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The following is the last unit of John De Gree’s book, American History, the Story of Liberty from America’s Heritage through the Reagan Revolution and De Gree's last unit of Modern American History, Reconstruction through the Reagan Revolution.
The Reagan Revolution, 1981-1989 Introduction At the end of the 1970s, America was at its lowest point since the Great Depression. One and half decades of economic downturn burdened Americans. Morale greatly suffered. Since 1963, the nation had experienced the assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK), Lyndon B. Johnson’s (LBJ’s) lies about the failures of Vietnam, the Watergate Scandal, humiliation and loss in Vietnam, and the economic stagnation and foreign policy weaknesses under Carter. The hope and confidence of post-World War II America had collapsed into despondency. The Soviet Union, America’s rival superpower, was on the march around the world. For nearly fifty years since FDR’s New Deal, America had marched towards a massive growth of government, more regulation, price controls, and higher taxes. Democrats had dominated Congress from 1932 through 1980. When Republicans did capture the White House, they governed as liberals or moderates, expanding the power of the state. This 50-year slide towards leftism had produced not a better society with more opportunity and less poverty, but instead higher crime, the collapse of the American family, economic anemia, and weakness abroad. In addition, the great hope of the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s and early 1960s was dashed by persistent inequalities in education, the workforce, and by race riots. In 1980, Americans made a drastic change away from a more powerful state and great social welfare programs and chose a conservative as president for the first time since Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929). Ronald Reagan saw a brighter future for America, not based on the policies of the last fifty years, but on the historic ideas and principles that had made America a strong country. Individual freedom, peace through strength, tax cuts, and the deregulation of business, family, and faith were cornerstones of Reagan’s philosophy. He wanted to unleash the American free market and then use it to defeat Soviet Communism. This “happy warrior” used humor, a smile, Christian humility, and grace to get his message across. This era is named the “Reagan Revolution” because President Reagan completely changed the trajectory of America. He created the longest economic boom in American history, lasting through the 1990s. Reagan showed Americans what their founders believed in and he changed how people saw their government for generations to come. Using American economic might and moral clarity, he brought the Communist Soviet Union to its knees. One year after Reagan left office in 1989, Eastern Europeans broke away from their Soviet overlords. In 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved into 15 republics, each denouncing communism. The Reagan Revolution was a seismic shift for the good both in America and in the rest of the world. Chapter 131. The Education of Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan’s ascension to national power was due, in part, to the great demographic and economic changes occurring in the country. After World War II, the center of America’s demographics and economy moved from the Northeast and upper Midwest to the South and to the West. This migration from the “frost-belt” states to the “sun-belt” states had major economic and political ramifications in the second half of the twentieth century. Voters in the frost-belt states tended to be “New Deal Democrats,” beholden to labor unions, government support and regulation of industry; they distrusted innovation and were risk-averse. Voters in the sun-belt states tended to be more free-market oriented, open to risk-taking, and more distrustful of big government. The Rise of the South and West In the 1940s, the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes states had 68 percent of the country’s manufacturing employment. By 1977, manufacturing jobs in these states had decreased by over 50 percent. In the two decades of the 1960s and 1970s, states in the North lost 2.4 million by migration to the South and the West. In 1960, the frost-belt states had 41 more electoral votes than the sun-belt states. By 1980, the sun-belt had 26 more electoral votes. Since the mid-1960s through 2008, all elected Presidents have come from the South and the West: Johnson, H.W. Bush and W. Bush were from Texas, Nixon and Reagan were from California, and Clinton was from Arkansas. Ford, a Midwesterner, was appointed, not elected. In 1980, for the first time in history, the election was between a man from the West, Ronald Reagan, and a man from the South, Jimmy Carter (1924-2024). Midwestern Upbringing It is fitting that America’s most consequential President from California was born and raised in the Midwest. In many ways, Ronald Reagan’s childhood resembled that of a traditional American of the early twentieth century. He was born on February 6, 2011, in the small Midwestern town of Tampico, Illinois. His mother was an optimist and a strong Protestant Christian. He worked as a lifeguard on the Rock River and is credited for saving 77 people. Reagan played sports in high school, was active in school plays, was president of the drama club, and art director of the yearbook. He was known for being friendly, sincere, and handsome. At a young age, Reagan overcame challenges that could have been emotionally crushing. His father Jack was a shoe salesman and struggled to pay the family’s bills. Though Jack was friendly and good at telling stories and jokes, he was an alcoholic. Because of his business failures, Jack moved the family a number of times during Ronald’s childhood and youth. As an 11-year-old, Ronald came home one evening and found his dad drunk, passed out in the snow in front of his home. Left there overnight, he would have died. Ronald dragged his father in the house. Somehow, Ronald Reagan overcame the challenges of frequent moves as a child, growing up in a poor family, and having an alcoholic for a dad. At a young age he decided to be baptized into his mom’s church and dedicated himself to his faith, memorizing the Bible and turning to God in times of trouble. After high school, he attended Eureka College in Illinois and majored in economics. He was the first President to have majored in economics. (Donald Trump was the second.) In college, he played football, was the student body president, and led a student strike which caused the college president to step down. When a hotel refused service to two black teammates, he brought them to his home where his parents welcomed them. Early Career After graduating, he worked as a Midwestern sports broadcaster, first announcing college football games and then Chicago Cubs games. During a California trip with the Cubs, he took a screen test with Warner Brothers Movie Studio and they offered him a 7-year contract as an actor. He starred in 30 “B-movies” before hitting it big in Knute Rockne, All American (1940). He portrayed Notre Dame football legend George Gipp who died young and uttered the words, “Win just one for the Gipper.” After this movie he starred in other top films and became nationally recognized as a movie star. In 1937, Reagan joined the Army Reserve, and during World War II, he was transferred to the Army Air Force. Due to bad eyesight and because of his celebrity status, he was kept out of combat duty and worked with other actors and directors, such as Clark Gable and William Holden, to make movies and films supporting the war effort. Captain Ronald Reagan’s unit created more than 200 productions. In a span of 12 years, Reagan married, divorced, and remarried. In 1940, he married movie actress Jane Wyman, had two girls (one died right after birth) and adopted one boy. In 1948, Wyman filed for a divorce (her third), though Reagan did not want one. Wyman had to accuse Reagan of “mental cruelty” in order for the state to grant the divorce. (Later, in 1969, as governor, Reagan signed into law “no-fault divorce” which took the state government out of a couple’s decision to divorce.) In 1949, he met Nancy Davis, another actress. Davis had erroneously been placed on a Hollywood blacklist, and was believed to be a spy. As the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) President, Reagan worked to get her off the blacklist. In 1952, they married and had a long and happy marriage, having two children and remaining together until death. From 1947-1952, and then again from 1959-1960, Reagan served as President of the SAG. He is the only President who led a labor union. During this time, the Soviet Union placed Communist spies throughout American media. Reagan fought hard to keep Communists from controlling Hollywood and the SAG, and experienced first-hand the effects of leftist radicals on American society. Reagan spent time at the U.S. Capitol testifying against Communist actors and defending those who weren’t Communists. General Electric Spokesman From 1954-1962, Reagan was a spokesperson for General Electric (GE), hosting a television and radio show and giving motivational speeches to employees. Over this period, he traveled to 40 states and 139 factories, addressing over 250,000 people. It was fortuitous that just as Reagan’s movie opportunities dwindled, television was becoming ubiquitous. Reagan was one of the most well-known actors in the country. When he began his GE role, Reagan was a New Deal Democrat, but during those 8 years, he became a conservative Republican. GE Vice President Lemuel Boulware published books and pamphlets teaching about the free market, communism, and democracy, and he established book clubs to discuss them. Reagan read the works and summaries of conservative economists Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, and Friedrich Hayek. Reagan also studied Communism, focusing on its persecution of religion, Vladimir Lenin, and Joseph Stalin. Reagan’s studies and experiences convinced him that the best path to prosperity and liberty was a limited government and that for a person to be truly fulfilled, he must be allowed to express his faith in God. After his experiences in Hollywood and with GE, Reagan was prepared to enter political life. In 1964, Reagan acted in his last Hollywood role and began his political life. He