ISSUE 71 BRING BACK FEBRUARY 22 AS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
February 20, 2019
Folks:
How many readers recognize the date?
How many Americans know why it was a national holiday?
Ready for this? If you are 48 or older, you have never celebrated it!
The holiday was in honor of George Washington’s birthday, February 22, 1732. Washington died December 14, 1799. In 1871, a national holiday was declared to honor him every February 22, no matter what day of the week that date occurred.
Why such an honor?
Because without George Washington, there would be no America, and we would not be Americans!
Washington chairing the first Constitutional Convention
Washington at Valley Forge
How can we be ignorant of this? Read on.
“Students at many of the country's most prestigious colleges and universities are graduating with less knowledge of American history, government, and economics than they had as incoming freshmen, with Harvard University seniors scoring a "D+" average on a 60-question multiple-choice exam about civic literacy.
According to a report released yesterday by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the average college senior at the 50 colleges and universities polled did not earn a passing grade.
"At the most expensive colleges, they actually graduate knowing less," the executive director of the Jack Miller Center at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Michael Ratliff, said. "Colleges and universities are not directing students to the courses that would educate them. We want to know whether after getting $300 billion to do their work, universities are actually educating their students."
At universities such as Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Duke, and Berkeley, seniors scored lower on the test, available here, than freshmen, living proof of the broadening relevancy of the old Harvard adage that the university is a storehouse of knowledge because "the freshmen bring so much and the seniors take away so little…
The low scores indicate a looming crisis in American citizenship, officials at the institute said yesterday, as students who increased their knowledge of American history in college were more likely to register to vote and to participate in civic activities as adults.
The study, titled "Failing Our Students, Failing America," was conducted by researchers at the department of public policy at the University of Connecticut. The exam was distributed to 14,000 college seniors at 50 institutions of higher education across the country. The researchers hand-picked 25 ‘elite’ schools, and randomly selected 25 schools from all four-year American colleges and universities to poll. The multiple-choice questions were written by specialists in each field…
The chairman of the history department at Princeton University, Jeremy Adelman, said that providing students with a foundation in American history and governance should not be the sole mission of any institution of higher education. "You have to ask what is the social function of the university?" Mr. Adelman said. "If you're in chemical engineering, why study history? Should we require students to study history? I don't think if you polled the history department faculty there would be unanimity on the question." Students at Princeton are required to take one history class, he said. The course does not have to be in American history.
Less than half of the students who participated identified the phrase ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ as a line from the Declaration of Independence. Many of them identified its source as ‘The Communist Manifesto,’ or said that it was ‘an inscription on The Statue of Liberty.’
Cornell and Princeton spokeswomen said the institutions would not comment on the report. A Harvard spokesman did not return a call for comment.” From a September 22 article in the 1970’s NEW YORK SUN. (Emphasis added)
And this similar report:
“Students at many of the country's most prestigious colleges and universities are graduating with less knowledge of American history, government, and economics than they had as incoming freshmen, with Harvard University seniors scoring a "D+" average on a 60-question multiple-choice exam about civic literacy. According to a report released yesterday by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the average college senior at the 50 colleges and universities polled did not earn a passing grade. "At the most expensive colleges, they actually graduate knowing less," the executive director of the Jack Miller Center at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Michael Ratliff, said. "Colleges and universities are not directing students to the courses that would educate them. We want to know whether after getting $300 billion to do their work, universities are actually educating their students...” http://rense.com/general78/dumber.htm (Emphasis added.)
It is a shameful disgrace. We have replaced our honored holiday with a commercially inspired manufactured “Presidents Day”, a bin containing the entirety of our presidents, most of whom were non-entities. Our first and greatest President, George Washington, is “remembered” by the tawdry and demeaning “Washington‘s Birthday Sales.”
But for George Washington, if there had been a Revolution at all, it certainly would not have been a war that we won. We would not be Americans, because there would be no America!
It is ironic that a book published only last month, The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington, has brought welcome attention to George Washington’s role. The book itself is mind-numbing- repetitive and in need of extensive editing BUT, IRONICALLY HAS SOME, MERIT. It reminds Americans of the incredible courage of the Revolution
Washington’s “Army” did contain some experienced soldiers but, for the most part, was a rag tag collection of inexperienced men, some of whom were ex-convicts, but all of whom possessed incredible courage.
