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The Federal Republic of Germany, as a federal state, consists of sixteen states (, sing. ; colloquially also (sing.) /(pl.) , "Federate State/s"). Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen (with its seaport exclave, Bremerhaven) are called  ("city-states"), while the other thirteen states are called  ("area states") and include Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia which describe themselves as  ("free states").

The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") was created in 1949 through the unification of the three western zones previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II. Initially, the states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (in German: ), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (), Lower Saxony (), North Rhine-Westphalia (), Rhineland-Palatinate (), Schleswig-Holstein, Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin, while still under occupation by the Western Allies, viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg. In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland.

The next change occurred in the aftermath of German reunification in 1990, in which the area of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) became part of the Federal Republic, by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (), Saxony (), Saxony-Anhalt (), and Thuringia () to the Federal Republic and by the de facto reunification of West and East Berlin into Berlin and its establishment as a full and equal state. A regional referendum in 1996, to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg as "Berlin-Brandenburg", failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners had voted in favour.

Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany. According to the German constitution, some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and the federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including "culture", which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level, the constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the  ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government".

States
It was the states that formed the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria, where the national Bund ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation.

The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called Staaten ("states"). Today, it is very common to use the term Bundesland (federated Land). However, this term is not used officially in the constitution of 1919 nor in the current one. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of the Weimar Republic, six still exist (though partly with different borders):
 Bavaria
 Bremen
 Hamburg
 Hesse
 Saxony
 Thuringia

The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities:
 Anhalt is now part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
 Baden is now part of Baden-Württemberg.
 Braunschweig is now part of Lower Saxony.
 Lippe is now part of North Rhine-Westphalia.
 Lübeck is now part of Schleswig-Holstein.
 Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz are now parts of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
 Oldenburg is now part of Lower Saxony, with its former exclaves now belonging to their neighbouring states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein.
 Prussia was divided into the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein. Some territories bordering other states were annexed to the bordering state. Also, Prussia had exclaves that were surrounded by other states. These became part of their surrounding states. All states, except Bavaria, now have territory of the former Free State of Prussia. Other former Prussian territories lying east of the rivers Neisse and Oder are now part of Poland or Russia.
 Schaumburg-Lippe is now part of Lower Saxony.
 Württemberg is now part of Baden-Württemberg.

Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among the American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries. Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated." But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception.

List

History

Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states, numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After the Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation. The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states.

Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the Napoleonic Wars to the Congress of Vienna, the number of territories decreased from about 300 to 39; in 1866 Prussia annexed the sovereign states of Hanover, Nassau, Hesse-Kassel, and the Free City of Frankfurt. Prussia and the other states in Northern and Central Germany united as a federal state, the North German Federation, on 1 July 1867. Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, those four states joined the North German Federation which was consequently renamed to German Empire. The parliament and Federal Council decided to give the Prussian king the title of German Emperor (since 1 January 1871). The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Within the empire, 65% of the territory and 62% of the population belonged to the state of Prussia.

After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss, the father of the Weimar Constitution, drafted a plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: "Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory". In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in the configuration of the German states: The 7 Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria, Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favourable to state reforms.

After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the  were gradually  abolished and reduced to provinces under the Nazi regime via the  process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system. Three changes are of particular note: on January 1, 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with the neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act () of 1937, the area of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.

West Germany, 1945–1990

During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. New states were established in all four zones of occupation: Bremen, Hesse, Württemberg-Baden, and Bavaria in the American zone; Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia in the British zone; Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and the Saarland which later received a special status in the French zone; Mecklenburg(-Vorpommern), Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia in the Soviet zone. No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of the pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states.

Former German territory that lay east of the Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. The former provinces of Farther Pomerania, East Prussia, Silesia and Posen-West Prussia fell under Polish administration with the Soviet Union taking the area around Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. More than 8 million Germans had been expelled from these territories that had formed part of the German-speaking lands for centuries and which mostly did not have sizable Polish minorities before 1945. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories, as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time.

In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising the boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others.

As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29 of the Basic Law. There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory: the Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a  had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of a revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each  be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively".

In their letter to Konrad Adenauer, the three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force.

Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states (South Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Württemberg-Baden) merged to form Baden-Württemberg. From 1957, when the French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland, the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the "Old States" today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways de facto integrated with West Germany under a special status.

A new delimitation of the federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics (Werner Rutz, Meinhard Miegel, Adrian Ottnad, etc.) and politicians (Walter Döring, Hans Apel, and others) made proposals some of them far-reaching for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers.

Establishment of Baden-Württemberg

In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into  may be revised, without regard to the provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the  concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger (South Baden refused but was overruled, as the result of total votes was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg.

Petitions to reconstitute former states
With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful:
 Reconstitution of the Free State of Oldenburg 12.9%
 Reconstitution of the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe 15.3%
 Integration of Koblenz and Trier into North Rhine-Westphalia 14.2%
 Reintegration of Rheinhessen into Hesse 25.3%
 Reintegration of Montabaur into Hesse 20.2%
 Reconstitution of Baden 15.1%
The last petition was originally rejected by the Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect the wishes of the majority of Baden's population.

The two Palatine petitions (for a reintegration into Bavaria and integration into Baden-Württemberg) failed with 7.6% and 9.3%. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. The rejection was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in the case of Lübeck.

Saar: the little reunification

In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany.

On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when the Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland.

Constitutional amendments
Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on the grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies.

The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and the referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1.

In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of the Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest.

In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in the northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B).

In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and the Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D).

Both alternatives could be combined (AC, BC, AD, BD).

At the same time, the commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary.

After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from the affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent.

The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden.

The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are the percentages of those eligible who voted in favour):
 reconstitution of the Free State of Oldenburg 31%
 reconstitution of the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe 39.5%
 integration of Koblenz and Trier into North Rhine-Westphalia 13%
 reintegration of Rheinhessen into Hesse 7.1%
 reintegration of Montabaur region into Hesse 14.3%

The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag however decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of the constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court.

On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first. The option for a referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it.

Reunited Germany, 1990–present
East Germany had originally consisted of five states (i.e., Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called Bezirke. Soviet-controlled East Berlin – despite officially having the same status as West Berlin – was declared East Germany's capital and its 15th district.

The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification. While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as the five "New States" on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany.

After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that the West German constitution thus applied to the entire German people. Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and the 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union. Article 29 was again modified and provided an option for the states to "revise the division of their existing territory or parts of their territory by agreement without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (7)". Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to the provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two  with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". A state treaty between Berlin and Brandenburg was approved in both parliaments with the necessary two-thirds majority, but in a popular referendum of 5 May 1996, about 63% voted against the merger.

The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with the consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs.

Some states call themselves a "free state" (). It is merely a historic synonym for "republic" and was a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy after World War I. Today,  is associated emotionally with a more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal significance. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the  (Federal Council), where their voting power depends on the size of their population.

Politics

Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). By calling the document the Grundgesetz, rather than Verfassung (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state.

Amendments to the Grundgesetz generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the Grundgesetz remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments.

Government

The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of the federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the minister-president is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtags members. The minister-president is typically the head of the biggest party of a coalition. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of the state's government. Like in other parliamentary systems, the legislature can dismiss or replace the minister-president after a successful no-confidence vote.

The governments in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are referred to as "senates". In the free states of Bavaria and Saxony, the government is referred to as "state government" (Staatsregierung); and in the other states, the government is referred to as "Land government" (Landesregierung). Before January 1, 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag, and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities, the executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the minister-president is the Senatspräsident (president of the senate), also commonly referred to as Bürgermeister (Mayor) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (first mayor) in Hamburg, and the Regierender Bürgermeister (governing mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft. The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament).

