American independence was won by men who refused to be beaten—who were defeated and rose again, battered but determined. That’s the lesson we can learn from the battlefield of Camden and from the story of Thomas Pinckney, a remarkable young man who embodied the courage it took to win our independence. Continue reading
Falling Cloud (aka PFC Ira Hamilton Hayes)
“There they battled up Iwo Jima’s hill,
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again. And when the fight was over,
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high, Was the Indian, Ira Hayes ~ Johnny Cash, “The Ballad of Ira Hayes”
Fear, without a doubt, is everyone’s inner struggle. When confronted and an ordinary human stands up, rises against the odds and faces the challenge, this ordinary man becomes a hero. For “being terrified but going ahead and doing what must be done―that’s courage” (Piers Anthony, Castle Roogna), and heroes are nothing other than ordinary people who by acting in the heat of the moment can make themselves extraordinary. Continue reading
Frederick Douglas ~ American
American history abounds with great orators whose eloquence roused the people and shaped events. Names like Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, William Lloyd Garrison, Abraham Lincoln, William Jennings Bryan, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King come to mind.
The best of them spoke with passion because their words gushed forth from wellsprings of character or experience or righteous indignation—and in the case of the great 19th-century American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, all three. He could pierce the conscience of the most stubborn foe by what he said and how he said it. Continue reading
William Tecumseh Sherman, young officer
I would like to add a little footnote to Tom DiLorenzo’s recent treatment of General William Tecumseh Sherman and the Indians. This “footnote” is actually a “prequel” to Sherman’s famous “march” through Georgia and South Carolina, during the late Unpleasantness, and his later Indian-fighting activities after that not very “civil” war. It is my duty as a patriotic Floridian to describe this part of the Sherman saga and, anyway, it helps us better understand his attitude toward warfare.
Florida In The Empire
I refer of course to Sherman’s unhappy days in the subtropics, 1840–1841. Of course putting those days — which added up to just under a year and a half — in context requires me to say a few things about the Second Seminole War (1835–1842). Now, as far back as the American Revolution, American leaders coveted Florida — then under British rule. This was for obvious reasons of political geography. Alas, it was not to be, and the Treaty of Paris (1783), which concluded the Revolutionary War, saw Florida handed back to Spain, after twenty years of British rule. Continue reading
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was an African-American mathematician, surveyor, astronomer, and publisher of a popular almanac. Banneker wrote a now-famous letter to Thomas Jefferson on August 19, 1791, arguing eloquently that “…however variable we may be in Society or religion, however diversifyed in Situation or colour, we are all of the Same Family, and Stand in the Same relation to him [God].”[1]
In his reply to Banneker on August 30, Jefferson wrote,
No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, the nature has given to our black bretheren, talents equal to those of the other colours of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence bot in Africa and America…I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet…because I considered it as a document to which your whole colour had a right for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them.[2] Continue reading
Every October 3rd, students in schools all across America celebrate what is called “Bring Your Bible to School Day” This year legendary NFL quarterback Drew Brees made a video affirming Christian students: “I want to encourage you to live out your faith on Bring Your Bible to School Day, and share God’s love with friends. You’re not alone.”
This is a tender, amiable message from a professional athlete that we should all value considering how often we see the adverse and negative behavior of so many high paid sports icons.
Tragically, encouraging ethical and loving behavior is sometimes met with antagonism. Many critics opposed Brees for making this video stating the New Orleans Saints quarterback was somehow “anti-gay.” Continue reading
Abolitionist John “Jean” Pierre Burr, believed to be one of two children of color fathered by US Vice President Aaron Burr, was buried in an unmarked grave at Eden Cemetery near Philadelphia
Aaron Burr, the US vice president who shot dead Alexander Hamilton in a duel, had children of color with an Indian servant – and one went on to be an abolitionist and was buried in an unmarked grave near Philadelphia
Burr’s descendants said they are convinced he fathered abolitionist John Pierre Burr with Mary Emmons, a servant who was from Calcutta, India.
The couple also are believed to have had an older daughter, Louisa Charlotte.
On Saturday, descendants of both father and son laid a black marble gravestone at Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, where the younger Burr is buried, reports the Daily Times. Continue reading
~ Prologue ~
As nineteen-plus years have gone by since the advent of the journey of Kettle Moraine Publications, we have amassed a collection of files which we have never made available. The following is but one of said files. We are making the following available for those who have an interest in expanding their knowledge of history – something that is being ignored in the public School System in America today.
