07 Wednesday Sep 2011
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2012-elections, America, barack-obama, change, community-organizer, Democrat, failure, fraud, government, government-corruption, government-deception, government-dependency, government-failure, government-regulation, government-spending, job-killing, obama, obama-administration, obamacare, obamunism, President Obama, uncategorized, unemployment, USA, wikileaks
15 Monday Aug 2011
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2012-elections, America, attorney-general-holder, barack-obama, cass-sunstein, communist, Congress, constitution, crime, department-of-justice, Eric Holder, fascism, freedom, government, government-corruption, government-deception, government-dependency, government-failure, government-programs, government-regulation, government-takeovers, liberty, marxist, obama, obama-administration, obamunism, politicians, President Obama, progressive, samantha-power, sedition, Socialism, treason, tyranny, uncategorized, US Constitution, USA
17 Sunday Jul 2011
Posted in America, blogsense, citizenship, Congress, conservative, Creativity, Culture, Current Events, Democrat, education, Election 2012, Events, Faith, gratitude, history, humor, inspirational, Leadership, liberal, life, Lifestyle, Musings, news, Opinion, Parenting, People, Poetry, politics, Republican, Seniors, spiritual, tea party, thoughts, WE THE PEOPLE, writing
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"life lessons", American, American Interests, appreciation, Blog, boredom, character, character training, choices, Conservative opinion, Democrat, empathy, fear, freedom, fun, God, hilarious, Hope * Change, Human nature, Human Rights, Military appreciation, military service, morality, neighbors, order, patriotism, pleasure, spiritual, USA, Women's Issues
04 Monday Jul 2011
Posted in America, blogsense, Christianity, citizenship, conservative, education, gratitude, history, inspirational, liberal, life, politics, Seniors, spiritual, tea party, thoughts, writing
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"In God We Trust", "life lessons", Francis Scott Key, Ft McHenry, history, Military appreciation, national anthem, spiritual, Star-Spangled Banner, USA, War of 1812, We remember
This is a very cool, very informative interactive website. Check it out!!!!
“In 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions to impede on-going American trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law. The British did not wish to allow the Americans to trade with France, regardless of their theoretical right as neutrals to do so.”(Wikipedia) The tensions increased and the wealthy politicians in Britain exercised their influence and put pressure on the America to bow to their wishes. An unstated but powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold their newly won national honor in the face of what they considered to be British tests and insults.
It is this war “whereby the fledging, in-fighting, unprepared baby United States cemented its status as an independent nation by defeating the most powerful military power in the western world. The final battle waged in Baltimore, Maryland, was the one celebrated in Francis Scott Key’s famous poem, which was made into our national anthem: “Star Spangled Banner”. READ MORE
The Battle for Ft McHenry
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire, including those of present-day Canada.[nb 2] The Americans declared war in 1812 for a number of reasons, including a desire for expansion into the Northwest Territory, trade restrictions because of Britain’s ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of American Indian tribes against American expansion, and the humiliation of American honour. Until 1814, the British Empire adopted a defensive strategy, repelling multiple American invasions of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. However, the Americans gained control over Lake Erie in 1813, seized parts of western Ontario, and destroyed Tecumseh’s dream of an Indian confederacy. In the Southwest General Andrew Jackson humbled the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend but with the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the British adopted a more aggressive strategy, sending in three large armies along with more patrols. British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed the British to capture and burn Washington, D.C. American victories in September 1814 and January 1815 repulsed British invasions of New York, Baltimore and New Orleans.” CONTINUE READING
Scribbled lyrics by the inspired F.S.Key
“During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort’s smaller “storm flag” continued to fly, but once the shell and Congreve rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. By then, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag had been raised.
During the bombardment, HMS Erebus provided the “rockets red glare”. HMS Meteor provided at least some of the “bombs bursting in air”.
Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large American flag flying triumphantly above the fort. This flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, came to be known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag and is today on display in the National Museum of American History, a treasure of the Smithsonian Institution. It was restored in 1914 by Amelia Fowler, and again in 1998 as part of an ongoing conservation program.