Subdivisions

The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into Districts. The City of Bremen consists of two urban districts: Bremen and Bremerhaven, which are not contiguous. In the other states there are the subdivisions below.

Area associations (Landschaftsverbände)
The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two area associations (Landschaftsverbände), one for the Rhineland, and one for Westphalia-Lippe. This arrangement was meant to ease the friction caused by uniting the two culturally different regions into a single state after World War II. The Landschaftsverbände now have very little power.

The constitution of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at §75 states the right of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern to form Landschaftsverbände, although these two constituent parts of the state are not represented in the current administrative division.

Governmental districts (Regierungsbezirke)
The large states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia are divided into governmental districts, or Regierungsbezirke.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, these districts were abolished on January 1, 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on January 1, 2004, and in Lower Saxony on January 1, 2005. From 1990 until 2012, Saxony was divided into three districts (called Direktionsbezirke since 2008). In 2012, these districts' authorities were merged into one central authority, the .

Administrative districts (Kreise)

The Districts of Germany (Kreise) are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg and the state of Bremen consists of "rural districts" (Landkreise), District-free Towns/Cities (Kreisfreie Städte, in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or Stadtkreise), cities that are districts in their own right, or local associations of a special kind (Kommunalverbände besonderer Art), see below. The state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen consists of two urban districts, while Berlin and Hamburg are states and urban districts at the same time.

As of 2011, there are 295 Landkreise and 107 Kreisfreie Städte, making 402 districts altogether. Each consists of an elected council and an executive, which is chosen either by the council or by the people, depending on the state, the duties of which are comparable to those of a county executive in the United States, supervising local government administration. The Landkreise have primary administrative functions in specific areas, such as highways, hospitals, and public utilities.

Local associations of a special kind are an amalgamation of one or more Landkreise with one or more Kreisfreie Städte to form a replacement of the aforementioned administrative entities at the district level. They are intended to implement simplification of administration at that level. Typically, a district-free city or town and its urban hinterland are grouped into such an association, or Kommunalverband besonderer Art. Such an organization requires the issuing of special laws by the governing state, since they are not covered by the normal administrative structure of the respective states.

In 2010 only three Kommunalverbände besonderer Art exist.
 District of Hanover: formed in 2001 from the rural district of Hanover and the district-free city of Hanover.
 Regionalverband (district association) of Saarbrücken: formed in 2008 from the Stadtverband Saarbrücken (city association of Saarbrücken), which was formed in 1974.
 City region of Aachen: formed in 2009 from the rural district of Aachen and the district-free city of Aachen.

Offices (Ämter)
Ämter ("offices" or "bureaus"): in some states, there is an administrative unit between the districts and the municipalities, called Ämter (singular Amt), Amtsgemeinden, Gemeindeverwaltungsverbände, Landgemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden, Verwaltungsgemeinschaften, or Kirchspiellandgemeinden.

Municipalities (Gemeinden)

Municipalities (Gemeinden): every rural district and every Amt is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban district is a municipality in its own right. There are () 12,141 municipalities, which are the smallest administrative units in Germany. Cities and towns are municipalities as well, also having city rights or town rights (Stadtrechte). Nowadays, this is mostly just the right to be called a city or town. However, in former times there were many other privileges, including the right to impose local taxes or to allow industry only within city limits.

The number of inhabitants of German municipalities differs greatly, the most populous municipality being Berlin with nearly 3.8 million inhabitants, while the least populous municipalities (for instance, Gröde in Nordfriesland) have less than 10 inhabitants.

The municipalities are ruled by elected councils and by an executive, the mayor, who is chosen either by the council or directly by the people, depending on the state. The "constitution" for the municipalities is created by the states and is uniform throughout a state (except for Bremen, which allows Bremerhaven to have its own constitution).

The municipalities have two major policy responsibilities. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or state government. Such programs typically relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. Second, Article 28(2) of the Basic Law guarantees the municipalities "the right to regulate on their own responsibility all the affairs of the local community within the limits set by law". Under this broad statement of competence, local governments can justify a wide range of activities. For instance, many municipalities develop and expand the economic infrastructure of their communities through the development of industrial trading estates.

Local authorities foster cultural activities by supporting local artists, building arts centres, and by holding fairs. Local government also provides public utilities, such as gas and electricity, as well as public transportation. The majority of the funding for municipalities is provided by higher levels of government rather than from taxes raised and collected directly by themselves.

In five of the German states, there are unincorporated areas, in many cases unpopulated forest and mountain areas, but also four Bavarian lakes that are not part of any municipality. As of January 1, 2005, there were 246 such areas, with a total area of 4167.66 km2 or 1.2% of the total area of Germany. Only four unincorporated areas are populated, with a total population of around 2,000. The table below provides an overview.

In 2000, the number of unincorporated areas was 295, with a total area of . However, the unincorporated areas are continually being incorporated into neighboring municipalities, wholly or partially, most frequently in Bavaria.

See also

 Cantons of Switzerland
 Composition of the German state parliaments
 Elections in Germany
 German Bundesländer €2 coins
 Landespolizei'' – German state police
 List of administrative divisions by country
 List of cities and towns in Germany
 List of German states by area
 List of German states by exports
 List of German states by fertility rate
 List of German states by GRP
 List of German states by household income
 List of German states by Human Development Index
 List of German states by life expectancy
 List of German states by population
 List of German states by population density
 List of German states by unemployment rate
 List of states in the Holy Roman Empire – the German states prior to 1815
 States of Austria

Notes

References

External links
 CityMayors feature on Germany subdivisions

Subdivisions of Germany
States
Germany 1
First-level administrative divisions by country
Germany geography-related lists


Reading an Elizabeth Hunter series is very much like putting together a beautiful puzzle. Some books are more involved, like the number of edge pieces that establish the border of the puzzle. Other stories in the series are unique in their own right; even though they fit in the overall tale they can almost stand alone. These are similar to those one or two puzzle pieces that are intriguing on there own. Finally, there are the stories that either bring more detailed understanding about a character or event, or help to build a relationships between characters and advance a plot line. Like the puzzle pieces that start bringing the puzzle together into actual picture; Blood Apprentice reveals deeper layers in the main characters and teases us with anxiously anticipated plot developments.
Blood Apprentice is the fifth work in the contemporary paranormal, Elemental Legacy Series, a spinoff following Benjamin and Tenzin, supporting characters in the Elemental Series. Tenzin, an ancient, Asian vampire that looks more like teenager than one of the most feared predators in the immortal world, has taken to Benjamin since he was first adopted by her good friend Giovanni. Having grown up with vampires, Ben is convinced that he will hold onto his mortality, even while trans versing between worlds. As a young adult, Ben partners with Tenzin to locate and retrieve art treasures for a hefty price. Their "jobs" take them on adventures that test them mentally and physically. But, a mission to Puerto Rico in search of pirate treasure tests them in much more personal ways, underscoring the growing attraction they are both unwilling and unable to admit. While Blood Apprentice still leaves the relationship between Ben and Tenzin unresolved, it does fill in a lot of pieces to their individual stories. We are able to understand them better which gives the series a more complete feeling.
If you are new to Elizabeth Hunter, you will get so much more out of this book and others in the series if you read the Elemental Series first. Elizabeth is such a great writer with consistently good characters and stories. Her world's are realistic and intriguing and always leave you wanting more. I guarantee that once you start you will want to read everything she has written!