made a speech on national television in support of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater titled “A Time for Choosing” that mesmerized conservatives. Reagan’s speech was a 30-minute paid political TV broadcast that aired on the evening of October 27, 1964, one week before the presidential election. He spoke convincingly against the social welfare system established by the New Deal and expanded under LBJ’s Great Society. He spoke against Big Government, wasteful spending, taxes, fraud, government subsidies, totalitarianism, and Soviet Communism. He inspired Americans by promoting individual freedom, the Constitution, the free market, and low taxes. Throughout his political career, these were his themes. Though Goldwater lost, Reagan became the national leader of conservatism. Governor of California Reagan ran for California governor in 1966 and defeated Edmund (Pat) Brown, the Democrat incumbent. He governed for two terms from 1967-1975. As governor, he reformed welfare by reducing the number of eligible recipients and increasing aid to the impoverished needy. Interestingly, he agreed with the Democrat legislature to raise taxes, but he froze new government hiring, lowered business regulations, cut wasteful spending, quelled widespread student campus protests, and achieved a balanced budget. Reagan spoke very conservatively on many issues but compromised with liberals and was a very popular leader. The education of Ronald Reagan, transforming him from a New Deal Democrat to the leader of the conservatives, was complete when he left General Electric (GE) in 1962. He would say, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, it left me,” and it is clear that he saw how the failures of the social welfare system implemented by FDR and expanded by LBJ were destroying the country. Reagan was also driven to defeat Soviet Communism and expand liberty throughout the world. After his two terms as California governor, he set his sights on the U.S. Presidency. Chapter 132. 1980 Election and Reagan’s Domestic Policy Ronald Reagan was the first president since Calvin Coolidge to call himself a conservative. Since FDR and the birth of the welfare state, every presidential candidate ran with promises to increase social programs, grow the power of government, and to direct the experts to solve America’s problems. Reagan did the opposite. He promised to cut taxes, deregulate businesses, cut the size of government, use market solutions to solve the country’s energy problems, and energize the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Because of Reagan’s successes during his two terms, he changed the relationship of the government to the citizen and he created a multi-generational shift in the electorate. The media had leaned left ever since LBJ and the Vietnam War, but with Reagan’s rise the media engaged in all-out hatred against conservatives. Journalists tried to present Reagan as a buffoon, a Hollywood actor lacking in education and intelligence, and a dangerous war-monger. At the beginning of the 1980 Presidential campaign, even with America’s problems, Carter was favored to win. Reagan countered the media’s false portrayals of him with wit, laughter, facts, common sense, and smiles. Reagan masterfully pointed out President Carter’s failures in a witty way. He used Carter’s own 1976 campaign slogan against him by asking Americans, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” In discussing how Americans felt about the future of their country, he stated, “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.” And, in a presidential debate, Reagan amiably responded to Carter’s many criticisms, “There you go again.” Americans were tired of Carter’s condescending preaching, acting as though Americans themselves were to blame for their problems and not Carter. Reagan promised to drastically change course, and Americans wanted a drastic change from a decade of lethargy. Reagan won the 1980 election by a margin of 489 to 49 in the electoral college and 43.9 million to 35.5 million in the popular vote. Republicans gained an astounding 13 Senate seats, capturing the Senate for the first time in over 30 years. In the House of Representatives, Republicans won 34 seats but Democrats maintained control. Although Democrats retained control of the House, 30 to 40 representatives were considered conservatives who supported many or most of Reagan’s proposals. They were derisively called “boll weevils.” Two months after the inauguration, mentally deranged John Hinckley attempted to assassinate the new President. A bullet pierced Reagan’s chest, landing inches away from his heart. Rushed to the hospital, laying on the operating bed, Reagan looked at the doctors and nurses and quipped, “I hope you’re all Republicans.” One doctor replied, “Mr. Reagan, today we are all Republicans.” After surgery, when asked if he felt much pain, Reagan responded, “Only when I laugh.” Reagan recovered and was more adamant about achieving his goals. He believed God had spared him for something important. Reaganomics: Tax Cuts and Deregulation Reagan knew that before he could lead America on the world stage, especially against Soviet Communism, he had to repair and invigorate the American economy. He moved to cut taxes and deregulate the economy. He was inspired by the economists he’d studied while at GE — Mises and Hazlitt — as well as his own conservative advisors. George Gilder’s 1981 book Wealth and Poverty promoted supply-side economics, which is the policy of increasing production by removing regulations and business taxes — and lowering taxes overall — so businesses invest and produce more goods. When more products hit the markets and supply increases, prices will fall, argued Gilder. Arthur Laffer, a member of Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, argued that there is a point where government revenues will actually fall if taxes are too high. Because he drew a diagram on a napkin over a meal to explain his theory, it is now known as the “Laffer Curve.” Reagan was convinced that cutting taxes and deregulating businesses would stimulate the economy, improve Americans’ lives, and allow the country to aggressively confront Communism. The first major tax legislation under Reagan was the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Because the Democrats controlled the House, it was phased in over three years, which meant it took a few years for Americans to benefit. Along with the tax cuts, Reagan lowered regulations on businesses and cut the federal budget by $40 million. The main points of the tax cuts were as follows:
The years of 1981 and 1982 were challenging for Reagan. In January of 1981, Reagan removed the remaining oil and natural gas price controls that had existed since Nixon. The initial release of the price controls and the delayed implementation of the tax cuts, coupled with all of the other residue from 1970s policies, caused the Recession of 1981-1982. There were calls to ditch the new tax cuts, raise taxes, restore oil and gas price controls, and change course. These calls came from Democrats, the media, and even from some Republicans — even from within Reagan’s own Cabinet. In addition, the nation’s Professional Air Traffic Controller’s Organization went on strike despite the fact this federal organization, vital for the country’s transportation, was forbidden by law to strike. In response, Reagan fired all 11,500 controllers and used the military to control air traffic until a new civilian workforce could be hired. By the end of 1983 and into 1984 the economy was roaring. Just as the other two major twentieth century tax cuts had worked under Coolidge and JFK, the Reagan tax cuts propelled the American economy forward. Inflation plummeted from 14.5 percent under Carter to 4.2 percent in 1984. Unemployment only decreased from 7.2 percent under Carter to 7.1 percent in 1984, but Americans could see there would be more jobs in the future. Gross national product (GNP) growth initially fell from 2.4 percent in 1981 to -1.7 percent in 1982, but rose by 4.5 percent in 1983 and by an impressive 7.1 percent in 1984. Americans had more income and more purchasing power. For the first time since the mid-1960s, Americans were optimistic about the economy and about the future. 133. 1984 Election and Morning in America In the 1984 Presidential campaign, Reagan ran against Democrat Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Mondale had served as Vice President under Jimmy Carter and as U.S. Senator from 1964 to 1976. In early 1983, Reagan’s approval ratings were at 35 percent. Americans were still suffering from the recession. However, over the next two years, the economy improved and Reagan achieved some successes in foreign policy. One of the greatest talking points against Reagan was his age, 79 in 1980, which would make him the oldest president to date. In a debate, Mondale challenged Reagan about his age, and Reagan responded, joking, “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.” Even Mondale laughed, and the issue disappeared. Most remember Reagan’s campaign for his slogan “Morning in America” which meant that America’s best moments were ahead of it if the country stayed with him. Reagan won the 1984 election in a landslide, capturing 49 states to 1, winning 525 electoral votes to Mondale’s 13, and taking the popular vote by over 18 percent. This is the last time that a candidate has won the popular vote by double digits. Paradoxically, the Democrats still controlled the House, and in 1987, they took back the Senate. Tax Reforms and Economic Boom In Reagan’s second term, he pushed the Tax Reform Act of 1986 through a Democrat Congress. Congress slowly implemented the law over two years, so its results were delayed. This legislation lowered the top income tax rate from 50 percent to 28 percent, lowered taxes for all, expanded the earned income tax credit, removed 6 million lower-income Americans from paying any taxes, simplified tax filing, removed 7 million falsely declared dependents by compelling parents to report Social Security numbers for their children, and increased the home mortgage interest deduction. Reagan’s tax cuts were undeniably an astounding success. There were both immediate and long-term effects. From the beginning of the full implementation of the first tax cut through 1988, GNP rose at an average rate of 4.4 percent. Patent filing increased from about 50,000 in 1980 to almost 150,000 in 1988. Unemployment fell from 7.2 percent in 1980 to 5.3 percent in 1988. In the long term, the U.S. economy experienced the longest continuous period of growth in history, with GNP increasing every year from 1983 through 1991, and then again from 1992 to 2009! During the era of Reagan, some of America’s great industries suffered while a new one emerged. Job losses in steel, textile, and automobile industries continued. The term “Rust Belt” was coined to signify the decay of the upper Midwestern cities of Detroit, Akron, Toledo, and others. However, at this same time there was the massive explosion of a new economic powerhouse, the computer industry. Entrepreneurs created the personal computer industry with no direct government subsidies and no mandates. However, government did play a role in the technology boom. In 1969, the Pentagon hired four universities to connect their computers. In 1972, email was created. In 1975, Bill Gates, a college dropout, founded Microsoft. He purchased and promoted the operating system MS-DOS and then created Windows 1.0, using the new “mouse” technology to make human-computer interface easy. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, both also college dropouts, founded Apple Computers, Inc. It joined the Fortune 500 in the quickest time ever. By 1980, American companies controlled 70 percent of the world software market and 80 percent of the world hard drive business. By 1990, there was one PC for every 2.6 people. By 1991, the World Wide Web was inaugurated. Reagan’s economic policy benefitted all of society, including minorities and women. Throughout the 1980s, the median family income rose for all, including black families. Black Americans’ poverty rate fell from 32.5 percent in 1980 to 31.3 percent in 1988. In 1980, black unemployment stood at 14.6 percent, but in 1988, it had dropped to 11.8 percent. In 1980, the Hispanic unemployment rate was over 10 percent, but by 1988 it had dropped to under 8 percent. Overall, the unemployment rate dropped from 7.2 percent in 1980 to 5.3 percent in 1988. National Deficit Grows One criticism of the Reagan Economy is the explosion of the national debt. It is true the national debt grew under Reagan. Reagan’s primary focuses were to jumpstart the economy, rebuild the economy, and rebuild the military. He calculated that the military spending would cause a crisis in the Soviet Union. Reagan achieved his goals and he was correct in his goals regarding the Soviet Union. However, to accomplish his goals, he had to compromise with a Democratic Congress, who wanted to massively increase domestic spending. Both got what they wanted. In 1989 when Reagan left the Presidency, real federal revenue was more than 19 percent higher than it was the day he took office in 1981. The Reagan tax cuts and deregulation spurred economic growth and as a result, the federal government had more revenue. From 1981 to 1988, though the federal government received 19 percent more income and the economy was strong, Congress continued to spend more than it took in, and at a faster rate each year. In 1988, public debt was $2.7 trillion, compared to $908 billion in 1981. Supreme Court During his presidency, Republican control of the Senate enabled Reagan to place two conservative justices on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor and Antonin Scalia, and elevate Justice William Rehnquist to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. O’Connor was the first female on the Supreme Court. Scalia went on to serve for thirty years as one of the strongest proponents for an originalist and textualist interpretation of the Constitution. He ruled on cases based on what the Constitution stated and what the Founders meant when they wrote it. At the time of his appointment, this conservative view was in the minority on the court. After four decades of complete liberal dominance, the Supreme Court began to slowly move to the right. The Reagan tax cuts, business deregulation, and removal of price controls on oil and natural gas spurred an economic recovery for America that propelled it for over two decades. Reagan’s economic successes made possible his other great goal: defeating Soviet Communism. Chapter 134. Reagan Foreign Policy and Victory in the Cold War There was one primary foreign policy issue for America in the Reagan Presidency: Soviet Communism. Islamic terrorism was the second issue. The first had existed since 1917. The second was not as well-known. Reagan’s unique response to Soviet Communism — his decisive, consistent, and ingenious stance against this totalitarian regime — was one of the main reasons for Soviet collapse in 1989, one year after he left office. Reagan changed the world by confronting Soviet Communism. The threat of Islamic terrorism, punctuated by the Islamic revolution in Iran under Carter in 1979, declined under the Reagan presidency, but it was not defeated. In hindsight, it appears Islamism was just beginning. Even though terrorist activities decreased under President Reagan, he did not adequately address this problem. Soviet Communism: We Win, They Lose Unfortunately, many Americans today do not know enough about Soviet Communism. Communists took over Russia in 1917 and quickly established the Soviet Union, also known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). As we have seen in this book, Communists believe all citizens exist to serve the state and all property, including every business, is owned by the government. Communists oppose religious belief. They also believe there is no morality and government can use all means to control society. In the Soviet Union (1917-1991) and the countries it controlled, Communists systematically persecuted, tortured, starved, and murdered to build what they believed was a utopia. Atrocities were state policy. In countries Communists supported or controlled in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia, Communists murdered about 100 million from 1917 through 1991. Reagan strongly opposed past presidents’ policies towards Communism. Beginning with President Truman in 1947, America followed a policy of containment. Known as the Truman Doctrine, America promised to assist "free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures." The idea was to contain Communism and let it destroy itself, or at least hold it in place. From the late 1940s through 1968, America’s policy of containment sometimes resulted in military action, such as in Korea and Vietnam. However, there was not a coordinated effort to hasten the destruction of Communist regimes from within. In fact, in areas already under Communist control, America did not offer any assistance to anti-Communists. In the 1953 East Berlin Uprising, in Hungary in 1956, and the Prague Spring of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the United States sat idly by and watched Communists crush resistance. Beginning with Nixon, American Presidents moved from a policy of containment to offers of friendly relationship with the Soviets to engage them in dialogue and even give legitimacy to totalitarian Communism. This policy was called “detente.” The results of containment and detente were continued Soviet global expansion in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, which weakened America. In 1977, Reagan was asked by advisor Richard Allen about his theory of U.S.-Soviet relations. He firmly and clearly stated, “Here’s my strategy on the Cold War. We win, they lose.” Reagan sought all avenues and all methods short of direct military conflict, to defeat Soviet Communism. He explicitly spoke against the evils of Communism and challenged the Soviet Union’s moral legitimacy. Throughout the world, on the airwaves, in the military, in the press, and in the economy, Reagan confronted Soviet Communism and worked to roll back the tyrannical government. Reagan teamed up with other world leaders, like Pope John Paul II, to defeat Soviet Communism. Because of his work, Reagan’s foreign policy literally transformed the world. As with Reagan in 1981, an assassin tried to kill Pope John Paul II and came within an inch of succeeding. Pope John Paul II was the first Polish pope in history and a fervent enemy of Communism. Soon after, Reagan and the Pope met in person and then set up secret communication lines to plan and implement anti-Communist activities in the world, especially in Poland. As author Paul Kengor notes in A Pope and President, although the Western Press has downplayed their relationship and work, the two were key to the success of defeating Communism. In his first speech after being shot, Reagan’s commencement address at the University of Notre Dame on May 17, 1981, he declared, “The years ahead are great ones for this country, for the cause of freedom and the spread of civilization...The West won’t contain communism, it will transcend communism… It will dismiss it as some bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written....It is time for the world to know our intellectual and spiritual values are rooted in the source of all strength, a belief in a Supreme Being, and a law higher than our own.” Western media was shocked at what Reagan said and claimed he was stoking war. In fact, he was destroying any legitimacy the totalitarian Soviet Communist government held. The Pope and President provided each other with intelligence: The President provided Catholics in Poland and elsewhere with copy machines, printing presses, photocopiers, computers, fax machines. It is no coincidence that Poland was the first Communist country to hold free elections in June 1989. After that, Soviet Communism crumbled. Peace Through Strength Reagan correctly believed that once the American economy got back to free market principles, it would thrive, and then he could invest so much in defense it would completely bankrupt the Soviet Union. In what Reagan termed “Peace through strength,” he believed peach would come when the United States was militarily stronger. In 1980, the United States spent about 5.2 percent of GDP on defense, while the Soviet Union spent somewhere between 15 to 17 percent. However, although the American economy was at the end of a decades-long slump, Americans were still in a much better economic position than the Soviets. Soviet citizens had to wait in lines to buy everyday items like toilet paper because their government-owned industries could not produce enough. Soviets also lacked basic food supplies like grain. Reagan wanted to build America’s defenses, not to attack the Soviet Union; he sought to force the U.S.S.R. to try to keep up, and thus cripple itself. Reagan increased defense spending from $143.7 billion in 1980 to $309.7 billion in 1988. Because of America’s expanding economy, this increase in defense spending did not represent a significantly larger share of GDP. In fact, defense spending only grew from 5.2 percent of GDP in 1980 to 6.1 percent of GDP in 1988. With the new funds, Reagan built new ships and advanced military weapons, and began research on a new missile defense program. Reagan challenged the Soviet buildup of nuclear weapons in Europe, and he won. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union deployed hundreds of intermediate-range nuclear missiles to threaten Western Europe. In 1979, NATO planned to deploy its own such weapons aimed at Eastern Europe. Reagan offered to cancel NATO’s plan to deploy these missiles if the Soviets agreed to pull out their weapons. The Soviets refused and Reagan went ahead with the plan, deploying hundreds of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Western Europe aimed at the East. Protests erupted across Western Europe, claiming Reagan was a warmonger. Soviets funded many of these protests, yet in 1987, they backed down and accepted Reagan’s offer, signing the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and removing their missiles. One key component of Reagan’s plan to defeat the Soviets was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Since the Soviet Union had developed its nuclear capabilities and amassed a large array of missiles by the 1970s, the two superpowers functioned on the policy of mutually assured destruction (MAD). The philosophy was that neither side would launch a nuclear missile because the other side could then obliterate the attacker. In 1980, the Soviets held a distinct advantage in the number of long-range and short-range nuclear missiles, while the Americans held the advantage in technologically advanced anti-missile weapons systems. Instead of adding to the American arsenal, Reagan wanted to develop technology to make the missiles obsolete. He thought the idea of MAD was a “suicide pact.” The idea behind SDI was to develop a defense system using lasers, satellites, and ground and space-based missile systems that could shoot down nuclear missiles before they landed and detonated. In 1983, Reagan announced the launch of the SDI and organized it within the US Department of Defense. Immediately, the Western media denounced the program as ludicrous. Deriding Reagan’s plan as a fantasy, journalists termed it “Star Wars.” Unfortunately for the media and the Soviet Union, the American public quickly embraced the metaphor and backed Reagan and his plan fully. Star Wars was a very popular 1977 science fiction movie, where the good guys (the Republic) fought Darth Vader and the Evil Empire. Reagan and his supporters loved the term and used it. The Evil Empire Reagan explicitly stated his position on the Communist Soviet Union and put the Communist dictators on defense. On March 8, 1983, in a speech at the National Association of Evangelicals, Reagan stated that the Soviet Union was an “evil empire” and “the focus of evil in the modern world.” Reagan used these strong terms even though White House staffers and State Department officials deleted these words from the speech. It was originally written by his speechwriter Anthony R. Dolan, and Reagan put the words back in. The Western Press attacked Reagan as a warmonger, but the Soviet leadership knew this threatened their legitimacy in the eyes of their own citizens. Reagan’s words and actions increased protests inside of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries. Meanwhile, America was involved indirectly in Great Britain’s 1982 Falklands War against Argentina, and in 1983 America overthrew a Communist takeover of Grenada, a tiny island country of the Bahamas and British Commonwealth. Over 600 Americans were studying medicine on Grenada. Reagan wanted to protect the students and keep the island from becoming Communist, so ordered an invasion. With the Communists removed from power, Grenada returned to its democratic form of government in the Commonwealth. Reagan promised to roll back Soviet Communism throughout the world. In his 1985 State of the Union address, he stated, “We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives — on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua — to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth.” In Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Suriname, Uruguay, and elsewhere, America provided support to those fighting the Communists. Unfortunately, some of the fighters and governments America supported had terrible human rights records against their own people. Reagan chose to support evil leaders at times, but only if they fought Communists. In Afghanistan, Reagan helped finance those fighting against the Soviet invasion, the Afghan mujahedeen forces. American funding of Islamic militant groups began under Carter, but Reagan increased the funding dramatically, from $695,000 in 1979 to $630 million in 1987. One of the mujahedeen fighters was Osama bin Laden, later the leader of Al-Qaeda, the group that attacked the United States on September 11, 2001 (9/11). In April 1988, the Soviet Union began its withdrawal from Afghanistan and completed it on February 15, 1989. It was the first withdrawal of troops in Soviet history. Reagan was a masterful negotiator. He used his charm, wit, and unwavering moral courage to challenge the Communist leaders. One problem plagued Reagan during his first five years: Soviet leaders kept dying. Leonid Brezhnev died in 1982; Yuri Andropov died in 1984; and Konstantin Chernenko died in 1985. From 1985 to 1988, Reagan met in person four times with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, in Switzerland, Iceland, the United States, and the Soviet Union. After the third meeting, both countries agreed to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which limited short-range and intermediate-range missiles. Gorbachev also started to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, ended his support of Communists in Nicaragua and reduced Soviet commitments in Cuba and Vietnam. He told the Eastern European countries they needed to “find their own solutions to their own problems.” This signaled to these countries that they could potentially break away from Moscow’s control. At the end of Reagan’s two terms, the resurgent American economy and the relentless pressure on the Communist Soviet Union began to pay off. As noted, the Soviet Union withdrew completely from Afghanistan. Uprisings against Communist rule were rampant in Eastern Europe and in Asia. Soviet aid to Latin America began to dry up. On June 12, 1987, at the Brandenburg Gate, Germany, in front of the Berlin Wall, Reagan gave a stirring speech, daring the Soviet Communist leader with these words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Two years later, on November 9, 1989, Germans tore it down. Poland held free elections in 1989 and for the first time since the end of World War II, a non-Communist party governed. In less than 12 months, each Communist country in Central and Eastern Europe fell, and in 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved into the country of Russia and 14 other independent nations. Fall of Soviet Communism After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 right after Reagan left office, many Russians credited the work of President Reagan in tearing down Communist Soviet Union. Gennady Gerasimov, top Spokesman for the Soviet Foreign Ministry during the 1980s, said, “Reagan bolstered the U.S. military might to ruin the Soviet economy, and he achieved his goal....The Soviet Union tried to keep up pace with the U.S. military buildup, but the Soviet economy couldn’t endure such competition.” Former dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, said of Reagan, “His phrase, ‘evil empire,’ became a household word in Russia.” Soviet foreign policy expert and later ambassador to the United States Vladimir Lukhim stated, “It is clear that SDI accelerated our catastrophe by at least five years.” Radical Islamic Terrorism One unsuccessful area of Reagan’s foreign policy was in combating radical Islam. Reagan sent Marines to Lebanon to keep peace between Israel and radical Islamic terrorists. On October 23, 1983, Iran ordered and paid Hezbollah, a radical Islamic terrorist organization, to bomb the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon. In all, 241 U.S. military personnel, including 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers were killed. In addition, 100 Marines were injured. Minutes later, another bomb detonated, killing French soldiers. In December 1983, Syria shot down two U.S. fighters and held one pilot hostage, releasing him to Democrat presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. Within a few months, Reagan withdrew all forces from the Middle East. Later, Osama bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda that attacked America on 9/11/2001, called the Lebanon carnage the “Twin Bombings” and said it was a sign to him that America had little staying power in a fight. In 1986, Islamic terrorists supported by Libyan dictator Muammar al Gaddafi bombed a West German disco frequented by American GIs. Reagan ordered a bombing of terrorist camps in Libya in response. By 1987, world terrorism had declined to about half of what it was in 1970. The Soviet Union, a major sponsor of terror, was in decline. However, Iran, a radical Islamic theocracy since 1979, was replacing the U.S.S.R. as the world’s greatest sponsor of terror. Moreover, the radical groups that America had sponsored during the war against the Soviet Union were now on the rise to power in Afghanistan. Reagan did not confront the rise of Islamic terrorism. In fact, he negotiated with and sold weapons to Iran so they would pressure Hezbollah to release terrorists. As noted, thirteen years after Reagan, on 9/11/2001, Islamic terrorists attacked the United States. While Reagan, of course, was not responsible for this attack, we can see in retrospect that he failed to comprehend the danger of this movement to the United States. Conclusion The 1980s were a seminal decade in American history, primarily because of Ronald Reagan. In this decade, Reagan restored the American economy, igniting the longest running span of economic growth in American history. Congress, which had been