Aboard the ship the next day, Key wrote a poem on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. At twilight on September 16, he and Skinner were released in Baltimore. He completed the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying, and entitled it “Defence of Fort McHenry.” (Wikipedia)
“The Star-Spangled Banner” was written in a time of great national crisis. The Capital of the United States had fallen to the enemy. Its most important Federal buildings were charred ruins in the wake of the British occupation. There seemed to be nothing separating Britain’s vaunted military power from complete victory, except the small bodies of scattered and disorganized militia. American morale was at a low ebb. It required a bold man at that time to prophesy the spiritual rebirth of the American Nation as Francis Scott Key did in “The Star-Spangled Banner.” CONTINUE READING
By Francis Scott Key 1814
Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
04 Monday Jul 2011
Posted in America, blogsense, Christianity, citizenship, conservative, Creativity, education, gratitude, history, humor, inspirational, Jesus, liberal, life, novels, Parenting, Poetry, politics, Seniors, spiritual, tea party, thoughts, toddlers, writing
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"life lessons", 4th of July, America, celebration, character training, Facts, history, Human nature, Independence, Independence Day, Jesus, Military appreciation, Novel Reading, Pledge of Allegiance, political tirade, spiritual, US Constitution, USA
1.) Independence Was Not Declared on July Fourth: The second Continental Congress actually voted for independence on July 2. In fact, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, predicting that future generations would celebrate July 2 as Independence Day, saying, “The second day of July, 1776, will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illumination, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.” July 4, 1776 is significant because that is the day that Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence document, but contrary to what many people believe it was not signed on the July 4. The official signing ceremony occurred on August 2, which is when most of the signers affixed their names to the document, but other representatives signed the document throughout the summer of 1776. Finally, there is no historical record of John Hancock saying that his signature is that big so that King George could read it. It has been suggested that Hancock’s is by far the largest signature simply because he was the president of Congress.
2.) New York Was Late: When the Continental Congress declared independence from Britain the official vote was 12 in favor, 0 against. But wait, you may ask, weren’t there 13 colonies? Where is that last one? The answer: The colony of New York abstained from the original vote on July 2. New York did not decide to join until July 19.
3.) It Was a States Thing First: Independence was not something that was confined to Congress. It started out as a state and local thing. In fact, the very first Declaration of Independence came on Oct. 4, 1774 (21 months before the Continental Congress declared independence) from the town of Worcester, Mass. During the next 21 months a total of 90 state and local declarations of independence would be made. When Virginia declared its independence in May 1776, they sent Rep. Richard Henry Lee to the Continental Congress with specific instructions to put forth a resolution of independence for Congress to vote on, thus allying all the colonies — soon to become states — against the British Empire in the War for Independence.
4.) American Troops Did Not fight Under the American Flag During the Revolution: The Fourth of July is always accompanied by a lot of flag waving, but the soldiers of the American Revolution did not actually fight under the American flag. In fact, our Founders did not really consider the flag to be all that important and the design of the flag varied both in the number of stripes and in the formation of the stars. The reason a uniform flag was adopted was so that our navy ships could be easily identified when arriving in foreign ports, but the boys in the Continental Army did not fight under this flag. In fact, the United States flag was considered so irrelevant that in 1794 when someone introduced a bill in Congress to add two stars to the flag in representation of the entrance of Vermont and Kentucky into the Union many members of the House considered it to be too trivial to pay any attention to. One representative is on record saying that this matter was “a trifling business which ought not to engross the attention of the House, when it was it was their duty to discuss matters of infinitely greater importance.” In the end, the bill was passed simply to be rid of it. The Continental Army did still fight under flags, but these flags were all different depending on the regiment.
5.) Our Founding Fathers Were Not Radicals: As Americans, we like to think that what we did in the American Revolution was original and that our ideas of freedom and rights were new and progressive. But the truth is our Founding Fathers were not radical new thinkers — all of their ideas and philosophies were rooted deeply in history. Ideas of people’s rights, liberty, and social contracts can be traced all the way back through our colonial history, most famously with the Mayflower Compact, and even further through British history and English common law. These ideas can even be seen at work in the medieval era with Magna Carta first established 1215. Our Founding Fathers sought independence in order to preserve their “natural-born rights as Englishmen.” Though it is true no colony had ever succeeded from the mother country before and the British were quick to call it treason, everything our Founders did was, in fact, legal. Jefferson himself explains that the Declaration was not meant to express anything new. He said it was “not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before, but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject.”