text:
The Beehive. The Official Blog of the MHS.
Asi-Yahola and the Second Seminole War
By Susan Martin, Senior Processing Archivist
Today (30 January) marks the 185th anniversary of the death of Asi-Yahola, leader of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Lithograph of Asi-Yahola, ca. 1838, from the collections of the Library of Congress
Asi-Yahola (Anglicized to Osceola) is a fascinating figure with a complex biography. His name was Billy Powell when he was born in 1804 in Alabama—at that time, part of the Mississippi Territory. He and his mother were members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, but after the Creek Wars of 1813-1814, they fled to Florida, where they became members of the Seminole Tribe. When he reached adulthood, he was given the name Asi-Yahola. He is best known as a commander of the Seminoles during what is now called the Second Seminole War.
The only known reference to Asi-Yahola in our manuscript collections is a letter in the Howe-Fogg family papers written by Josiah Fogg, Jr.
In 1837, Fogg was 26 years old and working as a sutler at Fort Mellon (a.k.a. Camp Monroe) in present-day Sanford, Florida. A sutler was a civilian who sold goods to troops. Fogg left the fort on 4 May 1837 and traveled north "to purchase goods for the Florida trade."
Letter from Josiah Fogg, Jr. to his parents, Howe-Fogg family papers, 12 May 1837
Somewhere along the route between Savannah and Charleston, on 12 May, he wrote to his parents at Deerfield, Mass. As you can see in the image above, the letter is torn and stained in several places, but Fogg's writing is thankfully still legible. First he referenced the 8 February attack on Fort Mellon, in which "Capt Mellon was killed and fifteen wounded." Then he name-dropped Asi-Yahola. (I'll retain his misspellings.)
Between the 3rd & 6th of May 2200 warriers have come in at this Post [Fort Mellon]. O-Se-O-lah, with 400 under his command has come in for the first time since the war commenced. I saw him and became well aquainted with him. He traded with me to a considerable amount. He is a fine looking fallow as I ever saw for an Indian appears very friendly says he is ready to move west as soon as he can collect his men togather which are at present very much scattered through the country. […] It is my oppinion he is much the most active and smartest Indian in the nation. I always formed that oppinion by what I heard of him.
I found further context in The Book of the Indians, by Samuel G. Drake (1845), and The Indian Wars of the United States, by Edward S. Ellis (1892). Asi-Yahola had, in fact, brought his warriors to the fort at the beginning of May. According to Ellis:
The Indians professed their desire to make peace, and, during the month of May, there were assembled more than 3000 men, women, and children at Fort Mellon, Lake Monroe, to whom a thousand rations were issued. The chiefs came and went as they pleased, and it did begin to look as if the war was about over, for Osceola had slept in the tent of Colonel Harney. General Jesup was confident that the disgraceful conflict was closed, and the Indians would keep their pledge of departing without further opposition. (p. 269)
Fogg certainly thought the war was nearly over; "no doubt it is the case," he wrote his parents. But while a minority of Seminole chiefs had consented, under certain conditions, to be removed west of the Mississippi River, Asi-Yahola decidedly had not. When Gen. Thomas Jesup started preparing to forcibly transport the Seminoles gathered at Fort Mellon, Asi-Yahola retreated with his people back into the woods.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before he found himself in the hands of the U.S. government anyway. On 21 October 1837, just a few months after he met Fogg, Asi-Yahola was captured under a flag of truce outside St. Augustine, Florida. The man responsible was none other than Gen. Jesup. He'd flouted the rules of engagement, and the Seminoles were outraged, but there wasn't much they could do; Jesup had the support of the U.S. government.
After a short imprisonment at Fort Marion, Asi-Yahola was moved to Fort Moultrie outside Charleston, S.C., where he died of illness on 30 January 1838. He was (probably) 33 years old. He is buried on the grounds of Fort Moultrie.
Several towns, counties, and natural landmarks bear Asi-Yahola's name, and commemorative statues and plaques have been erected in his honor. One statue in Silver Springs, Florida portrays him plunging his knife into a treaty, a depiction which has great symbolic resonance, but which may also, according to historian Donald L. Fixico, be literal.
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Secrets of the Seals
By Daniel Bottino, Rutgers University
The MHS's numerous collections of family papers contain folder after folder of 17th- and 18th-century legal documents, often described in collection guides as "estate papers", "financial papers," or "deeds etc." Preserved here are the details of thousands of long-ago business transactions. In comparison with some of the MHS's high-profile manuscripts—the letters of John and Abigail Adams, the journal of John Winthrop, the papers of Thomas Jefferson—these prosaic documents may seem at first glance to be of little historical value and, frankly, boring.
The seals of multiples grantors on an early eighteenth-century deed. William Hickling Prescott Papers, Box 22, Folder 14. Deed of 1729
My recent research at the MHS has approached these documents from a new perspective: their wax seals. Throughout the entire colonial era and into the beginning of the nineteenth century, legal records required the imprinting of personal seals for validity. In theory, the imagery of every seal was unique, providing a foolproof verification of identity. This colonial practice of sealing possessed a long historical pedigree—a quick trip down the street to the Museum of Fine Arts reveals examples of ancient Mesopotamian seals more than three thousand years old imprinted into clay. A sealer in colonial New England possessed a stamping instrument or "matrix" into which the image of their seal was carved. In the process of sealing, this matrix would be pressed by hand into hot wax onto the paper, usually next to the sealer's signature or mark. Matrices could be elaborate pieces of jewelry, carved of gold or silver and adorned with precious gems, carried attached to a watch or as a ring. Or, for people of more modest means, the simplest matrix was free—their own fingerprints.
A seal made in the form of a fingerprint. William Hickling Prescott Papers, Box 22, Folder 15. Deed of 1734.
Why have I chosen to study these seals, finding and photographing as many as I possibly can? Looking through hundreds of folders of legal records has revealed how integral the practice of sealing was to colonial legal culture, and by extension, colonial society as a whole. The ephemera of sealing culture is ubiquitous in the manuscripts I examine—pieces of broken and decayed seals often fall out when I open a folder, and stray splashes of sealing wax sometimes mark documents, evidence that a sealer's matrix was impressed with force on an adjacent paper centuries ago. Seals are, of course, an inherently visual medium, their symbology capable of being interpreted even by illiterate colonists unable to read the text of legal documents. Their usage testifies to an often-overlooked element of New England colonial society—the fact that, into the 18th century, especially in rural areas, illiteracy was widespread. In such a society, very different from our own hyper-literate world, visual imagery, the materiality of objects, and ritually spoken words all played vital roles in legal transactions. Paying attention to how seals were used will enrich our understanding of this pre-modern society.
The seal of Rebecca Winsor of Boston. Barker-Edes-Noyes Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 1. Deed of 1679.
I am also intrigued by what seals can tell us on a more personal level. The design of each seal was specifically chosen by its owner to represent him or herself. What can these choices reveal about how colonial New Englanders understood their identities? Early in my research, I was struck by the imagery of Rebecca Winsor's firmly impressed seal on a 1679 deed. At first, I was puzzled by what this strange looking bird could represent. But I am now confident that this seal portrays a mother pelican piercing her breast to shed blood for the nourishment of her offspring. This mythical behavior of the pelican is an ancient Christian symbolic representation of the sacrificial nature of motherhood. Rebecca Winsor was a mother of eight children whose husband had died shortly before this deed, in which she sold property to one of her sons. The symbolism of the sacrificial pelican is quite fitting for her life experience and was likely chosen by Mrs. Winsor herself. The seal's black wax, rather than the normal red, is another touching piece of symbolism, for I believe it represents Mrs. Winsor's mourning of her husband.
This seal is one of thousands in the MHS's collections, hundreds of which I have photographed so far. Every seal has a story to tell, and if these stories can be unlocked, we will open a valuable window into a rich world of symbolism, ritual, and beliefs previously hidden from view.
Posted in From Our Collections, Research fellow Leave a comment
Beginning the New Year on thin ice: A 1909 Rescue Report from the Humane Society of Massachusetts records
By Jacob Savory, Processing Assistant
Predating the animal welfare organization of a similar title, the Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was established in 1786 to rescue shipwreck survivors and ships in distress. The Humane Society existed functionally as a precursor to the United States Coast Guard for the shores of Massachusetts and would even reward individuals unaffiliated with the organization who saved others from shipwrecks. As the Humane Society moved through time, it would expand its efforts from lifesaving seashore tasks to financially supporting mental health care facilities and maternity care facilities. Eventually, its recognition of good deeds would transform into rewarding individuals for heroic personal rescues.
These heroic personal rescues take the form of saving individuals from house fires, drownings, and a number of other scenarios, and those rewarded by the Humane Society would often receive medals and sometimes even financial compensation from the Society. The cover of each accident report, featured below, gives loose criteria, stating that only extraordinary acts of service qualify for recognition by the Humane Society.
Detail of a printed Accident Report form, included in each Case and Rescue Report.
One of the first projects assigned to me as a member of the digital production team at the MHS was digitizing Case and Rescue Reports of the Humane Society of Massachusetts records. Spanning 1899 to 1909, the reports most frequently contain a formal accident report, detailed witness testimonies, accompanying newspaper articles, and on rare occasions drawings, pictures, or postcards of the scenario, ship, or location involved.
Case No. 1025 stands out to me among the records, as its file's contents contain one of those rare instances of an accompanying drawing, this one being written by the rescuer himself.
On 1 January 1909, twenty-one-year-old Boston College student Owen J. McGaffigan and friends were ice skating on the frozen Neponset River near the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston, Mass. In a passing glance, Owen saw the hands of a young boy, Albert F. Donahue, age six, sticking up from the icy river, the boy struggling to stay afloat. Though not knowing the boy, Owen immediately threw off his overcoat and dove into the water to his rescue.
From McGaffigan's account of the rescue.
With this struggle, Owen was able to deliver Albert to safety thanks to the crowd ashore. Due to the weight of Owen's skates, however, Owen found himself in the same dangerous position from which he had just saved Albert. Other young men playing hockey nearby fortunately came to McGaffigan's rescue, successfully pulling him from the frigid waters.
