Betsy Ross was a strong, progressive woman in her day, which is why strong American women should boycott Nike
07/08/2019 / By JD Heyes
In an unbelievable act of cowardice, sports brand Nike made the decision ahead of this year’s Fourth of July celebration to pull a sneaker design featuring a depiction of our original 13-star flag because the company’s America-hating brand ambassador, Colin Kaepernick, thought the design “offensive.”
The rejection of the sneaker wasn’t entirely without consideration, of course. Nike understands that the company has invested a lot of money in Kaepernick, and adding him as a brand promoter has paid off, according to reports.
But so what, right? After all, if the Left is about anything it’s about promoting its political, cultural, and social agenda and viewpoints above everything — right? (Related: Tucker Carlson BLASTS Nike for its ‘decadent,’ factually inaccurate ads featuring Kaepernick.)
So why punish Betsy Ross, albeit posthumously, of course? She was, after all, a very strong progressive woman in her day. And today’s Left is all about being progressive.
Born Elizabeth Griscom in Philadelphia Jan. 1, 1752, she was a fourth-generation American (colonist). A Quaker, she finished her schooling at the age of 17 where she learned sewing and other common crafts of the day, as did her sisters (she was the 8th of 17 children).
After school her father apprenticed her to a local upholsterer, William Webster, and while there she met Ross. The two reportedly fell in love very quickly, but there was a problem: She was Quaker, and he was Anglican. As a Quaker, she was forbidden to marry outside her religion, and yet she did so anyway.
Married in 1772, Betsy was promptly expelled by her family as well as the Friends meeting house in Philadelphia, where Quakers met to worship. But despite that, she and husband John nevertheless went on to start and operate their own upholstery business. He would join the Continental militia and would die within two years of being married, likely from an illness.
While there is some skepticism, “legend holds that President George Washington requested that Betsy make the first American flag” — the design we know depicting the 13 stars in a circle on a field of blue flanked by 13 alternating red and white stripes.
Betsy Ross was everything Kaepernick isn’t
Though it’s unclear if she really did make the first American flag at the request of our first president, she “is known to have sewn flags during the Revolutionary War,” according to The History Channel:
Washington and the Continental Congress had come up with the basic layout, but, according to legend, Betsy allegedly finalized the design, arguing for stars with five points (Washington had suggested six) because the cloth could be folded and cut out with a single snip.
The request from Washington, as it goes, did not become public knowledge until 1870, about a century later, by Ross’ grandson.
After John died, Betsy married Joseph Ashburn, a sailor, who was apprehended by the British while working as a privateer in 1782 in the West Indies. He would later die in a British prison, and a year after that Betsy married John Claypoole, whom she grew up with in Philadelphia’s Quaker community. He had been imprisoned with Ashburn in England.
Shortly after their wedding, the Treaty of Paris was signed. The couple would go on to have five daughters, and they joined their mother in sewing upholstery and making flags, banners, and standards for their new country for several decades.
By any stretch, Betsy Ross was fearless, industrious, progressive for her time, and strong. And yet, Nike tossed her memory and reputation aside for a has-been NFL quarterback who hates the very flag she toiled to make for a new country fraught with challenges.
That’s ironic, no doubt about it, but it begs the question: Does Nike hate all strong women who don’t agree with Colin Kaepernick’s Left-wing America hate?
Read more about unhinged Left-wing America hate at Unhinged.news and Absurd.news.
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Tagged Under: absurd, America, American Flag, Betsy Ross, Colin Kaepernick, colonies, Flag, flag design, hater, irony, Nike, outrage, patriot, progressive, real history, sneaker, strong woman, strong women, unhinged
