Free Republic

General George Washington was so moved by “The American Crisis” that he ordered it read out loud to his troops, rallying them not to disperse at the end of the year when their six-month enlistment was up, and to have courage before the Battle of Trenton. Not having a table in camp, Paine used the head of a drum for his desk. In “The American Crisis,” Thomas Paine wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by...

Let’s spend some time talking about what it is to be an American. For we are all a very unique and special breed of person. This is a truth that should be obvious to anyone who has the ability to think. After all, what would the 20th century look like were America not to have existed? That being said, the sad reality is that we take this role for granted. Oh, we certainly say that “America is the best”, and we wave the flag around a lot, but we do not really and truly appreciate just how spectacular we actually...

[snip] David Hackett Fischer's new [in 2004] book, "Washington's Crossing," is a highly realistic and wonderfully readable narrative of the same moment that corrects all the inaccuracies in the Leutze painting but preserves the overarching sense of drama. The centerpiece of Fischer's story is the daring attack across the Delaware by 2,400 soldiers in the Continental Army, who routed the Hessian garrison at Trenton, then fought two additional battles at Trenton and Princeton the following week. Though the sizes of the armies were small compared with the numbers that fought at later battles like Gettysburg or Normandy, Fischer argues convincingly...

“Mary Queen of Scots” is director Josie Rourke’s historical retelling of one of the most fraught and interesting periods of the Elizabethan era. But how much of it is fact and how much is fiction? The film, which is written by Beau Willimon (“House of Cards”) and based on a book by John Guy, stars Saoirse Ronan in the titular role as Mary Stuart and Margot Robbie as her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. It also showcases a number of actors of color in prominent roles in both Mary’s and Elizabeth’s courts, including decorated Shakespearean actor Adrian Lester, who is...

When I was growing up  every town had at least one iconic department store that did Christmas right: fabulous back-lit and magical Christmas displays, often animated, gracing all of their street level windows. In a time before kids were so wired into their iPhones and “social” networks that they missed much of the amazement of the real world, there were all these fabulous windows of mystery and wonder, free for the taking. All it took was a dime bus ride downtown.  I was very lucky as my hometown, Grand Rapids, MI, had three such emporiums of merchandise, all founded in...

A recent study confirms a disturbing trend: American college students are abandoning the study of history. Since 2008, the number of students majoring in history in U.S. universities has dropped 30 percent, and history now accounts for a smaller share of all U.S. bachelor’s degrees than at any time since 1950. Although all humanities disciplines have suffered declining enrollments since 2008, none has fallen as far as history. And this decline in majors has been even steeper at elite, private universities — the very institutions that act as standard bearers and gate-keepers for the discipline. The study of history, it...

On November 30, 2018, George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States, died of vascular Parkinsonism, a disease with many of the same risk factors as those for strokes and a heart attack. However, he did not have the two major risk factors for heart attacks: He was not overweight and he exercised regularly (and vigorously, at least in his younger days). -snip- details -snip_ He Did Everything Right Readers of my biographical articles on the deaths of notable people often comment on how frequently I criticize my subjects for their self-destructive lifestyle choices -- lack of exercise, a...

President Andrew Jackson took a keen interest in the construction of the federal mint in Philadelphia, a grand, columned edifice, inspired by the temples of ancient Greece, that opened in 1833. Jackson was not a man known for his appreciation of cultural and artistic pursuits. A populist who famously railed against the elites, he had initially wanted to construct a simple building for minting money quickly, because there was a severe shortage of specie—coins—in the country at the time. Gradually, though, he came around to the idea of a grander mint, and became personally involved in many aspects of the...

Are you passionate about history? Do you enjoy research, writing, editing, or formatting? If so, you should consider Project 78. Project 78 is the development of a top-notch quality history curriculum, specifically designed to meet the needs of Christian home-school students and families. The project has seven key values that will define our goals for this curriculum. We will create a curriculum that is accurate, objective, thorough, simple, memorable, adaptable, and affordable. In addition to history, this project will also create supplemental courses in economics, American government, and geography. Project 78 is the project of a team of entrepreneurs, called...