McGaffigan's drawing of the scenario.
The drawing Owen submitted to the Humane Society clearly depicts the scene, the depth of the waters, the movement of the current, and the danger of the situation. Though McGaffigan and the boy came out of the situation with their lives, McGaffigan wrote to the Humane Society that he was taken sick from Monday, 4 January until Wednesday, 20 January.
The case file also contains correspondence suggesting the other boys involved in pulling Albert to shore should be recognized and compensated, but ultimately the Humane Society deemed McGaffigan as the primary hero in this scenario, having risked his own life by jumping into the freezing water while wearing heavy skates and getting extremely ill for half a month's time as a result.
The Case and Rescue Reports of the Humane Society of Massachusetts records are almost entirely digitized and are freely available for online viewing through the collection guide. Due to the nature of these reports, it is extremely important to note the sensitivity of information the records contain – not every rescue produced positive results, and instances of mental health crises, tragic childhood deaths, devastating loss, and detailed descriptions of death permeate this collection.
Exploring the Mysteries of Time and Space
By Meg Szydlik, Visitor Services Coordinator
One thing I love about the collections at the Massachusetts Historical Society is the incredible range of different subjects contained within. So as the granddaughter of a particle physicist, I wanted to check out some science-based items and stumbled across The Mysteries of Time and Space, an astronomy book written by Richard A. Proctor in 1883. It promised diagrams and illustrations, and as someone who loves to learn about the stars and the universe, I thought it would be a promising choice for a blog post. I would never claim to be an expert on the mysteries of time and space, but perhaps that is precisely the right mindset to present this fascinating book to you.
Illustration of Pliny's Comets from The Mysteries of Time and Space
The text itself was much less dry than I expected. Although there were many footnotes and lots of technical language, Proctor never had any problem slipping sly comments into his narration and that made the experience much more interesting than the content alone. One of my favorite pieces of commentary was in his section on comets and the end of the world, where he noted that "the year 1001 began, and still the world endured, with every sign of continuing." His attitude towards astrology and predictions was interesting, because while he frequently raised an eyebrow at these beliefs, and he went through the process of breaking down any links between comets (commonly seen as harbingers of doom) and predicted events, he also seemingly acknowledged that astrology was not inherently wrong. This is a sentiment I have a hard time envisioning my own grandfather echo. It makes me wonder if he was alone in this, or if his contemporaries had similar views and if so, when they shifted.
Though it was clear to me that many advancements have been made since then, I loved reading through the thought process at the time and comparing it to what my understanding is. The creation of far more powerful telescopes, advanced imaging, and of course the launching of spaceships have all dramatically impacted our understanding of the universe in a way Proctor and other scientists of the 1800s could never have imagined in their wildest dreams. The diagrams and images in this book, as beautiful and interesting as they are, can hardly compare to the colorful photographs that were in my textbooks, even in elementary school. Proctor proposes theories about comets and the surface of the sun that I know the answer to! The intervening 140 years have radically changed what we recognize to be true, and yet the scientific process is roughly the same.
Illustration of the Comet of 1843 from The Mysteries of Time and Space
Despite the knowledge gap, I think that the spirit of The Mysteries of Time and Space is one I want to emulate. Proctor's slight irreverence does not detract from his largely solid scientific inquiry. And certainly, as evidenced from the title, there was a sense of wonder at the universe and space that is really stunning and truthfully, a bit inspiring. To quote Proctor once again, "science tries to explain everything, and we must not be too precise in such matters."
Take a Hike!: Adams Advice for the New Year
By Gwen Fries, The Adams Papers
Every January we're bombarded with advertisements for the sneakers, the stationary bike, or the protein shake that's going to transform our lives. The strange New Year's cocktail of hope and shame leads many to splurge on workout gear and gym memberships only to abandon them a week or two later. If that's you, you're in good company. In 1756 John Adams admitted to his diary, "I am constantly forming, but never executing good resolutions."
May I suggest you look to the Adamses rather than advertising executives as you plan your 2023? The Adamses were concerned with their health too, but they took a simpler, more attainable approach that didn't cost a dime. John Adams wrote.
"Neither medicine nor diet nor any thing would ever succeed with me, without exercise in open air: and although riding in a carriage, has been found of some use, and on horseback still more; yet none of these have been found effectual with me in the last resort, but walking."
Over the years John and Abigail Adams suggested walking as a cure for headaches, stomachaches, weight gain, weight loss, anxious hearts, tired eyes, overwork, and the winter blues.
"Our Bodies are framed of such materials as to require constant exercise to keep them in repair, to Brace the Nerves and give vigor to the Animal functions. thus do I give you Line upon Line, & precept upon precept," Abigail wrote to her son John Quincy in 1787. "A Sedantary Life will infallibly destroy your Health," she cautioned her eldest son, "and then it will be of little avail that you have trim'd the midnight Lamp. In the cultivation of the mind care should be taken, not to neglect or injure the body upon which the vigor of the mind greatly depends."
Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 December 1798 (Adams Family Papers)
Walking on a treadmill will benefit the body, but a walk in the fresh air will benefit the soul. "Exercise and the Air and smell of salt Water is wholesome," John Adams wrote in his diary. "Take your fresh Air, and active Exercise regularly," he encouraged his son. Even in the middle of winter, walking outside can bolster the spirit. "Cold clear Air" had the ability to give "a Spring to the System," Adams believed.
Whatever you choose to do this year, be gentle with yourself. Let the tender advice John Adams gave his son serve you as well:
"Take care of your Health. The smell of a Midnight lamp is very unwholesome. Never defraud yourself of your sleep, nor of your Walk. You need not now be in a hurry."
You've got all of 2023 before you. You need not be in a hurry.
The Adams Papers editorial project at the Massachusetts Historical Society gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our sponsors. Major funding of the edition is currently provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and the Packard Humanities Institute.
Posted in From Our Collections Tagged Adams Papers
The Life and Loves of Amy Lee Colt, Part 3
Page from the diary of Amy Lee Colt in the Joseph Lee papers
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on the diary of Amy Lee, I told you about her teenage years, her crushes, her friends, her thoughts on life, and the death of her mother in 1920. I'd like to finish her story by looking in depth at the last three entries in the volume, which pick up when Amy was probably 18 or 19 years old.
All three entries are undated, but the first is titled "Chis," which was the nickname of her future husband Charles Cary Colt.
It is hard to know where to begin in describing him, the task is so big that my mind balks and becomes dazed. […] Somehow when he smiles I don't see anything particular, I just feel happy and like throwing my arms around his neck.
Amy gushed about Chis's charisma, courage, sense of humor, ambition, and intelligence. She loved him, but also admitted parenthetically, "(I'm scared to death of him)," and even asked her recently deceased mother, "Dear mother please tell me if I should say yes just yet." It's likely Chis had proposed, and Amy was using her diary to work out her feelings. Her ambivalence is very relatable, I think, as she ponders her future with a series of unanswered questions.
Am I sure enough and is he sure enough is it love that makes me so bewildered, at times so weak, almost sick? […] I stammer and stutter when I am with him, I do not trust myself. Is it love or is his will surplanting [sic] my own? […] Where am I falling shall I try to climb back or shall I jump and make it quick – but where would I land? Would Chis be always there – Does he love me or his idea of me – could I keep up the bluff?
The next entry in the diary was written after Amy had accepted Chis's proposal. But she was still intimidated by the prospect of marriage, writing "the popular fancy held at least by most young girls, that love is a door into a blissful, carefree peaceful paradise is decidedly an illusion," and wishing sometimes that she could run and hide. She described herself as "frightened and shaking" and prayed to God for help.
Amy's ideas about the role and duties of a wife were shaped by her day and age. To be the ideal wife required, as she put it, "stiff self-training," including "much reading" to keep up with Chis's intellectual interests. Parts of this entry are written in the second person; Amy lectured herself, "You've accepted a gigantic undertaking – you can not let it down one inch." (Throughout her diary, in fact, Amy switched her audience in interesting ways, sometimes addressing her reader, sometimes herself, and sometimes a third person.)
The final entry in Amy's diary was apparently added in early December 1924, one year into her marriage and one month after the birth of her first child. Amy was very happy; her husband was patient and helpful, and even got along with his father-in-law! But she was especially rapturous about the arrival of Charles Cary Colt, Jr.
His eyes are still kitten eyes and give him a most helpless look that goes right to the heart. He seems very bewildered to be suddenly (not so very suddenly at that) ushered into this strange world, and not so awfully pleased.
Particularly moving is her description of the physical and emotional sensation of feeding her baby for the first time. Her frankness is rare in historical manuscripts.
When he first put his little cupid mouth to my breast to drink I felt a great longing to cry out against the inconquerable march of time. Like all mothers since Eve it filled me with sadness to think how soon he would be independent of me – be where I couldn't protect him. My little tiger tugs at my breast with the most concentrated business-like air. […] Sometimes his little feet kick my side and his flowerlike hands rest on my breast.
On Thanksgiving day 1924, the Colt family moved into a new home, and Amy said she had "never been so utterly happy in all my life." Records indicate that she would go on to have at least seven more children. Amy died in her nineties on 6 January 1996 and was followed by her husband nine months later.
During my research, I discovered that the MHS holds a book about Amy's mother, Letters and Diaries of Margaret Cabot Lee, printed in 1923. While this book, of course, focuses on Margaret, I did find this reference to Amy in a letter Margaret sent to her sister in 1919, which made me smile: "I am glad you appreciate my child, you must n't appreciate her too much but she is quite winsome."
That book also contains a reproduction of this lovely photograph of a young Amy with her mother.
Amy Lee and her mother Margaret at their home in Cohasset, Mass., printed in Letters and Diaries of Margaret Cabot Lee