controlled by Democrats since the Great Depression, became competitive between Republicans and Democrats over the following decades. Democrat leaders of the 1990s, such as President Bill Clinton, sounded more like Reagan than Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), stating, “The era of big government is over.” Americans embraced the optimism of Ronald Reagan and began to see government as the problem, not the solution, to every challenge. Reagan’s words became the thoughts of many, after he stated in 1986, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help!” After Reagan, many Americans did not want the government to solve their problems. They wanted individual freedom. Beyond the shores of America, the Reagan Presidency had a monumental effect. In great part because of Reagan, Soviet Communism fell and its domination over Eastern Europe, parts of Latin America, Asia, and Africa ended. Some 265 million former Soviet citizens, 300 million Eastern Europeans, and tens of millions of others experienced freedom as a result of the fall of Soviet Communism. The Soviet Union was clearly the loser in the Cold War, and the United States of America was the victor. Socialist totalitarianism and centralized planning were shown to be inferior to free market capitalism. This was not a one-time event, but a change in trajectory for nearly three-quarters of a billion people living under communism. While communism in Europe and in much of the world died as a result of the defeat and dissolution of the Soviet Union, totalitarianism reared its ugly head in Russia, and also in Belarus, in the twenty-first century. President Reagan has never been called a saint, and there were strong critics of his tenure. The Iran/Contra Scandal involved Reagan’s senior officials selling arms to Iran during an American embargo to gain the release of American hostages. These officials then used the proceeds to fund the Contras, an anti-Communist rebel group in Nicaragua. Both of these actions violated American policy. Moreover, Iran, which became the world’s largest sponsor of terror, was aided by America. Reagan was never implicated in the affair, but it appears he approved of the actions. While Reagan was one of the most successful presidents of the twentieth century, he was one of the most reviled by the Western media. As American media turned more leftist from the 1960s on, any President who praised the free market and American power became an enemy. Journalists created urban myths about Reagan, falsely claiming he started the AIDS epidemic, that he thought ketchup was a vegetable, and that he shut down all mental health facilities. Reagan, however, was known as a “happy warrior,” consistently beating the media and speaking directly to the American people, using humor, exhibiting dignity, and bringing results. He was loved by Americans, as evidenced by his landslide victories, and by the outpouring of grief after his death in 2004. The Reagan Revolution changed the world in many ways. Following his presidency, Americans desired individual freedom more than welfare, sought their own solutions to their problems instead of answers from experts, and desired less government than more. Abroad, Soviet Communism was conquered, and nearly three-quarters of a billion people experienced freedom for the first time. Most of those peoples’ children grew up in freedom, and a totalitarian system that held dominance since 1917 was swept away into the “dustbin of history.”
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 American History, The Story of Liberty! America's Heritage Through the Reagan Revolution is John De Gree's new book (2025). The following is an excerpt.
The American founding fathers were not all of one mind. Those who favored a stronger federal government were called the Federalists. Those who favored stronger state governments were called the Anti-Federalists. Because of the Federalists, America has a Constitution. Because of the Anti-Federalists, it also has a Bill of Rights that guarantees individuals and states rights. The arguments that took place during the writing of the Constitution are still part of the American political scene. Right at its beginning, Americans argued over the size of the American government. In four summer months of 1787, Americans wrote what would become the world’s oldest working Constitution. They met in a locked room, with windows nailed shut, in what has been described as “oppressively hot” weather. The founders met in secrecy, because they believed if some Americans knew what they were doing, their meeting would be disrupted or destroyed. State legislatures appointed delegates, and 12/13 states were represented. Rhode Island wanted none of it. Patrick Henry refused to go and stated, “I smell a rat.” The Heritage of the American Constitution American founding fathers were keenly aware of history, of governments and people of the past, and their goal was to take this knowledge and create a republican government for the American people that would last. The early chapters of this book focus on this history. The historical path towards the liberty established in the U.S. Constitution begins in the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent, travel through the civilizations of Ancient Greece and the Roman Republic, and continue through medieval and early modern Europe, especially England. The religious beliefs and practices of Judaism and Christianity played significant roles in creating the world’s first modern republic, and the virtues these religions teach and foster were key to establishing a strong and good republic. The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution The Constitution puts into effect the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, and the founding fathers saw these two documents as linked. When a territory applied as new state, it had to first adopt the Declaration of Independence. The ideals of the Declaration of Independence, “All men are created equal,” and, “They are endowed by a Creator with certain unalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” are codified in the structure of the Constitution. This belief in one God, and the rights of the individual were to always take precedence over any government. The Convention The Constitutional Convention was reportedly called not to create a new governing document, but to revise the Articles of Confederation. However, the delegates of Virginia, including James Madison, George Washington, and Governor Randolph introduced a plan so radical that all realized if they continued with the discussions, the Articles would be abolished and a new form of government would be established. Thomas Jefferson was in Paris during the convention, but after reading a list of names of those present declared the meeting to be “an assembly of demi-gods.” Delegates included George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and many other prominent Americans. At least one third had been officers in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Franklin was the leading scientist, publisher, inventor, and abolitionist of his time period. King George III called George Washington the “greatest man on Earth.” Some Patriots chose not to come, because they protested the idea that a stronger government would be created. Many founding fathers were against writing the constitution, including Richard Henry Lee, James Monroe, Patrick Henry, Aaron Burr, George Clinton, and Sam Adams. These men believed the convention would take away states’ and individuals’ rights and wrongly believed that by not attending the convention they would hurt the chances of a new government forming. These soon became the Anti-Federalists. Opening Proposal: The Virginia Plan Probably no other delegate had thought and studied more about the weakness of the United States of America and its government than James Madison. He believed that the new country was going the way of most new countries: into complete disarray and disintegration. Great Britain did not respect America, keeping soldiers on American soil in the west and attacking American merchant ships. State politicians argued with each other over taxes and tariffs. And, there was no army to put down insurrections like Shay’s Rebellion. To counter what Madison saw as a country in decline, he began the Constitutional Convention by having Virginia Governor Randolph propose a completely new form of government. The Virginia Plan called for a government where power was separated into three branches, an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The new plan called for a much stronger government than the Articles of Confederation created. With power divided into three branches, Madison believed tyranny would not rule the new country. Each branch would have its own work to do, and each branch would make sure the other two branches would not become too powerful. From this original plan delegates debated over key features, but basically, Madison had created the framework of the world’s oldest living republic. The following is taken from Modern American History, The Story of Liberty! Reconstruction through the Reagan Revolution.
On June 6, 1944, the Western Allies launched the largest seaborne invasion in world history. The invasion was named Operation Overlord, and the first day of attack was called D Day. From Great Britain, the Allies deployed 156,000 soldiers and 195,700 naval personnel to Normandy in France. American leaders spoke about the war and D Day as a crusade to vanquish evil and summoned God’s help through prayer. On June 7th, FDR announced D Day in a radio broadcast to Americans: My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer: Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home - fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas - whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them - help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength, too - strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen. No journalist criticized FDR for his use of religion. Americans were united in prayer to support its soldiers. Eleven months later, the war in Europe was over, with the Allies winning unconditional surrender from Germany. As the Allies pushed east from France into Germany, Allied forces in Italy were finishing a long fight they began after winning North Africa. The Soviets, moving east, eventually took Berlin in May, 1945.  For all products and services on American History for Middle School, go HERE.
