1) Work on your "Closets" essay and make it perfect
Fill in the checklist
2) Go back over your essays that were don before the "Closet" essay and get rid of banned words and contractions Make it better - do not simply exchange a banned word for a synonym - make the essay better.
3) Write a FANTASTIC, ORGANIZED, and INTERESTING one paragraph essay about Betsy Ross.
Here is some great source information on Betsy Ross. Watch and read it. Organize it a way that makes sense to you and create a GREAT one paragraph essay about Betsy Ross.
REQUIREMENTS:
all dress ups
all openers
1 M3
Include your checklist at the bottom of your essay
NO banned words
NO contractions
No dialogue
You may use the quote that I have changed to red font (near the bottom of this post). Be sure to attribute the quote to the right person. :-)
Betsy sewed the flag, but who designed it?
In an affidavit made public in 1870, Betsy Ross's daughter, Rachel Fletcher, testified :
"[The committee] showed her [Betsy Ross] a drawing roughly executed, of the flag as it was proposed to be made by the committee, and that she saw in it some defects in its proportions and the arrangement and shape of the stars. That she said it was square and a flag should be one third longer than its width, that the stars were scattered promiscuously over the field, and she said they should be either in lines or in some adopted form as a circle, or a star, and that the stars were six-pointed in the drawing, and she said they should be five pointed."
Why would Betsy Ross be chosen to make the flag?
It was usual in that day for upholsterers to be flagmakers. As Betsy Ross prayed in the pew next to George Washington and had already sewn buttons for him, and she was a niece of George Ross, it is not exceptional that these members of the Flag Committee formed by the Continental Congress would call upon Betsy Ross to make the flag.
Why are the stars in a circle?
The stars were in a circle so that no one colony would be viewed above another. It is reported that George Washington said, "Let the 13 stars in a circle stand as a new constellation in the heavens."
What do the red, white, and blue of the flag represent?
The Continental Congress left no record to show why it chose the colors. However, in 1782, the Congress of the Confederation chose these same colors for the Great Seal of the United States and listed their meaning as follows:
- Red: Valor and hardiness,
- White: Purity and innocence
- Blue: Vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
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| The Birth of Old Glory Percy Moran, 1917 LOC id: cph.3g02791 |
Betsy would often tell her children, grandchildren, relatives, and friends of a fateful day, late in May of 1776, when three members of a secret committee from the Continental Congress came to call upon her. Those representatives, George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross, asked her to sew the first flag. George Washington was then the head of the Continental Army. Robert Morris, an owner of vast amounts of land, was perhaps the wealthiest citizen in the Colonies. Colonel George Ross was a respected Philadelphian and also the uncle of her late husband, John Ross.
Naturally, Betsy Ross already knew George Ross as she had married his nephew. Betsy was also acquainted with the great General Washington. Not only did they both worship at Christ Church in Philadelphia, but Betsy's pew was next to George and Martha Washington's pew. Her daughter recalled, "That she was previously well acquainted with Washington, and that he had often been in her house in friendly visits, as well as on business. That she had embroidered ruffles for his shirt bosoms and cuffs, and that it was partly owing to his friendship for her that she was chosen to make the flag." <------YOU MAY QUOTE THAT IF YOU WANT.
In June 1776, brave Betsy was a widow struggling to run her own upholstery business. Upholsterers in colonial America not only worked on furniture but did all manner of sewing work, which for some included making flags. According to Betsy, General Washington showed her a rough design of the flag that included a six-pointed star. Betsy, a standout with the scissors, demonstrated how to cut a five-pointed star in a single snip.
Betsy Ross -- Extra Facts
- Betsy Ross was born January 1, 1752 and died at the age of 84 on January 30, 1836.
- Betsy had 7 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood.
- At the age of 21, she eloped across the Delaware River to Gloucester, New Jersey, and was married there.
- She was widowed three times during her life.
- She was the 8th of 17 children. Large families were not unusual in the 1700s.
- She did tailoring for George Washington.
- She has been buried in three different locations: Free Quaker burial ground at South 5th St. near Locust, Mt. Moriah Cemetery, and now on Arch Street in the courtyard adjacent to the Betsy Ross House.
- A major Philadelphia bridge is named in her honor.
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