The diary of Amy Lee Colt is part of the papers of her father Joseph Lee here at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Posted in From Our Collections
Silhouettes vs. Photography
By Heather Rockwood, Communications Associate
I love when different aspects of history intervene with each other. As my specialty is art history, I'm especially curious when developments or movements in art affect the ones preceding them—as seems to have happened when photography's advent and popularity coincided with the waning of silhouettes as a popular form of portraiture.
Silhouettes came into fashion in the 18th century. Those skilled in the art form would travel around making silhouettes mostly for people who could not afford painted portraits. They were popular regardless of income and many wealthier people would commission silhouettes. A silhouette—a "shade" or "profile"—could be made in any media: painted, drawn, sewn, or cut from paper, this last method the most popular. The sitter's image could be made freehand with scissors cutting paper, or by using light to trace a shadow. The cut out paper shape would then be pasted onto contrasting paper to make it stand out. What made this type of portraiture so popular was its convenience—almost anyone could do it in a few minutes—and at low cost. However, the same could be said of photography, even early photography. Although there was an initial set up cost to purchase or make a camera, the chemicals to develop the images were inexpensive and widely available. A photographer could take many portraits in a day. Photography, though, also had the irresistible advantage of capturing a person's true likeness.
The MHS has a great collection of silhouettes, a few of my favorites shown below. I'll start with the Adams Family which features silhouettes from 1829 of Louisa Catherine Adams (1775–1852), John Quincy Adams (1767–1848), John Adams (1803–1834), Mary Louisa Adams (1828–1859), Mary Catherine Hellen Adams (1806–1870), Abigail Smith Adams (1744–1818), and Mary Roberdeau (1774-?).
Family of John Quincy Adams, Master Hankes, 1829.
I also find this silhouette of Mrs. John Chadwick and two daughters endearing as the figures are full-bodied, showing off their fashionable clothes. It's also touching that Mrs. Chadwick and her daughters appear to be holding hands. Another thing I love about this silhouette is that its creator lightly embellished the black cutout with a whitewash to highlight some of the details. You can see those details when you enlarge the online image here.
Silhouette of Mrs. John Chadwick and daughters, black paper with Chinese white details and ink wash on white cardstock, unidentified artist, 1833.
And the last silhouette I'll share is part of the ongoing exhibition, Our Favorite Things—a silhouette of Lucy Flucker Knox from 1790. Of course, the towering hairdo and gravity-defying hat make this image stand out from the other more traditional silhouettes in the MHS collection, which is why I want to share it.
Silhouette of Lucy Flucker Knox, circa 1790.
To see more silhouettes in the MHS collection see this search here.
Why is Early American Literature So Sad?
By Emily "Em" Gates, Georgia State University
Historical Cases of Melancholia and Their Relationship to American's Literary Beginnings
My dissertation project, entitled "A Young, Sad Country: Melancholia in Colonial New England and Its Impact on Early American Literature" investigates the relationship between historical cases of melancholia, an early name for depression, and the creation of an American literary tradition. I chose this topic because I noticed that in early American scholarship there was less focus on mental afflictions than those affecting the body, and that the general tone of many works of early American literature was very sad in nature, featuring either melancholic characters or tragic plotlines. For this project, I felt it was extremely important to link literary works with archival documents in order to demonstrate how context from the world an author lives in can shape the fiction they write.
I am very grateful to have received the NERFC fellowship, as it gave me access to a treasure trove of archival documents related to the eighteenth-century understanding, treatment, and experience of living with mental illness. The method I use to organize my dissertation anchors works of early American literature to their real-life counterparts through close-reading and comparative analysis, using eighteenth century medical and religious documents to help typify early American literature as narratives exemplifying love and/or religious melancholia1. The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) was particularly useful because it provided sources that relate directly to the literary works I am examining.
One work I explore is Hawthorne's short story "The Minister's Black Veil" (1836), the main character of which is based on Reverend Joseph "Handkerchief" Moody of York, Maine. Moody was a minister prone to bouts of melancholy and Hawthorne effectively captures in language the darkness that surrounded Moody, basing his story on a period where Moody wore a handkerchief over his face, an act that concerned and confused his parishioners. At the MHS, I read Philip McIntire Woodwell's Handkerchief Moody: The Diary & The Man, which provided effective biographical insight and allowed me to read Moody's diary in his own words. It is clear from Moody's diary that religious melancholy pervaded his life, causing him to doubt his self-worth, mental stability, and most importantly, the state of his soul. Moody uses negative language to describe himself, saying he is "of a very inconstant mind2", feels as though "all my religion has very nearly vanished3" and that his soul is "So deeply insensible4" and "wretched5." Interestingly, Moody's language and choice of imagery echoes other historical cases of religious melancholia I've encountered, notably Benjamin Lyon of Connecticut and the Reverend Edward Taylor of Westfield, MA, whose diaries and sermons help corroborate my theory of melancholia being a prevalent affliction in early America.
In my dissertation, I also analyze William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy (1789), a dramatization of the scandalous affair between politician Perez Morton and Boston heiress Francis "Fanny" Theodora Apthorp6, and Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple (1794), which are both examples of seduction novels. Each major historical case I look at shares a fictionalization in early American literature that adds to the mythos passed down through the American media and word of mouth, perpetuating melancholia as a key theme in our earliest works. Additionally, I argue, the subject matter of each narrative also points us towards the need for a closer examination of melancholia as a prevalent affliction across all demographics in multiple colonies—an important context I scrutinize using evidence from medical practitioners' account books and diaries and religious authorities' sermons and journals across New England. There is still much more material to sift through and many ideas left to develop, but I am confident, thanks to my time at the MHS and the other NERFC member institutions I visited, that my project will demonstrate the high prevalence of melancholia in New England and its influence on the creation of our nation's earliest literature.
1. The types of melancholy used in this dissertation, as well as their definitions, come from Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621).
2. Moody, Joseph. Handkerchief Moody: The Diary & The Man, edited byPhilip McIntire Woodwell. 3 Apr. 1721. Massachusetts Historical Society.
3. ——————. Handkerchief Moody: The Diary & The Man, edited byPhilip McIntire Woodwell. 14 Apr. 1721. Massachusetts Historical Society.
4-5. ——————. Handkerchief Moody: The Diary & The Man, edited byPhilip McIntire Woodwell. 6 Apr. 1723. Massachusetts Historical Society.
6. Morton and Apthorp were brother and sister-in-law and their affair rocked Boston in 1788. The affair resulted in an illegitimate child and led to Apthorp's suicide. Fanny Apthorp's suicide note to Perez Morton is available at the MHS and I was able to read it during my time there in August 2022.
Posted in From Our Collections, Research fellow
One Librarian's Objects of the Month
By Hannah Elder, Assistant Reference Librarian for Rights & Reproductions
Let's face it: the MHS has a lot of cool stuff. As the assistant reference librarian for rights and reproductions, I get to see some of that stuff as I pull it for researchers in the reading room and further afield. When something catches my eye, I get out my phone and take a photo of it to share with friends, family, and my fellow librarians. As the year comes to a close, I was reflecting on some of those photos and wanted to share them with you. Here is a compilation of some of the wonderful collection items I saw this year.
January: Binney family mourning bracelet
This bracelet was made ca. 1847 to commemorate Amos Binney and his mother, Hannah, who both died on 18 February 1847, but on opposite sides of the Atlantic. The central chamber holds a miniature portrait of Amos and a lock of hair that may have been Hannah's.
February: Tide chart for Boston from the 3 June 1763 edition of the Boston Evening-Post
Having grown up on the coast, I was delighted to see this tide chart for a week in the summer of 1763. It's also interesting to note the times for sunrise and sunset. Since we as a society did not yet practice daylight savings, the times for both sunrise and sunset are much earlier than we are used to.
March: Baby's first photograph in Henry P. Binney's baby book
I found this baby book while including Binney's 1922 diary from my March blog post and was immediately enchanted by it. Other pages included descriptions of baby's first outing, clippings from his first haircut, and other photos of Henry's first years of life. The love of his parents is evident on every page.
April: inventory of chairs from Elizabeth R. Child's estate
I found this list while working on a reproduction order and was struck by the number of chairs in a single house. I think my favorite is the old rocking chair.
May: Printing plate for The Congress voting independence
When I pulled this plate for a researcher in the reading room I thought it looked familiar, and for good reason: the print hangs in the library! Having both the printing plate and the final print feels special and is a great opportunity to learn more about printing history.
June: a scrap of paper from the Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts
I found this scrap of paper while searching for an inventory in the Jefferson papers. It is simply labeled "strip of paper w/ numbers" and is undated. I'm not sure why this scrap remained with the collection, but I'm glad it did!
July: The Irish in America by Carl Wittke
One of our printed resources, I found this in the stacks and photographed it to share with a friend.
August: Fred's Breeches
Another item requested by a researcher, this charcoal, chalk, and crayon drawing amused all of the library staff.
September: The Castorland Journal
This journal, written in French by Simon Desjardins, describes the journey of the New York Company, a group of French emigrants who settled in New York in 1797. This page is a part of the topographical survey of the land.
October: Voltaire's An essay on universal history
This set of volumes caught my eye in the stacks one day. I appreciate their various conditions, and the places you can see where volumes one and two would have matched volume three.
November: recipe for Thanksgiving Pudding from the Frances A. Frothingham recipe book
Thinking back to my gingerbread blog post from last year, I decided to check out some other cookbooks in the collection. Many pages in the cookbook were covered in splatters like the ones on this page. I love the signs of use and hope that Frances and her loved ones enjoyed many Thanksgiving puddings.
December: Edgecomb (Maine) tax list, 1795-1796
My family came to visit the library a couple of weeks ago, so I pulled one of the items in the collection related to our home town. We had fun looking for names that we recognized, from local landmarks and from local families. For instance, Moses Davis is the namesake for Davis Island in Edgecomb.
