About American Historical Documents / Solar System Series
For this series, I have drawn correlations between 10 significant American historical documents and our solar system. One on level, I have shown that the relative size of the planets and sun correspond to the relative size (in number of words/letters) of each of the historical documents. In other words, Jupiter is larger than Venus, just as the Monroe Doctrine contains more text than the Gettysburg Address.
On another level, I have shown correlation between the name of the planet and the importance, significance, or meaning of the corresponding document:
The Sun = center of our solar system.
The Constitution = center of our government.
Mercury = messenger of the gods (Roman); also closest neighbor of the sun, witness to the solar explosions and flares on the sun’s surface.
Star Spangled Banner = written by Francis Scott Key conveying the message that our nation would survive through adversity; inspired by his witness of the explosions and flares while held captive on a British ship during the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812.
Venus = goddess of peace (Roman).
Gettsyburg Address = Abraham Lincoln’s call for peace during the Civil War.
Earth = birthplace of life
Declaration of Independence = birth of our government
Mars = god of war (Roman)
“A date which will live in infamy” = Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speech to Congress after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, given before Congress’ vote to enter the United States into World War II.
Jupiter = king of the gods (Roman)
Monroe Doctrine = responsible in many ways for the United States becoming a superpower, by limiting European colonization in and influence on our hemisphere and justifying Manifest Destiny.
Saturn = god of agriculture (Roman)
“I have a dream” = Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most famous speech, sewing and cultivating seeds of civil rights and equality that would grow in our nation.
Uranus = father of Saturn (Greek)
“Give me liberty or give me death” = similarly, consider Patrick Henry as progenitor of inspiring the American people to action for what he believes is right, in this case liberty, just as Martin Luther King, Jr. did generations later.
Neptune = god of earthquakes (Roman)
Emancipation Proclamation = figurative earthquake sent through the South by Lincoln’s declaration that freed the slaves
Pluto = god of the underworld (Roman), most distant member of our solar system
Mayflower Compact = most distant (earliest) seed of democracy in our country
* Please note that these works were completed in 2003. On 24 August 2006, the International Astronomical Union defined the term “planet” for the first time. This definition re-classified Pluto as a dwarf planet. Thus, our solar system truly has only eight planets. Despite this fact, I have chosen to include Pluto in this series.