I sincerely hope that POTUS, Donald J, Trump attends the funeral of Ex-POTUS, George H.W. Bush in honor of his outstanding, long term service to our nation and our people!!! Bush like all of us human beings, has his flaws, but his successful accomplishments in his life far outweigh his faults. We must remember the young Bush did not enter Yale, (Where he was accepted) when he graduated from high school, he signed on with the the U.S.Navy, where in eleven months, he became the Navy's youngest aviator (Pilot). Bush flew fifty eight missions, when in September, 1944 his aircraft,...

I explain how the results of the Munich trial of Adolf Hitler demonstrate why enforcing immigration laws is pivotal to our survival as a nation.

“Do you really want an America that can deny you a job for everything you’ve said on Twitter or Facebook? Do you really want to give up your right to speak just because you made the mistake of starting a business?” For nearly 40 years, Jim Riley and his family have lived on their 760-acre apple farm in Oak Glen, California, in San Bernardino County. Jim and his wife built a Colonial-inspired home on the farm in 1994, and were thinking about doing 18th century dinner theater. Shortly thereafter, the Rileys were approached by parents of local elementary school students...

Viking sagas describe the ritual execution of blood eagle, in which victims were kept alive while their backs were sliced open so that their ribs, lungs, and intestines could be pulled out into the shape of bloody wings. PinterestA blood eagle execution. The Vikings didn’t come into towns walking on moonbeams and rainbows. If their sagas are to be believed, the Vikings cruelly tortured their enemies in the name of their god Odin as they conquered territory. If the suggestion of a blood eagle was even uttered, one left town and never looked back. Viking sagas define blood eagle as...

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- In the days that followed Abraham Lincoln's 272-word speech to thousands of onlookers in this small Pennsylvania farm town, few newspapers in the country immediately reported on the speech. When they did, explains historian Michael Kraus, it was mostly dour examination filled with misquotes of the 16th president's words. "There were a lot of mistakes in those first reports. Words weren't heard well. Order was mixed up. The speech didn't appear in every newspaper the next day, or the next day, or the next day," Kraus said from his artifact-filled basement office at the Soldiers & Sailors...

Everyone has posted the speech itself (and it's included here), but the background information is also interesting - not only the situation in America at the time, but also the extent to which the structure of the speech mimics (draws from?) Thucydides' account of Pericles' 430 B.C funeral oration at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War. Today is the anniversary of President Lincoln's delivery of his few "brief remarks" at the dedication of the new national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, only four or so months after the great Civil War battle there that emerged as "the...

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should...

in the town of Gettysburg, PA. President Lincoln delivers a short speech dedicating the new National Cemetery there.

It's President James Garfield's birthday - when he was shot, Alexander Graham Bell showed up with a metal detector to try to locate the bullet. Born in Moreland Hills, Ohio to a widowed farm wife, Garfield worked at a series of menial jobs but eventually attended Williams College, graduating in 1856. He entered politics as a Republican and served in the Ohio State Senate until the outbreak of the Civil War, in which he saw combat as a Union major general. In 1862 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in that body until 1880, after...

In 1841, Andrews hatched a plan to make his political and moral beliefs a lived reality: He would convince Great Britain to buy up all the land in Texas on the condition that they free Texas’s slaves. The idea was not as outlandish as it might sound. In 1833, Great Britain had done something similar in abolishing slavery on its plantations in the West Indies. There, slaveholders were paid a total of $20 million sterling in recompense for their lost property, though they retained the land. And Texas had already reached across the Atlantic for economic aid. The South Carolina...

For the love of God, please prove me wrong. The country is gone. For the first time since the pilgrims have reached the shores of North America, the culture that both preceded, as well as lasted over 200 years, has met its final requiem in the 2018 “elections.” The Fabian Socialists have finally taken over the United States, the last bastion of economic, religious, and cultural freedom in the world, the rule of law, and Constitutional Republicanism that guarantees the rights of individuals over the suppression of government. In short, we are entering the darkest days that America will ever...