“Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death”: The 250th Anniversary of Patrick Henry’s Immortal Speech to the Second Virginia Convention As Americans commemorate the 250th anniversary of the start of our American Revolution in 1775— most memorably the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord next month– there are
She has been memorialized in many ways by many generations. She’s been the main character in a Disney animated film. She was the very first Native-American to appear on a U.S. stamp. These and similar examples attest to her enduring fame: she is Pocahontas, an Indian princess, who died and
When we think of the early settlers of the American West, invariably our minds conjure up the image of intrepid “mountain men” who crossed the Rocky Mountains, battling the elements, fought with hostile Indians, and faced other threats to life and limb. Before the arrival of railroads—or even roads—there was
One of the most revered figures in the history of the abolitionist movement in the 19th century was Harriet Tubman, who died this day on March 10, 1913 at the age of 90. Harriet’s story is inspirational– an escaped slave who rose to prominence in the 1850’s and became one
Many of us remember the Disney television miniseries titled Davy Crockett and the song “The Ballad of Davy Crockett”. While many western characters obtained nearly mythical status, they were no-doubt individuals who lived interesting, active and influential lives. Davy Crockett was one such character. Crockett was born in 1786, just
On this day in 1793, Samuel Houston was born in Rockbridge, Virginia. He was an American general and statesman who was a key figure in the Texas Revolution. He was the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and represented Texas in the U. S. Senate. He also
Our country’s Revolutionary War lasted eight years, from 1775 to 1783. Many historians contend that the War was won in no small part in a series of skirmishes and battles in the final years of the war in what is referred to as the “Southern Campaign,” culminating in the victory
Most of us learned in school something about the most famous Native-American tribal leaders during the period of the settlement of the American West: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud, to name a few. Largely forgotten in the telling of the story of the American West is Quanah Parker,
We have posted before about the Civil War era and Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Much of the impetus for Lincoln’s Proclamation came from the radical abolitionists in the North, as well as African-American leaders. Perhaps the most famous of them was Frederick Douglass, who died this day on
A major church leader in early America was Cotton Mather, who died this day on February 13, 1728 at the age of 65. He was one of the most controversial Puritan clerics of his era, known for his many books, papers and sermons on the theology of the Puritan faith,
(contemporaneous engraving of the Massacre of 1622) Looking back 400 years, we often read about events that were defining moments in the history of our earliest American settlements, be they the Plymouth Plantation founded by the Pilgrims, New Netherland founded by the Dutch, the Jamestowne Colony, founded by English “adventurers,”
One of the most famous leaders of the rebellion that led to our American Revolution was John Hancock, born this day on January 23, 1737. Hancock was an unlikely warrior—he was not a military man, but was instead a wealthy Boston businessman, who became a major supporter of “The Cause,”
Born this day in 1813, Major-General John C. Fremont was one of the most popular men in America in the mid-1800’s: a soldier, an explorer, a gold speculator, a territorial Governor, a U.S. senator, and a leading candidate for President of the United States. The popular press lionized him, and
One of the most important political leaders in early New England was John Winthrop, who was born this day on January 12, 1587/1588. Beginning in 1630, Winthrop was the long-time Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with its center in Boston. In 1629-30, Winthrop had organized and led a large
You see his face every day on our $10 bill. A Broadway musical is named after him. And he’s known as the man who was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. Alexander Hamilton is a truly iconic figure in American history, and one of the most complex
This month in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, one of the most important Presidential acts in American history. Since the enactment of the United States Constitution in 1789, the country had wrestled with the issue of slavery, as the nation experienced