The miraculous story of 'The Bulletproof President' once appeared in virtually every student text in America. At the Battle at the Monongahela, Washington and the British army were ambushed by the French. Every officer on horseback was killed except Washington. He later wrote to his brother John on July 18, 1755: But by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability ...
Join or Die Benjamin Franklin is famous for his sense of humor. In 1751, he wrote a satirical commentary in his Pennsylvania Gazette suggesting that as a way to thank the Brits for their policy of sending convicted felons to America, American colonists should send rattlesnakes to England. Three years later, in 1754, he used a snake to illustrate another point. This time not so humorous ...
Ben Franklin Letter to Joseph Huey (dated June 6, 1753): "I can only show my gratitude for these mercies from God, by a readiness to help his other children and my brethren. For I do not think that thanks and compliments, though repeated weekly, can discharge our real obligations to each other, and much less those to our Creator. You will see in this my notion ...
In his 1818 analysis of the Revolution, John Adams said, But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. The key word here is religious. In Adams’ analysis, he said ...
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound..." So begins one of the most beloved hymns of all times, a staple in the hymnals of many denominations, New Britain or '45 on the top' in Sacred Harp. The author of the words was John Newton, the self-proclaimed wretch who once was lost but then was found, saved by amazing grace. Newton was born in London July 24, 1725, ...
Without question, one of the most famous and divinely inspired beautiful pieces of music ever written or performed is Handel’s Messiah. Note that the title of this work is not ‘The Messiah’, but simply Messiah. Above you will see one of the more flattering portraits of Handel. Handel was a German born in Halle in 1685. When he was old enough, because he wanted to compose ...
A jury acquitted publisher John Peter Zenger of libel charges against New York’s colonial governor, in an early landmark moment for the free press and the American legal system. Years later, Founding Father Gouverneur Morris said the verdict in Crown v. Zenger was “the germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revolutionized America!” Morris’ grandfather, Lewis Morris, was a judge in New York ...
Being frequently censur'd and condemn'd by different Persons for printing Things which they say ought not to be printed, I have sometimes thought it might be necessary to make a standing Apology for my self, and publish it once a Year, to be read upon all Occasions of that Nature. Much Business has hitherto hindered the execution of this Design; but having very lately given extraordinary ...
Benjamin Franklin in his 'Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion', November 20, 1728: "It is that particular wise and good God, who is the Author and Owner of our system, that I propose for the Object of my praise and adoration. For I conceive that He has in Himself some of those passions He has planted in us, and that, since He has given us ...
Silence Dogood, No. 8 Printed in The New-England Courant, July 9, 1722. On June 11 the Courant had insinuated that the Massachusetts authorities were not making proper exertions to capture a pirate vessel reported to be off the coast.3 Exasperated by this “High Affront,” the latest of many, the General Court the next day ordered James Franklin to be confined in jail for the remainder of the ...
