It was historical when Joe Biden this week announced his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and not just because one of the youngest-ever senators is now one of the oldest presidential candidates. Biden, a native of Scranton, moved to Delaware at age 10 and got elected to the U.S. Senate at age 30, representing Delaware voters until 2009 when he became vice president.

One of Biden’s first endorsements came from Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. senator, Bob Casey, another favorite son of Scranton. As their hometown newspaper, the Citizen’s Voice, pointed out, it was Biden who, as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, drafted Casey to that esteemed panel in 2007, thus catapulting the freshman senator into the national political limelight.

The Pennsylvania-Delaware alliance does not begin or end there. Three decades of Keystone Democrats affectionately called Biden “Pennsylvania’s Third Senator” in the years when Republicans Hugh Scott, John Heinz and Rick Santorum occupied office. Biden remained sensitive and sympathetic to party causes Back Home.

When Casey met with the Butler Eagle editorial board in January, it seemed abundantly clear he was more interested in working for a Democratic Party state victory than in his own personal ambitions. He understood then — and does now — that his future is linked more to the party’s performance than to his own in 2020.

That’s the more recent historical perspective. Here’s a much older one.

Have you ever heard the term “Connecticut Yankee?” It comes from a dispute between colonists in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Until 1786, Connecticut claimed the northern one-third of modern-day Pennsylvania. Apparently it didn’t help that King Charles II had granted charters to both — Connecticut in 1662 and Pennsylvania in 1681 — legitimizing both claims.

The dispute became known as the Pennamite-Yankee Wars. The first Pennamite — Yankee War was fought in 1769—1770, the second was 1774, and the third was in 1784. These battles played out in the Wyoming Valley along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. That’s Scranton today.

Now, here is the sad lesson that children of the Wyoming Valley probably learn as part of their personal heritage. When the American Revolutionary War began in 1776, the people of the Wyoming Valley were called upon to serve in the Continental Army. It didn’t matter whether they considered themselves Yankees or Pennamites. Now they were all Americans. But while the settlers were away, 400 British troops and 500 Indians marched in and attacked their settlements.

The defeat was without mercy. Many men were captured and put to death. The women and children fled the valley. The British seized the forts and ammunition and gave all of it to their Indian allies. The settlers agreed not to fight in the Revolution; and in return, the British promised the settlers that they could return to their homes and live in peace. But neither was there liberty.

From that type of heritage, we can assume that men like Casey and Biden know the value of cooperation against shared adversaries. And they are cooperating.

Based solely on their shared heritage, their ability and willingness to keep focused on shared objectives might take Biden and Casey a great distance in the upcoming presidential campaign. But first let’s see how they deal with the yankees from New England.

— TAH