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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.
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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. Counter-Revolutionary Classical Education
From our Online Academy teacher, Adam De Gree Our schools, universities, and media have been captured by a cult. We need a counter-revolution that replaces the revolutionary dogmas of DEI with what has always been at the core of a good education. 1. The Good 2. The True 3. The Beautiful At Classical Historian, we uphold these eternal values. Our materials are apolitical, and we welcome dialogue with anyone who honestly seeks the truth. But that doesn't mean that we don't see what's happening to our country. According to a comprehensive survey by The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, only 27% of people under the age of 45 have "a very basic understanding" of history. In the words of esteemed historian David McCullough, Americans are suffering from collective amnesia. The result? A people that has no defense against would-be revolutionaries. As of 2024, it's clear that radicals dominate nearly every institution that Americans rely on to learn about the world. Prestigious universities tolerate vicious antisemitism in the name of social justice. The head of NPR claims that truth is subjective and brags about working with the CIA to censor Wikipedia. Federal agencies conspire with Big Tech to suppress dissent. Men give birth, left is right, up is down, war is peace. The American way of life is under attack. We believe that the best way that ordinary people can protect their traditions is to ensure their children receive a genuine, rigorous, and classical education. As James Madison wrote, "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge...is the only guardian of true liberty." Parallel Education System Since so many schools have been captured by ideologues, Americans have started building a parallel education system. This system, comprised of charter schools, private classical schools, and homeschools, exists side-by-side with traditional institutions. In it, students and families are receiving a better education than in mainstream schools. This isn't the first time this has happened. Czechoslovak dissidents like Vaclav Havel faced a similar situation in Czechoslovakia in the late 1970s. Seeing that the Communist Party had corrupted every social organization, they started forming what they called the parallel polis, or parallel society. Czechoslovak dissidents founded an underground university, scouting groups, Christian communities, theater associations, and printing presses. They fundraised for those who had been "cancelled" out of a job for speaking the truth. Most importantly, they created the opportunity to live a normal life in a revolutionary regime. And as N.S. Lyons writes: "In doing so they did far more than keep up morale with pleasant intellectual diversions. They built a resilient base of organization from the ground up. They forged an experienced leadership cadre. They created a flexible underground network-state. And, when the weakened Communist state collapsed, they found themselves poised to quickly step in and fill the vacuum. Suddenly their parallel polis became the polis. Much of the chaos that other post-Communist states faced was thereby peacefully avoided." The parallel education system we're now seeing shoot up across America is built upon time-tested principles. If public schools can't be saved, they don't need to be. We have an alternative. Educating American Leaders Americans know enough about traditional public education to know that they've had enough of it. Homeschooling is growing at a record pace, and in 2024, more than 1 in 20 American schoolchildren learn at home. Moreover, the number of charter schools has grown by about 50 percent over the last ten years. Excitingly, there are likely over 1 million students receiving a classical education right now. And with 34 percent of students set to benefit from school choice in 2024, that number is growing fast. Critics might point out that this still leaves the vast majority of students in the public school system. That's certainly true. But consider this: 54% of American adults read at or below the sixth-grade level. Moreover, a full 21% of adults are illiterate. Are these ill-served Americans likely to form the next generation of leaders? That seems unlikely. On the other hand, students in the parallel education system consistently outperform those in mainstream schools. Homeschoolers earn significantly higher test scores than public school students, and they have higher than average social, emotional, and psychological development. More importantly, they enjoy more professional success, participate in more community service activities, and internalize the values of their parents at higher rates than the public schooled. The burgeoning charter school movement is seeing similar results. According to a comprehensive study of over 6,000 charter schools, 83 percent of charter school students perform at or better than their peer cohort in reading, and 75 percent perform the same or better in math. And while studies on classical school performance are few and far between, early research shows that classical school graduates have huge advantages over public school students. This indicates that the future leaders of America won't be coming from public schools. They will have had the great advantage of learning in the parallel education system. Raising Critical Thinkers How is any of this counter-revolutionary? Here's what John Adams had to say on this topic: “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” Knowledge is a prerequisite for self-government. If we lose our knowledge, we will lose our ability to govern ourselves. But that does not mean that there will be no government. It simply means that the government will no longer be of the people, by the people, and for the people. Instead, it will be a government of the powerful, by the powerful, and for the powerful. But it's not just that an uneducated populace cannot govern itself. It's that people who have been cut off from their heritage make easy prey for ideological radicals. If they do not understand the many catastrophes of history, people will not appreciate the civilization that sustains them. To the contrary, they will be manipulated by those who want to tear it down. Just consider the scenes unfolding across college campuses in 2024. As students with no knowledge of world history or geography chanted, "From the River to the Sea" without knowing which river or what sea they were referring to, America's enemies must have been deeply satisfied. The empty heads of American youth served as fertile soil for explicitly Marxist propaganda. Counter-Revolutionary Classical Education Revolutionary regimes have always preyed on the ignorant. People who have no critical thinking skills have formed the