Why Did They Erase Richard Somers from Our National Memory? Was It Any of These Eleven Inconvenient Truths?

BY SETH GROSSMAN

Left to Right:  LibertyAndProsperity.com Treasurer Bruce Barkoff, Director Paul Klepacki, Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew, Director Mike Smith, Republican Somers Point Councilman Michael Owen, and LibertyAndProsperity.com member Alan Stearne.  Photo taken shortly after event.  Atlantic County Surrogate Jim Curcio, a Republican, and roughly three dozen others also attended the outdoor, socially distanced event on September 4, 2020.

One September 4, 1804, 26 year old Richard Somers and all twelve of his crew were killed instantly, when their “fireship” Intrepid exploded in the harbor of Tripoli, North Africa.  Their goal was to destroy the last of the “Turkish flotilla” and bring a three year war to an end.  Earlier this month, we held a ceremony in his boyhood home of Somers Point, New Jersey on that same day 216 years later.

LibertyAndProsperity.com and the Somers Point Historical Society have been holding events to remember Richard Somers ever since 2004, the 200th year of his death in Tripoli.  In 2004 and 2006 both Jeff Van Drew (then Democrat) and Jack Gibson (Republican), then the two Assembly Members representing Somers Point, obtained resolutions from the entire NJ State Assembly recognizing the importance of Richard Somers in New Jersey and American history.  Both resolutions are displayed in our Somers Point office.

We were joined by Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who presented us with a Proclamation to recognize the event.  We were also joined by Republican Surrogate Jim Curcio who represented Atlantic County.  Republican Councilman Michael Owen represented the City of Somers Point.

Several local radio hosts promoted the event.  They included Harry Hurley and John DeMasi of WPGTalkRadio.com 95.5 FM, and Dan Klein, Ann Baker, and Don Williams of WONDRadio.com 1400AM.

Two weeks earlier, Sally Hastings and the Somers Point Historical Society opened a new maritime exhibit in their nearby Historical Museum.  That museum explains the remarkable story of the people who settled in this area 350 years ago, and how they achieved exceptional success.  More particularly, it explains our traditions of sailing and shipbuilding that inspired and prepared Richard Somers for his historic mission.  Click here for details on that story.

https://www.libertyandprosperity.com/local-hero-richard-somers-this-year-we-talked-about-the-south-jersey-he-grew-up-in-an-exceptional-land-of-liberty-prosperity-and-boundless-opportunities-even-by-todays-woke-standards/

However, we were disappointed by the community leaders, organizations and institutions who ignored the event.  There was no publicity in area daily or weekly newspapers or any of the Philadelphia TV stations.   There was no participation by Stockton University or any local public schools.  Not a single library in the area had a program, lecture, or exhibit about Richard Somers.  Why?

Richard Somers was not guilty of any of the “sins” that caused other historical figures like Christopher Columbus to be “cancelled”. 

Neither Richard Somers, nor any members of his family owned or traded in slaves.  On the contrary, they were Quakers.  They were among the first Americans to aggressively and systematically work to end slavery in this country, and to help freed slaves live independent, productive lives.  They created comfortable lives for themselves by supplementing their farm income with other businesses.  Richard Somers great-grandfather John Somers started a ferry to connect the New York road with the Cape May stagecoach road.

Another relative, James Somers built a dam and road (now known as Central Avenue) across the Patcong Creek which now separates Linwood and Egg Harbor Township.  The water current from that dam powered two mills.  A grist mill on the Linwood side of the creek was used to grind grain into flour. The other was a sawmill, used to make lumber for buildings and ships.

William Penns’s treaty with Native Americans in Pennsylvania, 1680s.

William Penn controlled all land titles in South Jersey (then called West Jersey) as well as in Pennsylvania.  He did not approve any land titles without proof that no Native Americans claimed that land, and that all sales of land by Native Americans were fair and voluntary.

Neither Richard Somers, nor any members of his family killed or mistreated Indians, now called Native Americans.  South Jersey was settled by Quakers under the leadership of William Penn.  Penn gave strict orders not to occupy any land claimed by Native Americans, unless that land was sold freely and voluntarily for a fair price.   Those orders were carried out.   Although the Leni Lenape Indians (also called the Delaware) often fished, gathered berries, and harvested claims in and around South Jersey, they had few permanent settlements here. That all became known in 1995, when the mayor of the beach resort of Wildwood spent years in court trying to get approvals allowing a Leni Lenape casino there.

There were no laws preventing women from voting, owning property, or holding public office in New Jersey when Richard Somers was alive here.

So why was Richard Somers cancelled?   Was it any of these eleven “inconvenient truths” that don’t support the narrative of today’s “woke” socialists and communists?

1.  Richard Somers,  like most young men of his day, finished eight years of formal schooling by age 16.  At that time, he had better knowledge of reading, writing, history, literature, science, and mathematics than most college graduates today.

2. Richard Somers, like most young men of his day, mastered a useful skill or trade by age 17.   Richard Somers mastered sailing and navigation. By age 17, he was in charge of “coasters”, sailing ships that carried cargo between New York and Philadelphia.

3. When Richard Somers finished school, America was such a peaceful nation, that we had an army of only 5,200 men, and no navy at all.

4. America only started to build a navy in 1796, thirteen years after we won our independence.  That was when Americans got tired of paying bribes and tribute to Islamic “Barbary Pirates” in the Mediterranean and French pirates in the Caribbean.  Under international law at the time, the “Barbary Pirates” were not criminal “pirates” like the French.  They could be executed when captured.  The “Barbary Pirates were instead “corsairs” or “privateers” for Islamic nations legally at war with non-Muslim nations that did not pay them tribute.

5. When Richard Somers was 20 years old, he gave up a promising career as a private ship captain, to join our new navy in Annapolis at age 20.

6. In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson sent our new navy to fight the “Barbary Pirates”.  He put 23 year old Richard Somers in command of the Nautilus, a 160 ton warship with 20 cannons and a crew of 100 men.  Richard Somers sailed that ship, without incident, across the Atlantic Ocean, to Spain, and then the Mediterranean.  Most other ship commanders of the U.S. Navy at that time were the same age as Richard Somers.

7. America was the only nation to fight the “Barbary Pirates” of North Africa.  England, France, Spain, and Portugal, the major sea powers found it cheaper to pay tribute than fight them.  Only Americans said “Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute”.

8. For three years, young Americans like Richard Somers won the admiration of the world by defeating the Islamic “pirates” in battle after battle.  After one battle, Pope Pius VII publicly declared, “The American commander, with a small force, and in a short space of time, has done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom have done for ages”.

9. Although Richard Somers failed in his attempt to destroy “the Turkish flotilla” in Tripoli on September 4, 1804, he inspired other Americans to continue the fight, and win a decisive battle “on the shores of Tripoli” one year later.

10. The Islamic kingdoms of North Africa that ordered their “pirates” to attack American ships were also part of a massive slave industry.   Their “pirates” also captured and enslaved thousands of white Europeans and tens of thousands of black Africans each year and either put them to work  themselves, or sold them throughout the Arab world.  The most brutal slave work was being chained to the oars which powered the warships of the “Barbary Pirates” when there was not enough wind.

11. When America defeated the Barbary Pirates in 1805, and again in 1815, we effectively ended the African slave trade.  This also made many Americans aware of the horrors of slavery, and intensified efforts to end slavery in America.

This story of Richard Somers is a key to understanding the story of America, when America was great.  It is there inconvenient to those who hate America, and want to divide us and tear us apart.

And, of course, Richard Somers was a white, Christian male.  During the past thirty years, our schools, colleges, media, and Hollywood pop culture have falsely blamed white, Christian men for almost every problem in the world today.

Many candidates for public office in this year’s election are winning votes by just by being of a  different race or gender.  Teaching young people about white, Christian, male heroes like Richard Somers does not promote that political agenda.

Click here for more details of the Richard Somers story.

https://www.libertyandprosperity.com/local-hero-richard-somers-this-year-we-talked-about-the-south-jersey-he-grew-up-in-an-exceptional-land-of-liberty-prosperity-and-boundless-opportunities-even-by-todays-woke-standards/

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• Seth Grossman, Executive Director

• LibertyAndProsperity.com

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Richard Somers: NJ’s First Martyr in the War Against Jihad

Remember Richard Somers on September 4. The Day He Was Killed In Tripoli in 1804 Fighting America’s First War Against Jihad
 
 By Seth Grossman, Esq.
 
At 4pm on Friday, September 4, 2020, we will tell the story of Richard Somers on the day he and all 13 men of his ship Intrepid were killed in Tripoli in 1804.  We will gather by his statue in the park next to the Somers Point Library at 801 Shore Road across the street from Charlies on New Jersey Ave.  We will also explain the images on the mural painted by Millville Artist Maryann Cannon on the wall of the library.
 
Events have been held in Somers Point to remember Richard Somers every September since 2004, the 200th year since his death.
 
Renewed interest in Richard Somers caused the Somers Point Historical Society and local government to erect a statue in his memory at 801 Shore Road in Somers Point in 2013.   In 2015, they, together with the Somers Point Arts Commission engaged Millville artist Maryann Cannon to paint a mural telling the Richard Somers story on the wall of the adjoining library.
 
During each of the past sixteen years, we never heard the same story twice.  Each year new research and personalities added fresh details to the story and gave us new and interesting insights into every aspect of American life.   Below are some of the basic facts of the Richard Somers story discussed in previous years.
 
