of" without personal initiative.
- Thus implying, the Skills and the Resources were available for Achievement...but...through a "Lack of Imagination" or a "Lack of Intelligent Foresight"...they are wasted...and Achievement "Comes to an End" accompanied by "Great Sorrow"...while lives are spent in the pursuit of Luxury & Dependency?
- So, you might say that Our USA Natal Chart is the Chart of a "Do-Over" ! Why? Because this is STILL the Natal Chart of America. It tells of a Hidden Motive or "Karma" hidden within the Nature of Our Founders and the Country they helped to Found.
- This is America's Hidden Heritage & Challenge....and it is to be found & manifested inside each and everyone of us to varying degrees. We will all have our parts to play...but according to this Chart we are all here to "Get It Right This Time" !
Can we get it right this time?
Apparently, Members of the Congress of the Confederation were hoping we could.
NOW, JUST ONE MORE LITTLE THING, BUT AN IMPORTANT ONE...
For those of you who want to follow this line of data... it is very Interesting
- The Moon & Venus are in What is Termed "Critical Degrees". Critical Degrees indicate extra "uumphh". Planets (yes, I know the Moon is a Moon...but for brevity we just call it a Planet) in Critical Degrees are "very strong for good or ill" .
- We already know that in the USA's Chart; Venus is indicative of "the production & preserving of Original Works"...in the case of the USA...its the written & spoken word as it applies to the Media and to Treaties and the like...
- BUT -
- The Moon, is also in a degree of the writing & language... in other words, the Media.
- Now, the Moon's degree also carries a warning about the tendency to get carried away with fixed ideas & overactive imaginations on the one hand...and "selling out" for "perks", privileges, & "creature comforts", on the other hand.
- So, here we have a very strong Moon & Venus...BOTH in "Media" placements, and both carrying warnings...Venus can "go overboard" and the Moon can "sell out".But the Moon has a "little something extra riding its coattails"
- On another level, the Moon's degree also tells us something else. It says that the volatile urges of the USA (the urge to grow & change) will express itself through "Revolution" [ It was The "American Revolution" is what got us here after all] or: "Escapism".
- But the American Revolution has come and gone....so if The United States of America is possessed of a "Revolutionary Spirit"....what happens to that Spirit during Peacetime? Where does it go?
- Simply put...it is expressed as: Either Some Form of Escapism (remember the 60's?); OR, As some Type of Conflict or War .
- So apparently Our choice is this : That periodically, either We Change & Grow through some positive form of Revolutionary Evoutionary change or else it is probable that....
.... We fall into or split into a pair of conflicting Opposites in Behavior which can...and has...taken the form of:
- Soldiers on the one side and "Hippies or Peaceniks" on the other.
- When Venus joins in...you can add "Yuppies" to the "Hippies" side:
This then would give us: SOLDIERS on one End of the See-Saw.... at odds with another pair who, though sitting together on the other end of the See-Saw; are also Squabbling with each other: Hippie-Peaceniks vs. Yuppies. Soldiers on the one hand .........................Hippies/Peaceniks and/or Yuppies (On the Other Hand)
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According to the USA Natal Chart...whenever we see these 2 sides in outer conflict...it is a sign that ...on the "Inside"....In the Evolutionary Sense...we aren't changing when we need to.
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Thus the Revolutionary Urge can go either way....De-Evoution or Evolution....Up or Down...Forward or Backward.
"DEJA VÛ" ANYONE?
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| The United States of America
Natal Declaration of Independence Chart
04 July 1776
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Pennsylvania State House: 75º W 09' 00" / 39º N 56' 56"
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[1] - Date of the signature of the Declaration of Independence, from the Library of Congress, The Philadelphia Historic Society:
Thomas Jefferson, when an old man, said it was "late afternoon" when the document was signed. John Adams and John Quincey Adams said they signed "late in the day."
- [2] - John B. Early, an American astrologer, had written on the margin of his contemporary Raphael's ephemeris:
"Declaration signed 10:10 PM." on the July page of his almanac of 1776.
- [3] - John Clark Ridpath, A.M. Professor of Belles-Lettres and History in Indiana Asbury University:
"History of the United States from the Discovery of America to the Present Time" states on p.309, "The discussion was resumed on the morning of the 4th, and at two o'clock on the afternoon of that memorable day the Declaration of American Independence was adopted by a unanimous vote."