for High School American History, go HERE. for Elementary, go HERE. The Beginning of the American Revolution – April 19, 1775 James Monroe was the country’s fifth president and the last of the American Founding Fathers. A man of great integrity, he had very little party feeling and was extremely popular. He called himself a Republican. He dressed traditionally and was the last president to wear his hair in a ponytail. (When was the last time you thought a man in a ponytail was sporting a traditional, conservative style?!) Monroe favored a weak presidency and was a strict constructionist. This meant he thought the federal government had power to do only what was explicitly written in the Constitution. One of the last men who had fought against Great Britain in the American Revolution, Monroe worked to keep government small. In 1820, he was reelected without any opposing candidate. James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758 and lived until the age of 73, passing in 1831. Monroe was home schooled by his mother until the age of 11. After this he attended college for four years. A Virginian, just like four of the first five presidents, Monroe dropped out of college to fight the British in the American Revolution as an officer. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Trenton (Washington’s crossing of the Delaware), later trained soldiers at Valley Forge, and fought at the Battle of Monmouth. During and after the war, Monroe trained to be an attorney under Thomas Jefferson. Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright when he was 28 and they lived 44 years together as husband and wife. They had three children, though one died at the age of sixteen months. Their daughter Maria was the first child of a President to be married in the White House. Like other founding fathers, James Monroe’s relationship with slavery was complicated. He owned slaves and a plantation and slaves served him in Virginia and later in the White House. But he was morally opposed to slavery, tried making the international slave trade illegal, and worked to establish a country in Africa, later called Liberia with Monrovia as its capital, to resettle all African-Americans. As Governor of Virginia in 1800, he helped crush a slave rebellion and participated in the arrest of over 70 and execution of 10. As President, he resided over the Compromise of 1820, which added new states to the Union and maintained an equal number of slave states to free states. Monroe and the Founding Fathers feared that slavery would one day end the American republic, but they never resolved this issue and left it as a cancerous sore. James Monroe served as a representative, a senator, the governor of Virginia, a minister to France where he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase under President Jefferson, and was Secretary of State and then Secretary of War under James Madison during the War of 1812. His long political history and major accomplishments earned him the trust of the Presidential electors who voted him in two terms as President, from 1817-1825. Throughout his tenure, there was no opposing political party, and historians have called this time the “Era of Good Feelings.” Monroe’s actions as President exemplify the founder’s ideal of a republic with a limited government. Monroe favored public works, but only if they were related to national defense. The federal government created and improved coastal forts. However, Monroe opposed the government spending money on roads, canals or other projects if they were not strictly related to defense, because the Constitution does not give the federal government this power. In 1822, Monroe vetoed a bill that would have authorized federal funds to improve the Cumberland Road. Monroe claimed, “it is with deep regret, approving as I do the policy, that I am compelled to object to its passage and to return the bill to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, under a conviction that Congress does not possess the power under the Constitution to pass such a law.” James Monroe achieved great success in the area of foreign policy. He settled the U.S.-Canadian border dispute through a treaty with Great Britain. In Georgia, his administration ordered General Andrew Jackson to defeat the Seminole Indians, who had been raiding settlers and then escaping into Spanish Florida. Jackson illegally invaded Florida, conquered the Indians, and found two British agents, then tried, convicted, and hung them as spies. Spain was thus forced to sell Florida to the U.S. for $5 million in the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. However, Monroe is best known for the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine of 1820 forbids any European power from meddling in the affairs of North and South American countries in return for America staying out of European affairs. In the early 1800s, Spanish colonial power in the Americas was weakening, and France appeared to want to take Spain’s possessions. The United States wanted to make sure no European power would ever again colonize the Americas, and Great Britain was eager to create a “special relationship” with their former colonies. Great Britain secretly assured America it would use its navy to defend the Americas. James Monroe was the last American Founding Father to serve as President, and as such he continued the great fortune and blessings that were bestowed on the first republic of modern times. Though imperfect and unable to resolve slavery, Monroe helped establish the United States of America as one of the strongest and freest countries on earth. His sacrifice in the American Revolution, his service in various offices in Virginia, and his Presidency were all in the aim of building a country founded in individual liberty and constitutionalism.  For all products and services on American History for Middle School, go HERE.
for High School American History, go HERE. for Elementary, go HERE. The Beginning of the American Revolution – April 19, 1775 April 19th, 2021 is the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution. 250 years ago American farmers and militia fought the “British Regulars” (professional soldiers) at Concord and Lexington and chased the redcoats back to Boston. The fight is sometimes called a skirmish, because it was less than a battle. A little over a year after this fight, Americans declared their right to form a new country with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The first modern republic was born with the actions of regular citizens rejecting a government that ruled without its consent. The skirmish at Lexington and Concord was fought because the British tried to stop the Americans from preparing for war. In 1774, American leaders at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia petitioned King George III and parliament to restore their rights. When the king and parliament refused and continued to hold the people of Boston under martial law, the Americans decided to mobilize for war. Colonists established illegal, revolutionary governments, collected taxes to fund militia and even funerals for soldiers, and established arsenals, which are warehouses for guns and ammunition. Americans were already well-armed, with each family owning several guns. However, men in villages now trained as soldiers. Some, called minutemen, were chosen and financially supported by town leaders to be prepared to fight within a minute’s notice. General Gage, the commander of the British army in Boston, wanted to surprise the colonists. He ordered Major Pitcairn to march 1,000 soldiers 20 miles to Concord to destroy colonial ammunition and to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Gage did not want a fight, but wanted take weapons from Americans so they could not fight. However, Americans in Boston learned of this plan and destroyed the surprise. On the night of April 18th, 1775, a Bostonian set two lanterns in the belfry tower of the Old North Church, thus signaling three riders, Dr. Samuel Prescott, William Dawes and Paul Revere, that the British would go to Concord initially by a sea route. The three riders set off from Boston to Concord, warning the colonists “The Regulars are coming! The Regulars are coming!” The “Regulars” were the professional British soldiers. The three successfully alerted the colonists to arm themselves and meet the British. On the morning of April 19th, 1775, the American Revolution started. The British Regulars met American militia assembled in Lexington, a village along the road to Concord. When the Regulars met the Americans, it was dark. Major Pitcairn ordered the Americans to disperse. They just stood there. Then, inexplicably, a shot rang out and the fighting started. The British killed eight and the Americans scattered. The British continued their march to Concord. In Concord, the British found the weapons and destroyed them. However, the Americans managed to defeat a smaller group of the British at the Old North Bridge, and this victory energized the colonists. The British were now twenty miles away from Boston, in the middle of hostile territory. For the rest of the day, the Regulars marched back to the city, drums beating, in formation, along a narrow road. During this march, Americans took aim at the soldiers, firing behind trees, stone walls, and fences, and then running away when any British soldier would chase them. By the end of the day, Americans had killed nearly 300 British and had lost 85 men. Though a small victory, it was seen as a great triumph of Americans over the strongest empire in the world. Questions