6.) We Are Not a Democracy: People often associate democracy with freedom. We hear this word used all the time by our politicians, by our neighbors, even sometimes by our educators. But the fact is we are not a democracy. We are a republic. Our Founding Fathers deemed this an important distinction to make and discussed the matter quite a bit. In the end, our Founding Fathers claimed that a democracy was both extreme and dangerous for a country as it would most assuredly result in the oppression of the minority by the majority. Take this one example from Founding Father, Elbridge Gerry: “The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy.” And Thomas Jefferson said that democracy should never be practiced outside the limits of a town. Our Founders were very wary of power no matter who had it and thus limited it as much as possible — this is why we have such a unique system of checks and balances.
7.) Jefferson-Hemings Scandal–Not So Scandalous After All? With Independence Day comes a lot of talk about the Declaration of Independence and with that talk comes references to Thomas Jefferson, which these days will inevitably end with the Sally Hemings scandal. The claim that Jefferson fathered children with Hemings started by Jefferson’s political rival Alexander Hamilton as an attempt to smear and discredit him. In the past several years these claims got a lot of media attention when a DNA test was done on the descendants of Sally Hemings, which led people to claim that Thomas Jefferson was definitively the father of her children. However, the matter is far from settled and there are still historians on both sides of the aisle in this debate. The DNA test actually proves that a male from the Jefferson family fathered Sally Hemings’ children –that’s a number of possibilities. At this point, science cannot actually provide us with a definitive answer on the subject.
8.) Our Founding Fathers Would Not Have Recited the Pledge: Another patriotic tradition that gets a lot of attention, particularly around this time of the year, is the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge did not exist during our Founders’ lifetimes — something that is very clear when looking at its text. The Pledge was written over a century after America’s founding in 1892. It was also written by a socialist — Francis Bellamy, whose original text was: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” According to our Founders, the states are not indivisible, but very much the opposite. In fact, when ratifying the U.S. Constitution, some states, such as Virginia among others, specifically declared the right to secede from the Union should they feel it necessary just as an extra precaution to make sure that that state right was understood. Our Founders took their states rights very seriously and considered the U.S. Constitution to be a compact amongst the sovereign states so that any state could secede if it felt the federal government had become oppressive. So, if not with a pledge, how would our Founding Fathers begin meetings and celebrations? The answer: most likely with a prayer. In fact, the very first resolution brought before the First Continental Congress, and immediately passed, was the declaration that they would open every meeting with a prayer.
9.) The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere . . . and 40 others? The mythology of Paul Revere’s midnight ride can be traced back to the year 1860 with the writing of that famous poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.” Here’s what really happened: On April 18, 1775, British troops were ordered to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams, both of whom were in Lexington at the time and to seize arms and provisions at Concord. Upon hearing this, Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback — taking two different routes to Lexington in order to warn Hancock and Adams. Along the way, they warned the towns they passed through of the British invasion. By the morning of April 19 roughly 40 men were out on horseback spreading the news. Revere arrived at Lexington first, followed by Dawes. The two men then headed toward Concord, but were intercepted by British troops. Dawes, though injured, managed to escape, but Revere was captured. He was rescued by American militiamen a short while later. It was during this confrontation between British troops and American militiamen at Concord that the famous shot heard ’round the world was fired.
10.) The British Soldiers of the Boston Massacre Were Defended by John Adams in Court: The Boston Massacre, on March 5, 1770, began with a riot and ended with British troops killing five men. The incident help spark the greater rebellion, which led to the Revolutionary War, but tensions had been rising in Boston since British troops had occupied the city in 1768. But you may be surprised to know that one of the Founding Fathers actually defended the British soldiers that were charged of killing the civilians. John Adams, like many of our Founding Fathers, was a lawyer, and though he was a Patriot, he firmly believed in the right to a fair trial and agreed to represent the British troops in court. Adams succeeded in getting Capt. Thomas Preston acquitted as most others. And the two soldiers who were convicted were spared the death penalty.