I hope you enjoyed this look back with me! If you want to see any of these items, or any other items from the collection, come visit us in the library in the new year!
Year in Review: The Most Popular MHS Social Media Posts of 2022
What do a circus tent, a snowstorm, players from the 1967 Red Sox players, and a submarine have in common? They were all featured in some of our most popular social media posts of 2022. Let's look back at these and other 2022 social media posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
On Twitter, our most popular post of the year was a video featuring Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman, MHS's award winners for excellence in historical writing. The event is also available as a podcast.
Twitter post featuring a video of Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman.
Our second most popular post of the year on Twitter was an "On this day in history" post—#OTDH—about the 1776 Liberty Bell and the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
Twitter post featuring an image of the cracked Liberty Bell.
The third most popular MHS Twitter post of the year was an image featuring a circus tent. A painting of a P.T. Barnum circus tent on the very spot where the MHS building now stands.
Twitter post featuring a painted image of a circus tent.
On Facebook, our most popular post of the year went viral, reaching 2 million people! It told of a snowstorm that day, along with a photograph from the MHS collection of a snowstorm in New York City in 1888. Many people reminisced in the comments about the famous Blizzard of 1978 that resembled the image, with its blanketing of snow. And they equated it to the Children's Blizzard, which happened in 1888 in Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, and eastern Dakota Territory.
Facebook post featuring an image of a boy leaning against a dug-out wall of snow next to some buildings in New York City.
Our second most popular Facebook post from 2022 featured a blog post about a very sick John Quincy Adams traveling by coach, boat, and private carriage to give the keynote address at the opening of the Cincinnati Observatory in 1843.
Facebook post with an image of the Cincinnati Observatory on Mount Adams, named after John Quincy Adams.
The third most popular post on Facebook announced a new temporary exhibition at the MHS, "Impossible Dreamers: The Pennant-Winning 1967 Boston Red Sox." It was on display August-September 2022.
Facebook post with an image of three baseball players holding up two fingers each.
On Instagram the most popular MHS post of the year was a video of a temporary exhibition of love letters between John and Abigail (Smith) Adams before their marriage. These letters featured John Adams's famous "Miss Adorable" letter to Abigail.
A still of the Instagram Reel of a video panning across John and Abigail Adams portraits and a display case with several of their love letters.
The MHS's second most popular Instagram post of the year was another "On this day in history" (#OTHD) featuring a 1789-1790 map of the Northwest Territory—part of present-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota—and related to Congress's enacting the Northwest Ordinance, which allowed states to be formed free of enslavement in that designated area.
Map of the middle and eastern portion of the United States in 1789–1790, with the Northwest Territory featured.
The last post we'll share today—MHS's third most popular Instagram post of 2022—is both an "On this day in history" (#OTDH) and a blog post. It features the story of the first submarine used for warfare during the American Revolution in 1776.
Instagram post of a diagram of the first submarine used in warfare during the American Revolution in 1776.
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Finally, there isn't a shred of evidence to support the widely accepted assumption that homework yields nonacademic benefits for students of any age. The idea that homework teaches good work habits or develops positive character traits (such as self-discipline and independence) could be described as an urban myth except for the fact that it's taken seriously in suburban and rural areas, too.
In short, regardless of one's criteria, there is no reason to think that most students would be at any sort of disadvantage if homework were sharply reduced or even eliminated. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of American schools – elementary and secondary, public and private – continue to require their students to work a second shift by bringing academic assignments home. Not only is this requirement accepted uncritically, but the amount of homework is growing, particularly in the early grades. A large, long-term national survey found that the proportion of six- to-eight-year-old children who reported having homework on a given day had climbed from 34 percent in 1981 to 58 percent in 1997 – and the weekly time spent studying at home more than doubled.
Sandra Hofferth of the University of Maryland, one of the authors of that study, has just released an update based on 2002 data. Now the proportion of young children who had homework on a specific day jumped to 64 percent, and the amount of time they spent on it climbed by another third. The irony here is painful because with younger children the evidence to justify homework isn't merely dubious – it's nonexistent.
All these explanations are plausible, but I think there's also something else responsible for our continuing to feed children this latter-day cod-liver oil. Because many of us believe it's just common sense that homework would provide academic benefits, we tend to shrug off the failure to find any such benefits. In turn, our belief that homework ought to help is based on some fundamental misunderstandings about learning.
The statement "People need time to learn things" is true, of course, but it doesn't tell us much of practical value. On the other hand, the assertion "More time usually leads to better learning" is considerably more interesting. It's also demonstrably untrue, however, because there are enough cases where more time doesn't lead to better learning.
In fact, more hours are least likely to produce better outcomes when understanding or creativity is involved. Anderson and his associates found that when children are taught to read by focusing on the meaning of the text (rather than primarily on phonetic skills), their learning does "not depend on amount of instructional time." In math, too, as another group of researchers discovered, time on task is directly correlated to achievement only if both the activity and the outcome measure are focused on rote recall as opposed to problem solving.
Carole Ames of Michigan State University points out that it isn't "quantitative changes in behavior" – such as requiring students to spend more hours in front of books or worksheets – that help children learn better. Rather, it's "qualitative changes in the ways students view themselves in relation to the task, engage in the process of learning, and then respond to the learning activities and situation." In turn, these attitudes and responses emerge from the way teachers think about learning and, as a result, how they organize their classrooms. Assigning homework is unlikely to have a positive effect on any of these variables. We might say that education is less about how much the teacher covers than about what students can be helped to discover – and more time won't help to bring about that shift.
Alongside an overemphasis on time is the widely held belief that homework "reinforces" the skills that students have learned – or, rather, have been taught — in class. But what exactly does this mean? It wouldn't make sense to say "Keep practicing until you understand" because practicing doesn't create understanding – just as giving kids a deadline doesn't teach time-management skills. What might make sense is to say "Keep practicing until what you're doing becomes automatic." But what kinds of proficiencies lend themselves to this sort of improvement?
The answer is behavioral responses. Expertise in tennis requires lots of practice; it's hard to improve your swing without spending a lot of time on the court. But to cite an example like that to justify homework is an example of what philosophers call begging the question. It assumes precisely what has to be proved, which is that intellectual pursuits are like tennis.
Brownell's insights have been enriched by a long line of research demonstrating that the behaviorist model is, if you'll excuse the expression, deeply superficial. People spend their lives actively constructing theories about how the world works, and then reconstructing them in light of new evidence. Lots of practice can help some students get better at remembering an answer, but not to get better at – or even accustomed to — thinking. And even when they do acquire an academic skill through practice, the way they acquire it should give us pause. As psychologist Ellen Langer has shown, "When we drill ourselves in a certain skill so that it becomes second nature," we may come to perform that skill "mindlessly," locking us into patterns and procedures that are less than ideal.
But even if practice is sometimes useful, we're not entitled to conclude that homework of this type works for most students. It isn't of any use for those who don't understand what they're doing. Such homework makes them feel stupid; gets them accustomed to doing things the wrong way (because what's really "reinforced" are mistaken assumptions); and teaches them to conceal what they don't know. At the same time, other students in the same class already have the skill down cold, so further practice for them is a waste of time. You've got some kids, then, who don't need the practice and others who can't use it.
Furthermore, even if practice was helpful for most students, that doesn't mean they need to do it at home. In my research I found a number of superb teachers (at different grade levels and with diverse instructional styles) who rarely, if ever, found it necessary to assign homework. Some not only didn't feel a need to make students read, write, or do math at home; they preferred to have students do these things during class where it was possible to observe, guide, and discuss.
Finally, any theoretical benefit of practice homework must be weighed against the effect it has on students' interest in learning. If slogging through worksheets dampens one's desire to read or think, surely that wouldn't be worth an incremental improvement in skills. And when an activity feels like drudgery, the quality of learning tends to suffer, too. That so many children regard homework as something to finish as quickly as possible – or even as a significant source of stress — helps to explain why it appears not to offer any academic advantage even for those who obediently sit down and complete the tasks they've been assigned. All that research showing little value to homework may not be so surprising after all.
Supporters of homework rarely look at things from the student's point of view, though; instead, kids are regarded as inert objects to be acted on: Make them practice and they'll get better. My argument isn't just that this viewpoint is disrespectful, or that it's a residue of an outdated stimulus-response psychology. I'm also suggesting it's counterproductive. Children cannot be made to acquire skills. They aren't vending machines such that we put in more homework and get out more learning.
But just such misconceptions are pervasive in all sorts of neighborhoods, and they're held by parents, teachers, and researchers alike. It's these beliefs that make it so hard even to question the policy of assigning regular homework. We can be shown the paucity of supporting evidence and it won't have any impact if we're wedded to folk wisdom ("practice makes perfect"; more time equals better results).
On the other hand, the more we learn about learning, the more willing we may be to challenge the idea that homework has to be part of schooling.


