On May 25, 1787 – 235 years ago – the Constitutional Convention began its deliberations in Philadelphia. This was the culmination of decades of attempts to properly define and put into operation a covenant between the colonies that would balance the self-government of each entity with the strength of unity necessary to defend national sovereignty.…
On April 14, 1828, Noah Webster, at the age of 70, had his long-awaited American Dictionary of the English Language copyrighted and ready for publication. The year before, when finishing the work, he wrote from Cambridge, England: “When I had come to the last word, I was seized with a trembling which made it somewhat…
On March 1, 1858, The Courtship of Miles Standish was published from the hand of the American “poet of Hearth and Home,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The distinctives of good literature (called classics) include inspiring a love for God, His Word, as well as the home and family. We can be thankful that in America we…
Originally established in 1885 by the U.S. Congress to honor George Washington’s birthday (February 22), Presidents’ Day has a long and interesting history, and now honors all past Presidents. There are four U.S. Presidents who were born in February – George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan. Throughout the 1800s, Washington’s birthday…
Though there were ten Presidents of the United States under the Articles of Confederation between 1781 and 1789, George Washington was the first under our present Constitution. He was sworn in on April 30, 1789 and gave the first State of the Union Address January 8, 1790; 232 years ago. He gave the address in…
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website states the following: The Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791. Today we recognize December 15 as Bill of Rights Day. Understanding the Bill of Rights is also an important part of the naturalization test. Knowing about Bill of Rights Day (December 15) and its importance…
There were only about 140 people who attended the first harvest feast in the fall of 1621. But on November 20, 2021 thousands lined the route of this year’s Thanksgiving parade held in historic Plymouth, Massachusetts. Plymouth Rock Foundation, parent organization of America’s Hometown Thanksgiving and original sponsor was again proud to be involved in…
On Tuesday, October 5, as people gathered on the historic Plymouth waterfront, the long-awaited American Pilgrimage 400 culminated with the re-enactment of the landing of the Pilgrims from the newly restored replica shallop. Jumping from the boat into waist deep water to the cheers of on-lookers, the role players from Plimoth-Patuxet Museums came ashore, some…
When exploring on Cape Cod, the Pilgrims desired to know everything they could about the Natives who already lived there. What they may not have known, however, was that in 1614, previous to their arrival, Thomas Hunt, an English trader, had taken over 20 Natives to Europe as slaves, leaving another stain upon the reputation…
To whom were the writers of the Declaration referring when they wrote “Appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions?” Was it a mystical God that no one could define? Was it any god at all? These are important questions in our day. We are often told that those…
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” said Jesus in his sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5:9. Though peace had been ratified with the Pilgrims’ closest neighbors and their great king, Massasoit, due to past injuries by the English, and also due to the challenge of…
The first winter was devastating. Nearly half their number had perished by the end of May, 1621. 28 men, 13 women and 7 children had died leaving only 56 people alive. By the fall only half of the 104 (102 on the voyage, and two born before landing) would remain. Yet they still saw the…
William Bradford wrote under the title of “Anno 1621”: “They now began to dispatch the ship away which brought them over, which lay till about this time, or the beginning of April.” Though there are practical reasons Bradford states as to why the Mayflower had stayed so long through the winter of 1620-21, even after…
Leyden (or First) Street in Plymouth is historic for many reasons. One such reason is that it is where the common (or first) house was built by the Pilgrims. The white house seen in the picture is Lot #1 historically. It is on this spot that the first free election took place on February 17…
Beginning in January, 1621, after enduring a very difficult voyage, one of the most remarkable testimonies in the midst of suffering by the Pilgrim church began to take place. They had already elected John Carver as Govervor after the Compact had been signed. Now that they settled on a spot to establish their Colony, however,…