American History

Yes, it looks like someone found the answers.

Just a little preface before we get into it facts most don't know.

What is America why do we stand up?

I   pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Did you ever wonder what was on the liberty bell?

""Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. "
-words written on the Liberty Bell

THE BIRTH OF A NEW NATION

Don't Tread On Me

In December, 1775, an American colonist (believed by many scholars to be
Benjamin Franklin), noticed the increasing use of a symbol throughout the
colonies, stamped onto barrels and other items, depicting a coiled
rattlesnake with the words ''Don't Tread On Me'' written below the snake.
And he wondered about how the symbol of a rattlesnake could be a symbol of
the American desire for freedom?

He wrote the following words:

"... the Rattle-Snake is found in no other quarter of the world besides
America. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever
surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. ...
she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy,
and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.''



By the middle of the 1700s, the 13 colonies that made up part of England's empire in the New World were finding it difficult to be ruled by a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. They were tired of the taxes imposed upon them. But independence was a gradual and painful process. The colonists could not forget that they were British citizens and that they owed allegiance to King George III.

A "tea party" and a Massacre" were two events that hurried destiny. Along with general unrest these events united the colonists. In 1767 a tea company in India, owned by England, was losing money. To save the company, England levied a tax on tea sold in the colonies in 1773. Partly as a joke, Samuel Adams and other Bostonians dressed up as Indians and dumped a cargo of the India Company Tea into the Massachusetts Bay. King George III did not think it was funny, nor did he lift the tax on tea. In the Boston harbor, British soldiers were jeered and stoned by colonists who thought the soldiers had been sent to watch them. The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed a few citizens. The colonists exaggerated the number killed and called it a massacre.

Virginia took the first step toward independence by voting to set up a committee to represent the colonies. This First Continental Congress met in September of 1774. They drew up a list of grievances against the crown which became the first draft of a document that would formally separate the colonies from England. George Washington took command of the Continental Army and began fighting the British in Massachusetts. For the next eight years, colonists fought fervently in the Revolutionary War.

In the meantime, a war of words was being waged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress presented & debated a second draft of the list of grievances, and John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first to sign. The document, called the Declaration of Independence, was treasonous against the crown and the fifty-six men who signed it were in danger of being executed.

Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 because that is the day when the Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence*. From July 8, 1776, until the next month, the document was read publicly and people celebrated whenever they heard it. The next year, in Philadelphia, bells rang and ships fired guns, candles and firecrackers were lighted. But the War of Independence dragged on until 1783, and in that year, Independence Day was made an official holiday. 1941 Congress declared 4th of July a federal holiday.

*Except for the U.S. Virgin Islands where celebrations are held a week prior to the climax on 4th of July.

John Adams, a lawyer, the first Vice President and the Second President of the United States, was one of the members of the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. He wrote to his wife, "I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival... it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..."

John Adams may have predicted the later Independence Day celebrations or perhaps he started traditions with his words. Every July fourth, Americans have a holiday from work. Communities have day-long picnics with favorite foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans and all the fixings. The afternoon activities would not be complete without lively music, a friendly baseball game, three-legged races and a pie-eating or watermelon-eating contests. Some cities have parades with people dressed as the original founding fathers who march in parades to the music of high school bands. At dusk, people in towns and cities gather to watch the fireworks display. Wherever Americans are around the globe, they will get together for a traditional 4th of July celebration!

The Declaration of Independence was first read in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today, at the Freedom Festival at Independence Hall, costumed Americans re-enact historical scenes and read the Declaration of Independence for the crowd. In Flagstaff, Arizona, American Indians hold a three-day pow-wow around the Fourth of July, with a rodeo and dancing. In Lititz, Pennsylvania, hundreds of candles that were made during the year are lighted in the park at night and floated in the water while a "Queen of Candles" is chosen. The ship U.S.S. John F. Kennedy comes in full sail to Boston Harbor in Massachusetts on the Fourth of July, and the Boston Pops Orchestra plays a musical concert of patriotic songs as more than 150,000 people watch fireworks burst over the water.

The Fireworks Family

Click here: Fireworks!


New Castle, Pennsylvania, is home to the Vitale Fireworks Display Company, responsible for more than one thousand fireworks shows every year. In 1922 Constantino Vitale brought his expertise at making fireworks from Italy to the United States. He passed his secrets on to his four sons, and since then the company has been making Americans exclaim "ooohhh" and "aaahhhh" at the lighted colors in the sky on July 4 and other occasions. "It's like putting on a ballet show except that the dancers were above, painting the sky," says Vitale's granddaughter. "Seeing that spectacular display in the sky made me really love the country."

The sight and sound of a ringing bell represents freedom to most Americans because of the Liberty Bell that rang in Philadelphia when the new country was born.

In 1752 the new bell arrived safely from England, but at the first blow from a hammer to test it, it cracked. Not wanting to delay by returning the bell to England, the officials ordered bell founders in Philadelphia to remedy the fault. Two times it was recast before it was finally ready.

On July 8, 1776, the bell rang to mark the occasion of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. On April 16, 1783 it proudly announced the proclamation of peace and the newly won independence of the United States of America.