- [4] - Biography: Herbert S. Alan, "John Hancock, Patriot in Purple," 1940, p.228:
"At last, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th, the great white paper was reported ... and immediately ratified."
- [5] - President Gerald Ford decreed that the bicentennial celebration on 1976 would be held on July 4, 1976 and the ringing of the bells would occur at 2:00 PM.
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"Chart for The Declaration of Independence": 2:00 PM Local Time (Click On Chart To Enlarge) Note: There was also a "Flying Eagle" Solar Eclipse on Jan 21, 1776. |
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USA (Declaration of Independence Chart) SOLAR RETURN FOR 2012 |
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| USA SOLAR RETURN (04 July 1776) (for fiscal year 2012)
- The Present Foundation: "A Distortion of Destiny"
- The Future Goal We Strive For: "A Hopeful Event, A Vote" (or a Win)
- The Face We Present to The World: Storms & War - Military Deployments - A Beleaguered Country
- What We Offer Others & What We Attract: Computer Viruses - Work Disrupted - "Fleeing A Catastrophe"
- SPEAR ASPECT PATTERN: (Uranus Square Pluto, Uranus Trine Mercury, Mercury Inconjunct Pluto) - (The Spear Pattern indicates Collective Power Struggles, Leadership Controversy & Dispute, Lawsuits & Scandal, Ascendancy & Emergence): This one describes "a sudden massive change of opinions and/or knowledge or info - due to New Information, talks or a speech ... or; The Media"
- The Vertex (that which is "fated"): "An ancient knowledge" - "A knowledge of planetary cycles" - "A compelling, magnetic, person (man) filled with ruthless ambition" - "Huge Protests - Military Aggressions - "Twins or Two" - Global Trade
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USA (Declaration of Independence Chart) NATAL |
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The Dunlap Broadsides
- The Dunlap broadsides were the first publishd copies of the United States Declaration of Independence, printed on the night of July 4, 1776, by John Dunlap of Philadelphia. It is unknown exactly how many broadsides were originally printed, but the number is estimated at about 200.
- On July 4th, 1776, Congress ordered the same committee charged with writing the document to "superintend and correct the press", that is, supervise the printing. Dunlap, an Irish immigrant then 29 years old, was tasked with the job; he apparently spent much of the night of July 4 setting type, correcting it, and running off the broadside sheets.
- "There is evidence it was done quickly, and in excitement — watermarks are reversed, some copies look as if they were folded before the ink could dry and bits of punctuation move around from one copy to another," according to Ted Widmer, author of Ark of the Liberties: America and the World. "It is romantic to think that Benjamin Franklin, the greatest printer of his day, was there in Dunlap's shop to supervise, and that Jefferson, the nervous author, was also close at hand." John Adams later wrote that, "We were all in haste."
- The Dunlap broadsides were sent across the colonies over the next two days, including to George Washington, who directed that the Declaration be read to the troops. Another copy was sent to England.
- The original handwritten Declaration of July 4th, "Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress, JOHN HANCOCK, President. Attest, CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary" (taken from bottom of a Dunlap broadside) that was sent from Congress to Dunlap has been lost.
- During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2nd, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.
- After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4th. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
- Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4th, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2nd, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
- Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4yh, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2nd, 1776, and not on July 4th as is commonly believed.
- In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence to later serve as President of the United States, died on the same day: July 4,th 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration.
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Signed on 02 Aug 1776? |
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- The Declaration originated as a spoken thought, expressed on June 7th, 1776, by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, who moved that “these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.”
- A written version was produced on June 28th, primarily the work of Thomas Jefferson, who left at least seven rough drafts, one found as recently as 1947. On July 2nd, Congress approved the first paragraph of the Declaration, officially separating from England.
- The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire.
- Info continues below ↓
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- Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4th, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
- After finalizing the text on July 4th, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
- Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4th, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4th as is commonly believed.
- The sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural rights, including a right of revolution.
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Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, the text of the Declaration was initially ignored after the American Revolution. Its stature grew over the years, particularly the second sentence, a sweeping statement of human rights:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
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