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Algeria: Getting it Right and Wrong
Martin Evans offers a frank reassessment of his article on 30 years of Algerian independence, published in History Today in 1992.
Martin Evans | Published in History Today Volume 63 Issue 3 March 2013
My intention when writing this article 20 years ago was to reflect upon 30 years of Algerian independence. Using a historian's eye, I wanted to capture a sense of what these three decades meant for Algerians: how they were related to a colonial past and how they connected to other futures.
As a postgraduate student I had been doing fieldwork in Algeria over the previous three years. This involved interviews with veterans from the bloody war of national liberation against the French that lasted from 1954 to 1962, some of whom now held the reins of power in the post-independence state. So, while studying history, I also had the sense of being caught up in history, because it was clear that this veteran generation was a target of hatred for young Algerians. As the economy fell apart during the 1980s, young Algerians resented the misery of mass unemployment and spiralling food prices: a reality that was light years away from the regime's revolutionary claim to be 'by the people and for the people'.
I sought to capture this polarised atmosphere. I wanted to convey the clash between the young and the old that erupted into riots in Algiers in October 1988, which left hundreds dead. This is why I wrote of the young Algerians who gleefully ignored the pleadings of one war-time veteran, as he told them to stop ransacking his furniture shop in central Algiers.
I also wanted to communicate the heady excitement. In the wake of October 1988, President Chadli Bendjedid ushered in a political transition process where unprecedented press freedoms were accompanied by a multi-party system. Suddenly Algerians were alive to new possibilities. However, as the article underlines, the principal beneficiary was the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), formed in 1989. Building upon a network of mosques, the FIS quickly established itself as the main opposition to the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN). In January 1992 the FIS was poised to take power after national elections, at which point the army rolled out the tanks to cancel the electoral process.
Re-reading this article reminds me why contemporary history is difficult to do. The danger is that one is just too close to the events. There is no distance to make sense of the wider picture.
What did I get right? I was correct about the impact of the economic crisis of the 1980s, the so-called 'Black Decade' for Algerians. I was right about how this crisis fed into a generational divide that climaxed in October 1988; still, in my opinion, the major event in post-independence Algeria. I was right, too, about the rise of the FIS. Its rhetoric of 'social justice, better living standards and full employment' appealed to 'large sections of the poor and dispossessed' because it articulated their anger towards the status quo. But I was also correct to caution against any unqualified FIS victory. In the first round of the cancelled electoral process the FIS secured just a quarter of the votes because of the low turnout.
The tone is pessimistic, even if I argued that the country had momentarily avoided 'a bloody and bitter civil war'. How wrong I was. In the month of publication Mohammed Boudiaf, one of the historic leaders of the anti-colonial struggle, who returned from exile to take up the presidency, was assassinated live on television, almost certainly at the behest of a regime insider who disliked his anti-corruption drive. Then in 1993 Algeria tipped over into the abyss. Armed Islamist groups unleashed a wave of terrorism that brought terrifying counter-violence from the army regime. In the ten years that followed, the 'Red Decade', as many as 200,000 Algerians died; a nightmare that neither I nor anyone else predicted.
Clearly, too, I underestimated the strength of the system. The army was too strong, while the Islamist guerrillas were too divided. They had no real political programme beyond violence, violence and more violence. However the article's conclusion still holds true, I feel. In 1992 there was a huge gulf between rulers and ruled and two decades on, despite the vestiges of a democratic process, this is still the fundamental divide in Algerian society. No less significantly, the article reminds us that political protest and elections are not a new phenomenon in the Middle East and North Africa.
Read Martin's original article
Martin Evans is professor of Modern European History at the University of Sussex and the author of Algeria: France's Undeclared War (Oxford University Press, 2012)
AlgeriaIslam
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Jessica Savitch quotes
Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television news presenter and correspondent, best known for being the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and daily presenter of NBC News updates during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Savitch was one of the first women to anchor an evening network news broadcast alone, following in the footsteps of Marlene Sanders of ABC News and Catherine Mackin of NBC News. She also hosted PBS's public affairs documentary program Frontline from its January 1983 debut until her death in an automobile accident later that year.
Died: 1983-10-23
Nickname: Jessica Beth Savitch
Occupation: Television, journalist
No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one.
Thomas John Brokaw is an American television journalist and author, best known for being the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News for 22 years . He is the only person to have hosted all three major NBC News programs: The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and, briefly, Meet the Press. He now serves as a Special Correspondent for NBC News and works on documentaries for other outlets.
Tammy Faye Bakker
Tamara Faye LaValley Bakker Messner was an American Christian singer, evangelist, entrepreneur, author, talk show host, and television personality.
Nora Ephron was an American writer and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Writing: for Silkwood , When Harry Met Sally... , and Sleepless in Seattle . She won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for When Harry Met Sally.... She sometimes wrote with her sister Delia Ephron. Her last film was Julie & Julia. Her first produced play, Imaginary Friends , was honored as one of the ten best plays of the 2002-03 New York theatre season. She also co-authored the Drama Desk Award–winning theatrical production Love, Loss, and What I Wore. In 2013, Ephron received a posthumous Tony Award nomination for Best Play for Lucky Guy.
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to women students. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.


