Blog 4 History

Recently A Newsweek study showed that more than one-third of American adults are unable to pass the U.S. citizenship test, according to their survey results. According to the result, perhaps the most astonishing find, 29% of respondents couldn’t name the current vice president of the United States; 44% were could not define the Bill of Rights; 6% had no idea what day Independence Day (the Fourth of July) took place on a calendar, and 73% couldn’t correctly say why America fought the Cold War. (Though interested to see what the correct answer was! Are we losing our history and therefore how do we know ourselves and what our “Empire of Liberty” is about?

Civic ignorance, writes Newsweek‘s Anthony Romano, is nothing new. But in today’s globalized economy, a lack of basic knowledge about basic history and public affairs is damaging America’s ability to compete with foreign countries such as China, India, and Oregon.

Read more…

President Obama, after winning the White House in 2008 proclaimed that “Elections have consequences.” But perhaps we should place an asterisk there and add “Democratic victories only” have consequences. Wisconsin elected a Republican and he is doing what Republicans do. How uncivil for these protestors to not accept the verdict! I wonder if they will be treated like the Tea Party Protests were in the wake of the Obama Election?

Wis. Gov. Scott Walker is attempting to address a serious budget issue in Wisconsin, one of many states that are frankly broke. Wisconsin is $3 billion in debt. (By the way has he once blamed his predecessor?) Among numerous things, the state is simply asking state employees pay a little for their own health care (could care less about the impact on the Unions); as they pay nothing. I’ll repeat that: nothing. I pay almost $700 a month for health care (not complaining by the way, think everyone should pay for their own care.) As a teacher I took a pay cut last year. Did I protest? No. Happy to have a job. And remember, the Left is supposed to be the party of compassion and caring. I don’t see how not going to work and its impact on the children displays their compassion. Do these teachers realize if Walker gives in and does not cut spending he has already told them 20,000 state employees lose their jobs?

I watched the protests this past week in Madison, Wisconsin, and I was stunned by the lack of civility, especially after the shooting in Arizona where the Left found it very easy to blame the Right and preach about needing a “new discourse.” Here’s some of the new civility the Left is delivering:

Some areas of the news are calling the unrest in Wisconsin and elsewhere a “Progressive Revolution.” The Progressive Era Part Two.
MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan seemed to suggest just such a thing. “Are things in our country so bad that it might actually be time for a revolution?” Ratigan asked. “The answer obviously is yes,” he added, and “the only question is how to do it.”

Salon.com has an article proclaiming Why FDR would support the Wisconsin protests, and of course he would. Just look at his New Deal legislation.

I think what is happening in Wisconsin represents the decline of American Exceptionalism (if it even still exists.) State employees having to help pay for their health insurance, my God. Teachers calling in sick so they and their students can protest. These are tough times.

So instead of students being in school and learning in Wisconsin, they are in the streets carrying signs of SOLIDARITY. What does this teach them?

I have no doubt some will report the growing unrest of Unions and the protest over spending cuts as a worker’s unite kind of progressive movement.

Now, a bit of hyperbole on my part? Sensationalism? Sure. Those are but a handful of idoits in the crowd. But the question still stands, How will the unrest in Wisconsin and perhaps elsewhere be remembered?

Ed Hooper wrote recently in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that public schools and universities have lost the military aspects of American History. That our recognizing of our nation’s military heroes is waining. This process, according to Mr. Hooper, has led to a loss which has “trickled down to public school systems generations ago.” As Hooper notes, the rate of military genre book sales has been strong and has been for decades. The big names of American history continue to outsell the social/micro history subjects that don’t translate well to the general reading public.

But for Mr. Hooper, the military side of American history is going or already gone:

Gone from U.S. textbooks are the commanders and the battles; the stories of remarkable citizen soldiers who walked away from the safety of their fields, stores and factories and stepped into history’s pages are forgotten. The sociological impacts of armed conflicts or political movements relating to U.S. wars now dominate classroom instruction.

In most public schools the focus on social justice and social history seems to be far outpacing the traditional and indeed military and political components of history.

Military history has all but vanished from America’s educational mainstream. What was once regarded as a core subject in a classical education has become irrelevant. Teaching military history requires instructing students there are times when wars are justified. It requires defining traitors and heroes by academic guidelines.

Perhaps Mr. Hooper has touched on something here in an age where seemingly to teach American Exceptionalism, patriotism, and that war is sometimes justified simply is seen by many in the world of acadamie to be nothing short of intellectual bankruptcy.

When it comes to teaching history, as I have said numerous times, it is about emphasis. I can teach a class about the American Revolution and not tell a lie or provide a historical inaccuracy, and yet someone else could teach the same unit in such a different way and with different emphasis that the students from both classes would received a vastly different impression of the historical events.

Please take a moment this weekend to think about (or talk with your children who are old enough to understand) what this country means and how it was established by the Founders as an Empire of Liberty; as they understood it. The Freedoms that they fought for established a Republican tradition that stands today, though under some serious stress. Honor our Founders and the heritage and traditions of Freedom.

So as you Bar-B-Que or go to the lake, take a moment and honor our Greatest Generation, the Founders!

I am embarrassed to admit that I myself did not even remember until today that the Anniversary of one of the most important World War 2 events had just passed. The largest amphibious landing in history and one that almost failed. Yet the warriors of our second Great Generation (I tend to count the Founders as the Greatest, sorry) persevered.

I want to, therefore, share with you General Eisenhower’s message to his soldiers just prior to their mission:

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

– Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

If you do a simple Google search for “founding fathers not christian” you will find a slew of blogs, publications, and whatnot that offer their take on the issue of Christianity and the Founding. These opinion pieces, such as the one I am writing here, offer quotes from Founders such as: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, George Washington, and others.

