Another nice day here in the Midwest USA, though with more of a chill in the air.
Time for Sunday Stamps.
Our theme this week: Ships of all sorts.
The stamp for today features one of the most famous ships in early American history, the USS Constitution.
Let's let the US Postal Service describe the history and the stamp:
"The War of 1812: USS Constitution (Forever®) issuance by the U.S. Postal Service in 2012 commemorates the bicentennial of the War of 1812, a two-and-a-half year conflict with Great Britain that many Americans viewed as the nation's “Second War of Independence.” The War of 1812, sometimes called “the forgotten conflict,” was a two-and-a-half year confrontation with Great Britain that brought the United States to the verge of bankruptcy and disunion. With this stamp, the Postal Service commemorates the bicentennial of a war that ultimately helped forge our national identity and gave us our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812. In his war message to Congress, Madison charged the British with violating the nation's sovereignty by restricting American trade with Europe and by removing seamen from American merchant ships and making them serve in the Royal Navy.
The War of 1812 was also fueled by a desire among frontier settlers to force the British out of Canada and end their support of Indians in the Old Northwest. Many Americans, including expansionist “War Hawks” in Congress, alleged that the British supplied arms to Indians and incited them to raid settlements on the frontier.
For the design of the first stamp in the series, the Postal Service selected the oldest known painting of the famed USS Constitution by Michele Felice Cornè, circa 1803. Constitution acquired the nickname “Old Ironsides” during a victorious battle with HMS Guerriere in August 1812, two months into the war. It scored another victory in December over HMS Java. Such stunning successes against the world's mightiest navy helped sustain American morale during a time the U.S. Army was suffering major setbacks.
Art director Greg Breeding evokes the times by using the color and texture of a contemporary map of the war for the stamp pane's background."
(With apologies to my British readers - this was 200 years ago.)
I live in a part of the Midwest that did experience Indian raids during this time. Although it's not clear whether these were 'incited' by the British. The Constitution lives now in Charlestown MA and takes one cruise a year, on July 4. See the
Ship's web page for information on the ship and on future events.
Theme next week (by suggestion): stamps depicting hobbies. I finally have one I can use.
Please join me, and add your link below.
Viridian