Be prepared to bookmark this addition to Le Metropolis Café, as it is lengthy, but the lessons are tremendous. Welcome to Profiles.
We begin our story of Cicero from the Preface of author, Anthony Everitt’s monumental work, The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician: CICERO. ~ Ed.
Continue reading
The following essay was originally published in the Fall ’91 issue of Whole Earth Review. It finally clarified for many, why American school is such a spirit-crushing experience, and suggested what to do about it.
Before reading, please set your irony detector to the on position. If you find yourself inclined to dismiss the below as paranoid, you should know that the design behind the current American school system is very well-documented historically, in published writings of dizzying cynicism by such well-known figures as Horace Mann and Andrew Carnegie. Continue reading
His mother was 40 years old when Jesse was born. Jesse grew up in a very rough home in Morgantown, West Virginia. Jesse’s father, who was mentally ill, was a violent man and was abusive to Jesse. At 13, his father died leaving his mother to take care of him and his brothers. At the time, things weren’t easy for Jesse and he didn’t think life held much hope for him.
While Jesse had his struggles, he had dreams too. He wanted to be a ventriloquist and he found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with sock puppets and saved his money until he could get a real ventriloquist dummy. When he was old enough, he joined the military. Continue reading
March is recognized by the U.S. Government as “Women’s History Month.” According to womenshistorymonth.gov, we “join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society”. There are countless women who have dedicated themselves to making the world a better place and to ushering in a turning point in history, so it’s fitting that we should honor and celebrate them this month.
Surgeon, right-to-life activist, and noted speaker, Mildred Fay Jefferson was the first African American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School in 1951. Continue reading
“Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.”~ Lieutenant General Thomas J. ‘Stonewall‘ Jackson
The South lost one of its boldest and most colorful generals on this day in 1863, when 39-year-old Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson died of pneumonia a week after his own troops accidentally fired on him during the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. In the first two years of the war, Jackson terrorized Union commanders and led his army corps on bold and daring marches. He was the perfect complement to Robert E. Lee. Continue reading
In 1861 an educated Georgia slave named Harrison Berry wrote a book explaining why he and his fellow slaves preferred their life in the South to the “so-called” freedom in the North. It was a scathing critique of the hypocrisy of Northern abolitionism, and explains why the vast majority of slaves remained loyal to the South.
The following excerpt examines from this fascinating primary source. Here is presented a paragraph explaining why there was a close bond between master and slave in spite of the “peculiar institution.” Here he lambasts the “radicals” for their attempts to destroy that bond and as a result made things worse for the slave… Continue reading
Body of Abraham Lincoln lying in state
There are several anomalies regarding the Lincoln assassination and its aftermath that have not been resolved even to this day. For those folks who like to see all situations all neatly tied up with a nice big red bow, the Lincoln assassination and its environs is not your cup of tea. Too many unresolved situations and unanswered questions, which leads one to believe that not all is as it seems or as it should be… Continue reading
Caricature of Ulysses S. Grant inebriated. (Library of Congress
Victor in the bloodiest conflict in American history. Twice elected President, where he crushed the Ku Klux Klan. Author of one of the most celebrated works ever produced by this nation. This is the resume of Ulysses S. Grant. Yet you may think of him as a drunken butcher who went on to become an incompetent commander-in-chief. Even his champions often wind up dwelling on his perceived flaws, as when President Trump saluted Grant’s military acumen but noted contemporaries generally saw him as a man with a “drinking problem,” an “alcoholic.” Continue reading
I watched an interesting segment on the Infowars.com site on April 29th dealing with some history I had written about somewhere in the distant past. It was narrated by David Knight. I have always enjoyed watching David Knight’s commentary. He is a Christian man who is not ashamed of his faith and he lets you know that in a quiet, humble way.
His commentary on April 29th dealt, in part, with the fact that it does seem that we have been lied to for the past 150 years about whether Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth was really killed at Garrett’s Farm in Virginia and buried in the grave that, supposedly, contains his remains.
It would seem now that this may not be the case. Years ago, back in the 1990s, some in the Booth family were concerned about this and they went to court to get permission to have Booth’s body exhumed so DNA testing could be done to prove whether it was Booth or someone else buried there. The court refused their request and the cemetery did not want to be bothered either. Just too much trouble to go into all that. The “history” books have all been written and generations of kids have all learned the way it was supposed to have been, so why change all that now and upset the Establishment apple cart that has trundled along unimpeded for over 150 years? Continue reading