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for High School American History, go HERE. for Elementary, go HERE. American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who established political and cultural traditions that Americans still enjoy today. He was born on April 13, 1743, in the English colony of Virginia, in a prominent family. His father was a surveyor and cartographer and created the first accurate map of Virginia. From what we would call a large family, Jefferson had 9 siblings: six sisters, one brother, and two who died before the age of two. Like George Washington, Thomas experienced tragedy at a young age when he lost his father. Most likely, Jefferson learned how to read from his mom, Jane Jefferson, and his education was geared towards training him to strive for goodness and beauty and to become a leader. Before his formal education began at the age of 9, he spent his time reading, learning to play the violin, and playing in the woods. For five years thereafter, the Reverend William Douglas taught him Latin and Greek at a private school. When his father died, Jefferson continued his studies under the Reverend James Maury, who Jefferson describes as “a correct classical scholar.” This meant that Thomas Jefferson studied the great thinkers of Classical Greece and Rome, and strove for self-improvement by learning about the great ideas and lives of those in history. At the college of William and Mary in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson initially chose not to be a man of character. He spent his first months at parties, playing cards, and betting. After coming home for a visit, a friend was disappointed that Thomas wasn’t applying himself. Thomas chose from then on to take his studies seriously. Professor William Small, Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier and lawyer George Wythe led a small group of scholars, recommending books to read and leading discussion sessions. Under this personal care, Thomas Jefferson developed into a deep thinker and leader. After college, Jefferson studied law under the private guidance of Wythe, studying five years instead of the normal two and a half. He became one of the country’s most educated lawyers. Thomas Jefferson’s personal life was filled with much sorrow. Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton, and together they had six children. Four died before adulthood, and only one outlived Thomas. Martha died after ten years of marriage of diabetes. Thomas Jefferson shut himself in his room and paced for three weeks. He had promised his wife he would not remarry, and he did not. Whereas George Washington was a great military man, Jefferson’s genius lay in the power of his pen, his legislative work, and his Presidential leadership. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, which was the Virginia colony’s legislative body. Jefferson authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was used as a guide for our country’s First Amendment. He wrote to A Summary View of the Rights of British America, which declared that the colonies had the right to self-govern. Jefferson was a participant in the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress, and pushed for independence from Great Britain. Jefferson served as governor of Virginia and was the Washington’s Secretary of State. He is the principal author of The Declaration of Independence, one of the most powerful and beautiful political documents of all time. Perhaps the most memorable sentence he wrote is, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As the young nation’s third President, Jefferson doubled the size of the United States, kept the country out of war with France and Britain, and kept American shipping safe in the Mediterranean by destroying pirates. Historians call time from 1800 to about 1820 “The Age of Jefferson” because of America’s accomplishments that Jefferson started. France’s Napoleon Bonaparte eagerly sold the Louisiana Territory to Jefferson to help pay for his war against Great Britain. Curious to learn of this new land, Jefferson sent 40 men and one woman on an incredible journey. The Lewis and Clark Expedition explored and mapped this new land. Jefferson’s foreign policy towards belligerent countries is mixed. Some have criticized Jefferson for keeping a small military and allowing Great Britain and France to harass and imprison our sailors, but Jefferson thought we would lose a war against one of these great powers and it was best to appease than to confront them. When Barbary pirates were seizing American ships and killing American sailors, Jefferson ordered an invasion of Tripoli and our military forced the pirates to stop harming Americans. Although Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican and favored states’ rights, he ordered the purchase of Louisiana without Congressional approval, a violation of the Constitution. In recent years, from about the 2000s, some have argued that because Jefferson owned slaves, he was not a great man and was a hypocrite. They say that it is a paradox that Jefferson wanted individual rights for Americans but he kept many in bondage. There are many points to bring up to explain this paradox. In the 1700s, slavery was common in the world and was not seen by most as an evil. Slavery had existed throughout all of human history and was in every continent. It was not abnormal for someone of wealth to own slaves. Secondly, in Jefferson's original Declaration of Independence, he outlawed slavery. However, the southern state delegates to the Continental Congress would not agree with this, and Jefferson had to edit the document. Thirdly, in order to maintain his plantation and his work as a delegate and later Secretary of State, Jefferson's source of income was his plantation. He could not destroy it by releasing all of his slaves and believe he could continue as a leader of the country. In the end, Jefferson, in writing the Declaration of Independence that declared "all men are created equal" and in his lifetime of work for liberty, paved the way for America to end slavery in 1865. Jefferson was a force for good in the world and is one of America's top three presidents. On July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson died, a few hours before his friend and the second President John Adams. Of all his accomplishments, Jefferson was most proud of a few. He wrote his own epitaph, which reads: HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. Questions
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There is a very close connection between a child and parent. Parents are the people who gave us life, who feed us, who provide us a bed to sleep in, and who teach us how to brush our teeth and say “thank you.” We also look like our parents, speak the same language, and we pray, or don’t pray, as our parents do. In many ways, who we are depends greatly on who our parents are. If someone wanted to determine what kind of a person you would become when you get older, or what type of work you might do, he could study your parents and make some good guesses. In the same way, a country looks very similar to the culture that founded it. The best word to describe this is heritage. Heritage means something inherited from the past. The United States of America started as 13 English colonies, originally founded by Great Britain in the 1600s. Because of this, much of America can be traced to our British heritage. When we look at a person’s past for understanding, we do not stop with studying his or her parents. We also look at grandparents, great-grandparents, and ancestors as far back in time as possible. It is the same when we study America’s heritage. Even though Great Britain founded the 13 English colonies that would become the United States of America, we can trace America’s heritage to thousands of years ago, to cultures and countries much older than Great Britain. Historians divide history into different periods, or times, so that we can understand them better. Ancient history refers to the beginning of the history of man up to the end of the Western Roman Empire (A.D. 476). Medieval history begins with the end of the Roman Empire and continues until about 1500. And modern history refers to the time from about 1500 to today. Our first unit focuses on the ancient heritage of America. Although the United States of America is a modern nation, beginning with the founding of Jamestown in 1607, its heritage can be traced back to ancient times. The United States of America is strongly influenced by the great civilizations of the Ancient Near East and northern Africa. By great, we mean that the civilizations had a large influence on future civilizations. By civilizations, we mean that these peoples had complex agricultural, urban settlements that allowed for inventions and societal developments that made life better. Early, uncivilized peoples are hunters and gatherers who roam over an area (nomads), who do not read and write, and who do not have the technology to build permanent structures. Their lives are short and they do not give much to later nations. Great civilizations, however, are marked by people who develop writing, and who pass on to others inventions or technologies that prolong or improve life. Civilized nations in the ancient world used farming technology that allowed people to have permanent homes and a consistent food supply. The world’s great early civilizations began on the banks of rivers. Ancient people who lived near rivers could fish for food, drink water, travel on boats, and use the water to irrigate their lands. Irrigate means to water fields so crops can grow. Water from large rivers allowed these people to build strong societies. One of the beliefs of nearly all ancient people was that the world was created and ruled by many gods. There was a god for the wind, a god for the ocean, and a god for the rain. People who believe in many gods are called polytheists. Polytheists believe that if you want something, you can make a sacrifice to a god, and this god might then give it to you. If you want it to rain, you might kill an animal and burn it to make the rain god happy. Sadly, some polytheists sacrificed other humans, even children, to their gods. Polytheists did not believe that there was a clear right and wrong. Since there were many gods, and sometimes the gods competed with each other, what was right often depended on what the ruler said was right. In Egypt, in ancient Africa, the leader was called pharaoh, and all Egyptians had to consider pharaoh a god. For the pharaoh, right was whatever made him strong. This meant that if the pharaoh believed killing someone made him strong, then killing was right. One people of ancient times, the Hebrews, believed in one God. This idea is known as monotheism. The Hebrews believed that their God created a moral system built on what was right and what was wrong. Hebrews believed that God gave them their moral system as well as their system of laws. It is from the Hebrews that Western man received these foundations. America’s laws are founded on Mosaic Law, which includes the well-known Ten Commandments. Much of America’s culture, language, laws, government, philosophy, and performing arts comes from ancient Greece and Rome. Classical Greece and Rome established democracy and representative democracy, cultural norms, and artistic practices that are exhibited in the United States of America today. The American Founding Fathers thought so highly of ancient Greece and Rome that they used the architectural styles of the Classical world, known as Neoclassicism, for the most important buildings in Washington, D.C. To appreciate American history, it is necessary to understand ancient Greece and Rome. Within the Roman Empire, a Hebrew carpenter and his wife had a boy named Jesus who founded the first universal belief, the first religion open to all people in the world, and brought the idea of equality before God to all. This belief would have a direct role in the establishment of the United States of America. Jesus Christ taught that God loved all people in an equal manner and that salvation was open to all, regardless of one’s tribe or nation. About one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six years after the birth of Christ, Thomas Jefferson wrote in America’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence, “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Jefferson linked the ancient religious beliefs of Christianity to the founding of the world’s first modern republic. This heritage from ancient times shaped the United States of America that we know today. In Hoc Anno Domini This editorial by Vermont Royster has been published annually since 1949.