At every event of national importance, the Liberty Bell joined its harmonious tones to the general acclaim: in 1789, the election of George Washington; in 1797, the election of John Adams; in 1799, the death of Washington; and in 1801, the election of Thomas Jefferson. On July 4, 1826, the bell was nearly three quarters of a century old, and the nation whose birth it had helped to announce was now a lusty youngster of 50. Joyous indeed was the bell's sound on that occasion. Then, on July 8, 1835, while tolling for the funeral procession of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the great bell cracked.

Fearing that the crack would eventually destroy the historic bell, officials ordered it taken down from the tower. It was after this that the Liberty Bell received its name. Since then, the bell has been on display but has never rung. In fact, no one living knows the voice of the Liberty Bell, for it has never spoken since 1835. The crack which appeared on that occasion is prevented from widening by a mechanical device, called a spider, installed inside the bell.

A few years ago the bell foundry in London that originally cast the great bell made a friendly proposal - to ship the bell back to England, melt it, and recast it at no cost to the United States. The keepers of the bell considered the offer very seriously before giving an answer. Then they decided that the cracked liberty bell is a cherished symbolic  gesture of America's struggle for freedom. Just as a man's facial lines and creases are a visible sign of the stress and strain he has survived, so the crack in the Liberty Bell serves to remind Americans that their forefathers did not win liberty for their country and its people without strain and stress - and even extensive fractures. Therefore, on behalf of the American people, the officials thanked the London foundry for its generous offer, but refused, adding: "We like the bell as it is, crack and all. It is an important part of our heritage."

YANKEE DOODLE


Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Strangely, this patriotic song has derogatory origins. The music and words go back to 15th century Holland, as a harvesting song that began, "Yanker dudel doodle down." In England, the tune was used for a nursery rhyme, and later a song making fun of Puritan church leader Oliver Cromwell, because "Yankee" might be a mispronunciation of the word "English," and "doodle" refers to a dumb person. But it was a British surgeon, Richard Schuckburgh, who wrote the words which ridiculed the ragtag colonists fighting in the French and Indian War. Soon after, the British troops used the song to make fun of the colonists in the Revolutionary War. Yet it became the colonists' rallying anthem for that war.



AMERICA, THE BEAUTIFUL

Every so often a movement is started to make "America the Beautiful" the national anthem instead of "The Star-Spangled Banner," largely because it was not written as a result of a war. The tune is easier to sing and the whole country is praised, not only the flag. Katherine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, rode in a horse-drawn wagon up Pike's Peak, a mountaintop-in Colorado in 1893. She saw a view of the mountains that few people saw in those days and was inspired by her glimpse the "spacious skies" and "purple mountains" to write a poem, which became the first verse of the song. The public loved the poem, and Miss Bates was encouraged to set it to music She chose the music of a hymn by Samuel Ward. The words and music traveled around the world, and today Mexico, Canada and Australia sing it with their own countries' names instead of "America."

Click here: 4th of July - Independence Day
4th of July - American Independence Day (cards)
Click here: Betsy Ross Flag


American Revolution

Revolutionary War Sites - US National/State Parks Net Links The American Revolution: Battles and Skirmishes About.com American Revolution Battlefields Search

American Revolution
Hudson Valley Network - Rensselaer County - Points of Interest - American Revolution

MINUTE MAN NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK: This site marks the place in Massachusetts where the American Revolution began, Minute Man  Home Page

The Star Spangled Banner
(The Defense of Fort McHenry — September 20, 1814)
By Francis Scott Key

The Star Spangled Banner music. National anthem. United States of America

Download  Music Sheet Music.Lyrics

"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, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O 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, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O 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 wiped out their foul footstep's 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 homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Click here:  Star Spangle Banner
History of the US National Anthem
Click here: Our National Anthem
Click here: THE AMERICAN FLAG PAGE

What does our  US Constitution Deliver?

How Many articles and amendments are there?

Article in listings

Study guide for  all Age Children, Pictures of documents,presidents

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The Gettysburg Address
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 19, 1863
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

God Bless America: American Treasures of the Library of Congress
America's unofficial national anthem was composed by an immigrant who left his home in Siberia for America when he was only five years old. The original version of "God Bless America" was written by Irving Berlin (1888-1989) during the summer of 1918 at Camp Uptown, located in Yaphank, Long Island, for his Ziegfeld-style revue, Yip, Yip, Yaphank. "Make her victorious on land and foam, God Bless America..." ran the original lyric. However, Berlin decided that the solemn tone of "God Bless America" was somewhat out of keeping with the more comedic elements of the show and the song was laid aside.

In the fall of 1938, as war was again threatening Europe, Berlin decided to write a "peace" song. He recalled his "God Bless America" from twenty years earlier and made some alterations to reflect the different state of the world. Singer Kate Smith introduced the revised "God Bless America" during her radio broadcast on Armistice Day, 1938. The song was an immediate sensation; the sheet music was in great demand. Berlin soon established the God Bless America Fund, dedicating the royalties to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America.