So this July Fourth, research what you’re celebrating and talk about it with your family. Benjamin Franklin said that we have Republic, if we can keep it. Former Congressman and author of the book “In Tune with America: our History in Song,” George Nethercutt Jr. put it this way: “The foundation of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans is the U.S. Constitution, the longest surviving constitution of any nation in history. To be civically unaware is to diminish our freedom, but knowing our history makes us all better Americans. Read our nation’s Founding documents and they will inspire you.”
29 Wednesday Jun 2011
Posted in America, blogsense, citizenship, conservative, education, gratitude, history, inspirational, liberal, life, politics, spiritual, thoughts, writing
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America, Americans, blessings, choices, citizens, freedom, God, gratitude, history, individuality, Kate Smith, nationalism, patriotism, Spirit, spiritual, USA, WE THE PEOPLE
United We Stand; Divided We Fall
“The United States Senators sang it on the steps of the Capitol that fateful day, September 11, 2001, another “day that will live in infamy.” It was sung at the reopening of the stock market the following Monday, and Canadian soprano Celine Dion sang it at the two-hour fundraiser “America: A Tribute to Heroes” on September 21. The song was God Bless America, and on NBC’s Saturday Today show, after mentioning the national anthem and Willie Nelson’s rendition of America the Beautiful, it was reported that Ms. Dion sang “the song that galvanized the American spirit.””
(The American Spirit)
God Bless America “was written during the First World War, for an army camp show where Berlin was stationed: Camp Yaphank on Long Island. The show’s producers rejected it as too jingoistic, so Berlin placed it in a trunk of rejected manuscripts.
There it lay for twenty years, until Ted Collins, manager of popular singer Kate Smith, approached Irving Berlin for a new patriotic song for Kate to introduce to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I.” Continue reading …
God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
Whilst the last members were signing [the Constitution], Doctor Franklin, looking towards the Presidents chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art, a rising, from a setting, sun. I have, said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising, and not a setting sun. – Dr. Benjamin Franklin, September 17, 1787. What do YOU say? Is the sun rising or setting?
Let that same Spirit rise within each American citizen, a Spirit of gratitude to all who have gone before that helped define AMERICA as our HOME. May our love for our nation, and the Light she represents to other nations, rekindle in us as we regain appreciation for our remaining FREEDOMS and work to restore what has been stolen through our own greed and selfishness. May the Spirit that unites us in times of catastrophe, unite us NOW and in the days to come as we stand together against the tide of mediocrity and sameness that would disarm our individuality ~ the capstone of our FREEDOM! God, let it be so!
Read further:
13 Monday Jun 2011
Posted in America, blogsense, citizenship, conservative, education, history, inspirational, liberal, life, Parenting, politics, thoughts
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America, character training, Flag Day, God, honor, military, nationalism, patriotism, respect, service members, USA
A few interesting things about our Flag. “On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” Subsequently, it took three executive orders to establish and confirm the dimensions and proportions for our Flag today. LEARN MORE
The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America’s birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as ‘Flag Birthday’. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as ‘Flag Birthday’, or ‘Flag Day‘.
America is unique in that her beginnings were noble. The early pioneers, pilgrims, puritans, and dreamers sought a land of freedom. Even among themselves, there was not complete agreement about if or how to form a local government. But they were intelligent enough to understand that together, finding the common ground and building on that. From there, our nation grew and flourished, I believe, because of in inherent willingness to share, to give of whatever we had to those with less. The first settlers from Europe understood hardship and from their own affliction learned compassion … along with some fear.
The stories of the first encounters with Native Americans are mixed. Some were heroic and honorable, some were not. While there are many things in our history for which we can be ashamed, there are many more acts of kindness and compassion. In my opinion, this compassion has been in past times, a driving force, an underlying current that kept us moving in a good and worthy direction. There are times in our history we forgot our compassion only to be reminded by some cruel and harsh reality. In America, I don’t know one way or another about other places, as my personal experience in other nations is limited, but in America, it has often been true that hard times bring out the best in us.
Look around. Do you see neighbors in need? If you are able to help, consider it. If you cannot, perhaps you might pray. Care. On this Flag Day, care …
blogsense-by-barb 