1.        Richard Somers, like most Americans of his time completed school at age 15 and mastered a trade by age 17.  As a teenager, Somers was the skipper of sailing ships that carried merchandise between Philadelphia and New York.
 
2.        When America’s War for Independence against England was over, we were so committed to peace, that we completely disbanded our navy, and cut our army down to less than a thousand men. We depended completely on good will, negotiation, and diplomacy to protect our people.
 
3.        As soon as America won independence in 1783, our ships in the Mediterranean and Atlantic were attacked by “pirates” from the “Barbary” kingdoms of North Africa. They seized our ships and everything that was in them.  They held passengers and crew for ransom or sold them into slavery.
 
4.        When American Ambassadors John Adams and Thomas Jefferson asked England and France to help us defend our ships, they were advised to pay bribes or tribute in advance to the Barbary kingdoms.   That is what England and France did.
 
5.        In 1786, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson met with the Ambassador from Tripoli (now Libya), one of the Barbary Kingdoms.  They said America was a new nation thousands of miles away that had done no harm to the Barbary kingdoms of North Africa.  They asked why we were being attacked.   This is what they were told:  “It was written in their Koran that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every Mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise”.
 
6.        This is why Thomas Jefferson bought a Koran for his library.  Jefferson and Adams both urged Congress to build a navy to protect our ships.  That request was rejected.  For the next 12 years, Congress spent roughly 10% of its federal budget as bribes, ransom, or tribute to the Barbary Kingdoms of North Africa.
 
7.        The Barbary Kingdoms used much of this money to buy faster ships and more modern weapons.   They soon demanded even more money.   Then French pirates began to attack American ships in the Caribbean and the French government demanded bribes to stop them!
 
8.        In 1798, Americans had enough. They shouted, “Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute.”  We built a new navy.   Richard Somers was one of the first to join at age 20.
 
9.        Although Richard Somers reported to Annapolis to become a naval officer, all training took place at sea on warships where students were called “midshipman”. He and the other young officers got on-the-job education fighting French pirates in the Caribbean.
 
10.      The Barbary “pirates” were not legally pirates. Pirates were outlaws who were tried and executed when captured.  The Barbary “pirates” who attacked Americans were “privateers” or “corsairs” who had a license to do what they did.   They were hired by nations who were legally at war with America.   When captured, they were held as prisoners-of-war under international law.
 
11.      In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became President, and Tripoli demanded additional bribes. Jefferson sent our new American navy across the Atlantic to fight them.   Richard Somers commanded The Nautilus, one of our new warships, at age 23.
 
12.         The original monument to Richard Somers, near New York Ave. School near Bike Path in Somers Point, NJ.
 
13.      It reads: “Richard Somers. . . perished in the 25th year of his age in the Ketch Intrepid in the memorable attempt to destroy the Turkish Flotilla in the Harbour of Tripoli on the night of the 4th of Sep. 1804.”
 
14.   Although most historians today say America fought four “Barbary” kingdoms in North Africa, the original Richard Somers monument by the New York Avenue School in Somers Point states that our enemy was “The Turkish flotilla”. At the time, the Turkish Sultan controlled the large Ottoman Empire in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and was the Caliph, or religious leader of the entire Islamic world.    That is depicted on the mural.
 
15.  At first, Europeans leaders laughed at America for sending a small force of young, inexperienced sailors against feared, veteran sea-fighters who had defied and defeated the strongest navies of Europe.
 
16.  However, those young Americans soon defeated the Barbary “pirates” in battle after battle.  England’s Admiral Lord Nelson called one American attack “the most bold and daring act of the age.” Pope Pius VII said the United States “had done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom for ages.”   For years, military historian Chipp Reid, author of Intrepid Sailors, spoke at our September events to explain how these young Americans did it.
 
17.  In the summer of 1804, Richard Somers and other American officers were afraid the politicians in Washington would bring them home before they fully defeated the enemy. They came up with a daring and risky plan to destroy the “Turkish flotilla” in Tripoli with tons of explosives packed into the “volcano ship” Intrepid.  The mission failed.   Richard Somers and all members of his crew were killed in the harbor of Tripoli on September 4, 1804.   However, they inspired the rest of the fleet to continue the struggle.   The following year, America’s first marines landed on the shores of Tripoli, and won a decisive victory.
 
18.  The Barbary Kingdoms did far more than attack American ships. They were the center of a massive slave trade that for centuries captured and sold millions of slaves from as far north as Iceland and as far south as central Africa.  Richard Somers and those young Americans took a giant step in ending that slave trade.   They also raised awareness of the evils of slavery in America, and intensified efforts to free African-American slaves here in this country.

Seth Grossman is a Somers Point attorney, and executive director of LibertyAndProsperity.org. The organization meets for breakfast 9:30 every Saturday morning at the Shore Diner, Egg Harbor Township by the Garden State Parkway Exit 36.