Do You Have a Favorite Moment in US History?

by Karen Topakian

“I’m so over the revolution,” said Meena an almost high school junior from Belmont Massachusetts. “How many times can you go to the Paul Revere house and look at his chamber pot?”

Meena prefers the revolution of 1800, when for the first time a government changed power without battle or bloodshed.

Her statement made me pause. Do I have a favorite moment in US history?

Is it the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation?

Or do I prefer a more modern moment?

As in the implementation of the 19^th Amendment granting women the right to vote. Though that critically important amendment for my gender continued to deny those same rights to my sisters of African-American descent.

What about the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1964? That was a real show stopper. Or the Supreme Court’s ruling on Brown v. the Board of Education? Let’s not forget Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence v. Texas that began to open the Federal civil rights door to us queers.

I can’t pick. Too many good choices. (Don’t get me started on my favorite bad moment!)

Does anybody else share Meena’s declaration about the revolution? What’s your favorite moment in US history?