Betzefer (Hebrew: בצפר) is an Israeli groove metal band, originating from the communal settlement Maccabim-Re'ut. The band was formed up in 1998 and was signed to Roadrunner Records from 2005 to 2007. Betzefer is notable for becoming Israel's first heavy metal band to have released its debut album on a major heavy metal label.
Freedom To The Slave Makers has taken quite a while to surface. After leaving Roadrunner Records in 2007 with mixed feelings from both the band and label, Betzefer regrouped in 2008 with with producer Warren Riker (who's previously been behind the desk for both Korn and Down) and headed into the studio with the intention of releasing their next record before the year was out. Fast forward to 2011. Only surfacing for a mere handful of shows during the intervening period, Betfezer seemed to have very little to show for such prolonged delays.


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Q: A uniqueness problem of PDE Let $P(D)$ be a nontrivial constant coefficient partial differential operator, where $D:=-i\partial \,.$
Show that the equation $P(D)u=0$ has no nonzero solutions $u\in M^\prime$, where $M^\prime$ means the set of distributions over the space of smooth functions.
I have come up with an idea, but there are some details which I can not fill in.
The story is using the Fourier Transform. Note that $\widehat{Du}=\xi \hat u$, where $\hat u$ means the Fourier Transform of $u$.  So we have $0=\widehat {P(D)u}=P(\xi)\hat u$.
(True Statement) Assume $u\in M^\prime$, then $\hat u$ is analytic.
Note that $P$ is a polynomial, and the number of its zeros is finite, so the set of $P$ vanishing is closed. And so $\hat u$ vanishes on an open set. Since it is analytic, we conclude that $\hat u$ is identically zero. Since the Fourier Transform is bijective on the dual of the Schwartz space, which contains $M^\prime$, we conclude that $u$ is identically zero.
My problem now is how to prove the "Ture Statement" above. If it is proved, then we are done.
Any help will be appreciated.

A: I've found a proof. See Theorem $7.1.14$, The Analysis of Linear Partial Differential Operators I, Lars Hormander.

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