The story of Lenni Lenape chief Tamanend - King or Saint Tammany — will blow your find. Well, put more precisely, the fact that you don’t know his story, the fact he was cancelled, will blow your mind.
We have much more coming on the topic of native influence on American independence leading up to the 250th anniversary celebration of the start of the American Revoulution: the Battles of Lexington & Concord on April 19,1775.
In the meantime, here are the quotes mentioned in the video:
John Adams, Philadelphia, May 1, 1777: “This is King Tammany’s Day … The People here have sainted him and keep his day.”
Washington aide, May 1, 1778, Valley Forge: “The men spent the day in mirth and jollity ... in honor of King Tammany.”
Leon Nelson Nichols, "The History of Tammany,” 1892: "The Pennsylvania troops under Washington’s command were the first to raise their banners on which were inscribed ‘St. Tamanend.’ Soon other troops caught the zeal for Saint Tamanend until at last the whole American army had adopted the chief as its patron saint."
Tammany constitution, 1790: "This institution shall be called and known by the name of ‘Tammany Society, or Columbian Order. It shall connect in the indissoluble bonds of Patriots Friendship, American Brethren of known attachment to the Political Rights of Human Nature, and the Liberties of this Country.”
Joseph White Norwood, "The Tammany Legend,” 1938: "The American ideals of human right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ spring chiefly from original American sources and were developed on American soil for untold centuries before Europeans arrived on this continent. These ideals are therefore so distinctively native to the soil that they should be known as the first Americans knew them, by a name that completely symbolizes them. This name is Tamanend."
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