I have already addressed the fact that Natural Law was the essential influence in the Declaration and the Constitution. That in itself establishes that the United States of America was founded on principles that flowed from Christian doctrine.

But nonetheless, lets look at this notion that somehow, in the aftermath of the Great Awakening and George Whitefield (who deserves credit for influencing some –if not many– of those Founders such as Samuel Adams), and an era of what some would call today fanatical religious tendencies, that miraculously the Founders were not Christians and at best Deists. By the way, though I think it could be fair to declare some of the Founders as Deists, by definition they stilled believed in God and called themselves, as you will see, Christian. A Deists simply rejects the notion that God intervenes in human affairs (more of a by product of the Enlightenment). This is a reaction, during the 18th and early 19th Centuries, when many rejected the “dogma” of religious institutions; not God.

It would take more time than I am willing and able here to tackle each Founder in one shot, so for this first installment I will tackle two of the prominent Founders that are pointed to as “not Christian”: Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

THOMAS JEFFERSON
The man is a riddle, an enigma, and wrapped in a … vortex, or however the saying goes. I love Jefferson. For all his imperfections in modern eyes, he was still perfect in so many other ways. If it is true that Texas has taken him out or reduced his importance, than I am no fan of their new curriculum.

Let me take you back to 1803, Jefferson is into his second year as President. He had been mauled by the Federalists as being essentially an atheist. (I love how pundits today act like the political shenanigans of today are somehow new!) He wrote what is the best letter that I have found concerning his Christianity or lack there of. The letter was to his esteemed Friend Dr. Benjamin Rush (April 21, 1803) and in it Jefferson was clearly reflective on his record as a Christian, and was writing in response to a long standing promise — apparently — to Rush regarding his (Jefferson) stance on Religion and his religious beliefs.

Jefferson started off by stating, first and foremost, “I am a Christian…” and then he qualifies it, but the statement is clear. Now I can stop there and say, “bring it on,” but sense I know there are those who will have the, “yeah buts,” I will continue. [read letter here if you would like.]

Jefferson’s convictions were indeed complex, which is what one would expect with such a complex thinker. Jefferson continued in this letter, but did so hesitantly as he iterates: “I know it will not be expressed to the malignant perversions of those who make every word from me a text for new misrepresentations and calumnies.” Jefferson did not know it, but even today there are those with political motivations (like the Federalists) to essentially demonize him by misrepresenting and distorting a few of his words here or there.

Yet Jefferson is complicated and that cannot be denied. Just read the letter noted above and you will see how three dimensional his mind worked. But to say he was not a Christian is a gross and “malignant perversion” of his words.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
To me Franklin is the key as those who insist that the Founders were not Christian point lovingly to Franklin as the poster child for their argument. Indeed, some of his thoughts and writings can be taken out of context and used to give the impression that he was not a Christian and did not care for religion. He probably did not care for the Church, the institution and did so for reasons he clearly articulated.

Franklin was a child of the Enlightenment and viewed Christianity through that prism. Franklin was a pragmatist and had no tolerance for religious persecution of one religion over another. The “dogma” as he called it. He believed in free will but also wrote very clearly that God, a supreme being, was benevolent and powerful. He believed in Natural Law and also believed in tolerance and utility with regard to living a Christian life. What Franklin did not want was a Preacher telling him how and why he ought to believe in God. [Source: Papers of Benjamin Franklin; also, see Walter Isaacson, "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life," Simon & Shuster, 2003; 84-88.]

Final Note, this government website has an array of documents regarding the dedication of Jefferson, Madison, ect., and their religious convictions come Sundays. Strange how non-Christian folks such as Jefferson and Madison would bother dedicating, religiously, their Sundays to God and church.

Next Segment: Washington and John Adams

Wishing you a happy Memorial Day!

From DAY ONE, and I mean from day one, I discuss with my students the fact that America is unique in that it is a nation where the “collision of cultures” of different races in such a short period of time has probably never been seen before in the history on human kind. This collision has meant that the velocity of cultures mandated that there would be discrimination and conflict. It is less a melting pot than a traffic accident of high speed entities. Don’t get me wrong, the true immigrants who love this country want to “melt” into it and embrace it. My ancestors came to this country from Germany at a time when Germans were not welcomed (WWI) and had to literally change the pronunciation of our name (Wehner) in order to get jobs and feed themselves. To simply survive in this land of opportunity. They could have been really upset and joined the socialist movement (or any radical movement for example), but instead they adapted. They adapted the American culture and thrived. I don’t know if that is always the case anymore.

The conflict in culture has not just been between Whites and whoever else, the Irish, Germans and Italians were all discriminated against on some level during their migration here. Somehow they dealt with it. Anyway, I digress.

State Schools Superintendent Tom Horne debates his new controversial legislation that removes “race” based programs from Arizona schools in order “to get schools to teach kids to treat each other as individuals,” he says, is the key. Mr. Horne is interesting as he was a part of the March on Washington and claims that his law is based on Martin Luther King’s famous words that we should be judged by our character and not on our skin color. This video below is very interesting as the exchange brings up a lot of important points. La Raza is an organization, as we have seen, that can be very radical and is completely the opposite of what Dr. King would preach. Nonetheless, there are some issues with Mr. Horne’s legislation as there are some very good teen/school groups that do address the needs of a specific “race” of people and in peaceful and inclusive ways that will not be able to meet under this law.

I agree with Mr. Horne that we need to focus less on race, on exclusion, and to be “inclusive” and focus on individuals and the greatness of this country that provides such opportunity that all races flock here for some strange reason… you know, considering all our racism.

CW

I came across this and thought I would share: