Paw Prints TidBits
July 
2008
Paw Prints TidBits for July
This month we focus on freedom and independence. The anecdote contains an exchange between two of America's Founding Fathers...Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine, followed by a little known fact about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The sidebar contains a short quiz on American history. Finally, we invite you to view a slideshow about orangutans, the most independent of the great apes.
If you have any comments or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact us.
Anecdote of the Month
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
A n e c d o t e . . .
Benjamin Franklin said to Paine, "Where liberty is, there is my country."
Paine answered, "Where liberty is not, there is mine."
B i o g r a p h i c a l . N o t e . . .
Paine was a British political theorist and writer. His pamphlet Common Sense (1776) was instrumental in justifying the American Revolution.
M o r e . I n f o r m a t i o n . . .
Read the complete works of Thomas Paine online. Or read a brief biography of Paine here.
Did You Know...
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2nd, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
Archives
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Q&A
American History QuizHow many Liberty Bells have there been?
Two. The first was cast in England in 1752 for the Pennsylvania State House, which later became Independence Hall. The second was cast in Philadelphia and inscribed, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus 25:10). The bell cracked on July 8, 1835, as it tolled the passing of Chief Justice John Marshall.
How many American casualties were suffered in the American Revolution?
Unofficial studies of field reports indicate that about 4,500 men died in battle and over 6,000 were wounded. Illness also took a large but indeterminate number. At Valley Forge, for example, illness claimed over 3,000 lives.
How many Americans fought for the British in the American Revolution?
Approximately 50,000 Americans were part of the Loyalist military support for the king. Few joined the British army and navy, but thousands served in provincial regiments under Loyalist officers. American Indians—mainly in Canada, on the frontier, and in the South—also fought for Britain.
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