God Bless America” and “This Land Is Your Land”

"God Bless America"
Words and Music by Irving Berlin
As recorded by Kate Smith (1939)

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies, to the ocean white with foam --
God bless America, my home sweet home
(Repeat)

Bob's Comments:

 It not that we are free from the English rule. But till recently many fought for their personal freedom. It not being Black, Red, Yellow or White skin it the personal freedom that you could walk the street and call yourself an American. You have to thank many people who place their person life on the line to give you what you have today. This goes to all the War Veterans even if a war was not popular (Vietnam). So on every July 4th as we give thank to those fine people from 1776 onward to 2000. Each one of you are part of the American Dream and have a American family history. As Dr. Martin Jr states.


"This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. (Yes) With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. (Yes) With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. (Talk about it) With this faith (My Lord) we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. [applause] This will be the day [applause continues], this will be the day when all of God’s children (Yes) will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country, ’tis of thee (Yes), sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride (Yes),
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. "

"And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring (Yes) from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. (Yes, That's right)

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. (Well)

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. (Yes)

But not only that: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. (Yes)

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. (Yes)

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. (Yes)

From every mountainside, let freedom ring. [applause]

And when this happens [applause continues], when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city (Yes), we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! (Yes) Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! [great applause]"

Christian Voting Ethics and Guide – Questions and Answers relating to Politicians prior to Voting on Election Day



Click here: JFK Inaugural Address

"We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom. . . symbolizing an end as well as a beginning. . .signifying renewal as well as change for I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago."

"The world is very different now, for man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe. . .the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. "

"Let the word go forth from this time and place. . .to friend and foe alike. . that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans. . . born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage. . .and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today. . .at home and around the world. ........"

"In your hands, my fellow citizens. . .more than mine. . .will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe. Now the trumpet summons us again... not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need. . .not as a call to battle... though embattled we are. . .but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle. . .year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. . .a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny. . .poverty. . .disease. . .and war itself. Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance. . .North and South. . . East and West. . .that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?"

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger; I do not shrink from this responsibility. . .I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. . .and the glow from that fire can truly light the world."

And so, my fellow Americans. . .ask not what your country can do for you. . .ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world. . .ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the Freedom of Man.

"Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds; let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."


BOB'S COMMENTS:

SOMETIMES IT IS GOOD TO DO A LITTLE HISTORY AND UNDERSTAND WHERE WE COME FROM. TEACH THE CHILDREN AND THEY WILL UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH.

Still The Greatest
"By: James A. Kisner aka PoppyK1@aol.com"

I hear the politicians talk, from both sides of their mouth.
This will be the "year of change," we'll make a turnabout.

We'll fix the taxes that you pay, we know they're way too high.
We know for half the people, it's a struggle to get by.

We'll work on education, we know that it's lacking too.
We'll hire a new director, and see just what we can do.

We know our seniors worry, about their security.
And wonder when retiring, just how many checks they'll see.

Then there is the problem of the fleeting Medicare,
And wonder should they need it thinking, will it still be there?

Then there is the crime that's running rampant in the land,
Because the average punishment is slapping of the hand.

Sex and drugs and alcohol are flaunted in our face.
No longer is addiction, looked upon as a disgrace.

There was a time when helping others was the thing to do,
But, now, if you're not careful they will turn on you and sue.

Selfishness and greed have overtaken charity.
The cry that's heard throughout the land, "what can you do for me?"

This country's slipped a notch or two, from what has made it great.
We still have time to heal the wounds, before it is too late.

We need to stop the foolishness and selfish attitude,
And realize together we can change this country's mood.

"United" was the first word in this country since it's birth.
Today it's still the greatest nation, that there is on earth.

"United" is the key word that has kept this country grand.
We must, again, unite together all throughout our land.

Working with a common goal to make our country strong.
Not pouting like a spoiled child, when anything goes wrong.

We can make our country stronger, than it's ever been,
Or we can watch as it decays from selfishness within.

The choices that the people make, decide a country's fate.
We must, again, join hand in hand before it is too late.

We need to start, right where we are, with everyone we meet.
With people in our neighborhoods and strangers on the street.

Attitudes must start to change... we need to slow our pace.
We need to learn to love again, the entire human race.

Our prejudices and bigotry... we need to lay aside,
And behold all our fellow men with honor and with pride.

We need to help our government and leaders to resolve,
The problems facing all of us, we need to get involved.

This is the greatest country and it has been from the start,
And each and every one of us confess it in our heart.

We know we want to keep it great, but we have lost our sight,
And selfishly among ourselves we argue and we fight.

We feel that we have lost control to powers high about,
When asked about America, the country that we love.

We can once again enjoy this country brave and free,
But only if we join as brothers can it ever be.

America, the beautiful, our country brave and free.
How long we have to sing it's praise is up to you and me.



HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY



Credit

 
Nice  job worthy of be put on a web page for all to see
edit with links and credits.

Nice to know someone cares and knows what America is
and to Spice Sugar  From Harmony for letting this work go out

From Harmony Publications

Hanger

I take no credit for this work only edited

and researched by me for authenticity.

This page is a great researched page for students.

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