backbone of totalitarian societies from Czechoslovakia to Ethiopia and from China to Cuba. Ironically, many have supported oppression in the name of social justice and humanitarian principles. Classical education stands as an obstacle to those who would destroy their own country. Rather than raising the useful idiots of tomorrow, it cultivates critical thinkers who know a rat when they see one. Students who have grappled with the great ideas of Western Civilization will not jump on the bandwagon and call for an end to America. Instead, they will be drawn towards Truth, Beauty, and Goodness like a deer is drawn to running water. Thanks to them, we can have hope in our nation's future. We provide classical history curriculum, history games, online discussion courses, and educator resources for the counter-revolution. Join us. It’s Personal When our co-founder Zdenka went to school in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, teachers had to teach Communist ideology in the classroom. Anyone caught teaching counter to this thinking could be turned into the authorities. Good Czechoslovak Communists, they said, would report any counter-revolutionary activities to the relevant authorities. When Zdenka was in her early 20s, Czechs and Slovaks rose up peacefully to overthrow the Marxists. She joined protests and passed out pamphlets calling for freedom. Some of her friends were arrested and beaten by police for their "counter-revolutionary activities." Luckily, the counter-revolution carried the day. Ordinary people stood up to state violence and said that they didn't want to live in a revolutionary regime. They wanted a return to normalcy. Growing up in a totalitarian society, Zdenka used to look to America as an example of freedom. Yet after living in California for over 20 years, she knows that many Marxists have brought their revolution here. Americans still enjoy freedoms that are rarely protected in other countries. But as time goes on, it's becoming more difficult to live a normal life in the US. Everywhere you look, you see people trying to replace normalcy with revolutionary ideas. Not at Classical Historian. We offer a traditional historical perspective, one that rejects revolutionary dogmas. We believe in good old ideas like beauty, truth, and goodness. Our materials promote the virtues required for self-government. And yes, we're proud to be an American company. If these are counter-revolutionary ideas, then we're proud to be counter-revolutionary educators. But really, we just think we're normal Americans. Visual memory is essential for learning. In fact, research shows that students with strong visual memory perform higher-order reasoning tasks better than their peers. And despite what you may think, you can help your students build visual memory without tedious drills.
Here are 5 games that you can play with your kids to help them build visual memory. The Grid Game This team-based game calls on kids to recreate the layout of objects in a grid. Here’s how it works:
Kim's Game This game for individuals is another great visual memory tool. To play, place 10 objects on a table and cover them all with a blanket. Then, let your student take the blanket off the table and look at the objects for 1 minute. Based on their age, have them either write down what they saw, or tell you about it. The student who describes all 10 objects correctly wins! Pegs For this game, you’ll need two peg boards, which you should be able to find at any major retailer. Typically, they have a plastic base and a 6x6 layout. To play, arrange pegs on the board in a pattern of your choosing. Then, have the student replicate the pattern on their own peg board. To increase difficulty, give your student less and less time to view the original pattern during each round of play. History Memory Games Memory games are long-time kid favorites. To play, place all the tiles face down and take turns flipping two tiles per turn. The goal is to collect as many pairs as possible. And with our history memory games, you can introduce students to important people, events, and places from ancient, medieval, and American history. That way, when students learn about these historical terms later on, they’ll already be familiar with them. Describe! This simple game for individual students can be played without any materials at all. To play, tell your students to look at a scene or artwork for a set amount of time. Then, have them describe it to you in as much detail as possible. Closing Thoughts At times, students won’t be excited to do schoolwork. But by making play a part of the learning experience, parents can teach without tedium. On Saturday, October 7th, 2023, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip infiltrated and attacked Israeli civilians, murdering over 1,400, desecrating corpses, sexually assaulting women, and kidnapping over 240. Hamas murdered 30 Americans who were in Israel and other citizens from other countries. In response to this unfathomable and barbarous attack, Israel has declared war against Hamas.
In a series of articles, Classical Historian has detailed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since its beginning in 1948. Please refer to these for historical context. Israel controlled the Gaza Strip from 1967-2005. In 1967, Israel fought a war against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Called the "Six-Day War," Israel defeated the three countries and took the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel took these lands because it believed it could better defend itself from invasion if it held this territory. From 1967-2005, Israel militarily occupied the Gaza Strip. For many years, Palestinians argued that if Israel stopped occupying the Gaza Strip, peace would result. Believing this, in 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, leaving the Palestinians in control. In 2007 in the Gaza Strip, Hamas won elections. Fatah, the organization that lost the elections, led by Mahmoud Abbas, did not want to have Hamas take over. A military battle between Hamas and Fatah ensued. Hamas won. Fatah politicians were murdered. Hamas took over all of Gaza Strip and has ruled it with dictatorial power since 2007. Hamas states their goal is to destroy the Jewish country of Israel and to kill all Jews in Israel. Hamas is a radical Islamic terrorist organization and their main sponsor is Iran. From 2007 until 2023, Iran has been arming Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel has declared a state of war against Hamas, in response to the barbaric Hamas attacks. The United States of America, led by President Joe Biden, initially called for a lowering of violence between Israel and Hamas by a presidential tweet. Then, the tweet was deleted, and President Joe Biden has declared that the United States of America fully backs Israel's right to defend itself. |
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
April 2025
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