When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar. Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so. But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression—for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar? There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world? Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s. And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth. So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders. But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom. Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter’s star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness. And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 Appeared in the December 24, 2024, print edition as 'In Hoc Anno Domini'. This is part of a chapter taken from American History, America's Ancient Heritage through 1992, by John De Gree
On June 6, 1944, the Western Allies launched the largest seaborne invasion in world history. The invasion was named Operation Overlord, and the first day of attack was called D Day. From Great Britain to Normandy France, the Allies deployed 156,000 soldiers and 195,700 naval personnel. American leaders spoke about the war and D Day as a crusade to vanquish evil and summoned God’s help through prayer. On June 7th, FDR announced D Day in a radio broadcast to Americans. No journalist criticized FDR for his use of religion. Americans were united in prayer to support its soldiers: My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer: Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home - fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas - whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them - help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength, too - strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen. Eleven months later, the war in Europe was over, with the Allies winning unconditional surrender from Germany. As the Allies pushed west from France into Germany, Allied forces in Italy were finishing a long fight they began after winning North Africa. The Soviets, moving east, eventually took Berlin in May, 1945. Chapter 8. War in Africa and Europe
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor woke the “sleeping giant.” Americans could not wait to go after and defeat Japan. However, FDR and America’s greatest ally Great Britain led by Winston Churchill believed that the real threat to the United States was Hitler’s Germany. While FDR did not publicly proclaim it, he took a “Europe First” strategy and relegated the Pacific War to a “Second Place” status in strategy and support. The United States spent much of the first few years of war preparing to invade and liberate Europe from Hitler’s grasp and offering assistance to the Allies in war materiel and food. This meant, that for the majority of America’s involvement in the war, 1941-1945, American boots were not on the ground in Europe. Part of the reason for this, was that the United States was not in immediate threat from invasion from Germany. A second reason for this was the importance the Western culture of America placed on life. FDR did not want to risk American life until he was sure that the United States would win. The Allies believed their best chance in defeating the Axis Powers was in In North Africa. In May 1942, the Axis Powers controlled Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Vichy France, the Nazi Germany collaborationist France, controlled Morocco and Algeria. Italy controlled Tunisia. Great Britain controlled Egypt and with it the Suez Canal. The Allies wanted to defeat Italy, turn the Vichy France North Africa over to the Allies, and secure that the Suez Canal would not fall under the Axis Powers. From June 11, 1940 – May 13, 1943, the Axis and Allies fought over North Africa. Great Britain provided the leadership and most of the manpower, with the Free French and the United States assisting. In 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France and the Italians attacked Egypt. After initial losses, the English counterattacked and captured 130,000 Italians. Hitler sent General Ernst Rommel and the German Afrika Corps. Over the next years, the Germans and the British alternated between advancing and retreating. After the United States joined the war, in November, 1942, American General Dwight D. Eisenhower landed his forces in Morocco and Algeria. After initially fighting, the Vichy French agreed to not fight against the Allies. Eisenhower was victorious at Oran, Algiers, and Casablanca. The Americans and British coordinated their attacks against the Axis Powers and encircled the Germans and Italians in Tunis. On May 12, 1943, 250,000 German and Italian troops surrendered. Of the victory, Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” The Battle of the Atlantic The United States of America fought World War II in America, Hawaii, Europe, Africa, in the Pacific Islands, Asia, and on the oceans. A key part of this war was winning control of the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic was the passageway for soldiers and war materiel and food from the United States to Great Britain and then onto Europe. As an island country, Great Britain was dependent on imports. During the war, it required more than a million tons of imports per week to survive and fight. The Allies used Great Britain as a staging ground for the invasion of Europe. Without control of the Atlantic, there would be no Allied victory. The Battle of the Atlantic was essential in winning the war. It pitted the English Navy and American merchant ships against the Germany Navy, which primarily consisted of surface warships and their very successful submarines, known as U-boats. Germany had great naval successes in the first years of World War II. U-boat crews called June 1940-February 1941 “The Happy Time.” U-boat crews hunted their prey in "wolf packs," attacking shipping as a team. U-boat crews sunk over 500 Allied ships. The British lost the French fleet, the fourth strongest in the world, when Germany conquered France in the summer of 1940. Germany had decoded British messages, and U-boat crews were able to estimate where Allied ships were. Radar still had not developed enough to aid the Allies to see where the U-boats were. After America joined the war, the Germans sent five U-boats to the east coast of America. In less than a month from January 13 to February 6, 1942, U-boats had destroyed 156,939 tons of shipping without loss. By mid-1942, Allies had developed strategies that eventually won the Battle of the Atlantic over the next year. The Royal Navy used the convoy system to accompany merchant ships across the Atlantic. Allied warships protecting merchant ships could defend against the U-boats. Allies developed radar to see underwater, using this new technology on ships and in airplanes. In 1942, Allies captured the Enigma, the German secret code machine used by the U-boat commanders. Allies knew when and where U-boats were sent out to sea, and it was easier to hunt them. The Eastern Front The country that experienced the most deaths in World War II was the one most responsible for destroying the battle-hardened and technically capable German Army. Adolf Hitler shocked Joseph Stalin when he launched a war against the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The Germans and Soviets had signed a non-aggression pact, but Hitler just used that to avoid a two-front war. After Germany conquered France in six weeks, he fully believed he would quickly take Russia. Over the next six months, German Armies advanced on an 800-mile front east. Once winter set in, however, and the Russians regrouped, Germany saw devastating losses at the Battles of Stalingrad, Moscow, Leningrad, and in the long retreat back to Germany. Throughout the war, the Soviet Union fought 75-80% of German forces. The Jupiter Complex The Axis and Allied Powers introduced a new way of fighting in World War II: massive aerial bombing. Germany was first to begin this tactic, hitting civilian locations in Poland, the Low Countries, France, and then Britain. But as the war continued, the Allies used its superiority of industry and technology to inflict massive damage on the enemy. A British historian named this war strategy the “Jupiter Complex,” because as the Roman god reigned lightning on humans, the Allied war machines reigned bombs. As soon as it could, the Americans and British ran non-stop bombing raids over Axis positions. Americans bombed during the day and the British bombed at night. Once the war turned in favor of the Allies, the devastation wrought on the Axis Powers was hard to fathom, but it is also important to note it would have immediately stopped if Germany would have surrendered. Instead, Hitler seemed intent on fighting until Germany was obliterated. Total war dead from bombing is as follows: Allies: 749,940 – 1,305,029 Axis: 790,509-1,693,374 China: 260,000-351,000 Germany: 353,000-635,000 Soviet Union: 51,526-500,000 United States: 79,265 airmen/personnel Poland: 50,000 France: 67,000 The Tehran Conference, November 1943 By November, 1943, it was clear the Allies would defeat the Axis Powers in Europe. The Russians were chasing the Germans in retreat, albeit slowly and with great casualties. The British, Americans, and Free French had won North Africa, and the invasion of Italy was underway. The Allies had the upper hand in the Battle of the Atlantic. American superiority in war materiel production was affecting every front of the war, as it supplied Allies with arms, food, clothing, and all war materiel. To plan the rest of the war, the “Big Three,” which were Great Britain’s Winston Churchill, the United States’ FDR, and the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, met it Tehran, Iran. At the Tehran Conference and two later meetings, negotiations and decisions among these three leaders spelled disaster for much of the post war world. Churchill had a complete and correct understanding of Communist Soviet Union’s and Stalin’s ruthlessness. He tried in vain to educate FDR. FDR, however, as historian Paul Johnson writes in A History of the American People, “tended, like many intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals of his time, to take the Soviet Union at its face value – a peace-loving People’s Democracy.” FDR distrusted his American advisors who reported negatively about Stalin. Stalin had, in fact, been responsible for the murder of tens of millions of Russians and was one of the world’s most brutal dictators. FDR, though, surrounded himself with pro-Communist and pro-Stalin advisors, notably his ambassador to the Soviet Union, Joseph Davies, and his personal advisor, Harry Hopkins. FDR represented the strongest power, and Churchill had to go along with his decisions. At Tehran, the Big Three decided a number of items. Great Britain and the United States would open a Western Front, as soon as possible. (Churchill wanted the largest invasion to go through the Balkans to save Eastern Europe from Stalin. FDR disagreed). After the war, the Big Three agreed on the following: The Soviet Union would take eastern Poland and Poland would take a portion of eastern Germany, America would leave Europe two years after the war, the Soviet Union would hold free elections in all the countries they occupied, and then would withdraw. |
John De GreeJohn De Gree writes the current events with a look at the history of each topic. Articles are written for the young person, aged 10-18, and Mr. De Gree carefully writes so that all readers can understand the event. The perspective the current events are written in is Judeo-Christian. Receive Articles and Coupons in Your EmailArchives
February 2026
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