This was the “Army” that Washington never lied to.
“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves;.. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this “Army” ,in a struggle against a cruel and unrelenting enemy. He urged that “Army“ to rely upon God:
“No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.” [Emphasis added]
This was the “Army” that took the field against Great Britain, the foremost military power in the world. This was the force that Washington, often despairing, but always persevering, forged into the troops that, for 5 years, fought against overwhelming odds and WON!
Here is an excerpt from the recent book that reminds us of a momentous time:
… a meeting of the Second Continental Congress.[May 1775] Delegates chosen from every colony are meeting …to debate the possibility of war with England. … trade, taxes, and tariffs have turned into deep, irreconcilable grievances…England has responded by sending soldiers to clamp down on protests…King George III declared the colony of Massachusetts to be in a state of “rebellion” against England. And recently, outside Boston, blood has been spilled.
Portrait of George III
On the night of April 19, a regiment of British soldiers…marched from Boston toward …Lexington and Concord, to arrest two rebel leaders and seize a cache of munitions…as the British arrived in Lexington a band of armed locals was there to meet them . The British forces killed eight townspeople and lost only a horse. When the British troops advanced towards Concord, however, they encountered a much larger colonial militia. No one knows which side began shooting first, but whoever pulled the first trigger fired the ‘shot heard ’round the world.’ Both the British and the colonists suffered heavy casualties…the British soldiers were driven back into Boston… this [Continental] Congress has no authority, wields no power, and represents nothing…And yet, here they are.
They have come from Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the far-off northern lands of New Hampshire. They’ve come from Delaware, Maryland, even from the southern swamps of South Carolina. There are sixty-five delegates in all, representing twelve of the thirteen colonies. … one colony, Georgia, …declined to participate; …[but] soon, [sent]…a representative.
…With the transportation technology of the day—namely, horses—the trip for some delegates from their home cities [took] as long as two weeks, not including delays for weather or getting lost. …The invitations themselves were all handwritten letters, also delivered on horseback with long delays. The delegates had to commit to leaving behind businesses, families, and local affairs for what …might be a period of many months.
Adding high drama to the proceedings, two of the delegates from Massachusetts - had to hide out…. They secretly met up en route with the other Massachusetts delegates-including Samuel Adams and his cousin’s n John Adams—then escaped across the colony line to merge with the Connecticut delegation for the trip to Pennsylvania. … by the time the group arrived in Philadelphia, they were greeted as heroes- escorted by a band of militiamen and cheered on by crowds as they pass….
A new idea has slowly been forming, borrowed from philosophers in Europe …a fundamental question: Is it natural and just for people to be ruled by the absolute power of a monarch who claims divine authority? Or, in fact, do people have a right -an inherent right -to choose their own government and therefore rule themselves?
…this was a radical concept—and a dangerous one…. a new word is being thrown around -‘liberty’- an incredible threat…to royal families all over Europe and indeed the world….As Thomas Paine will soon write: ‘We have it in our power to begin the World over again.’
It’s an exhilarating time, but also terrifying—because in order to exercise that power, the fragile colonies must raise arms against one of the greatest military powers that history has ever known. [Emphasis added]
Americans need to know these facts!
Further information is contained in an excellent (and well written) 2017 article by ReesLloyd, entitled: Repeal The Uniform Monday Holiday Act https://newswithviews.com/feb-22-restore-washingtons-birthday-as-a-national-holiday/
Mr. Lloyd adds these points:
…. President George Washington, the ‘Father Of Our Country’ … was the most universally respected and admired American in the age of the Founding Fathers, and in the history of America….Once upon a time, [his] …Birthday was a National Holiday … Americans paused to remember and honor him. Parents and schools taught American children about his life on his birthday; urged the children to learn about the Father Of His [Their] Country, and to follow his example of patriotic love of country, selfless service and sacrifice for freedom, personal honor, dedication to duty, fidelity to principle….
all that changed in 1971. Congress, pressured by federal government bureaucrats and other employees and their unions, abolished [it]…It was replaced with ‘’Presidents’ Day’ to be observed on the ‘third Monday of February’ as a result of the ‘Uniform Monday Holiday Act,’ which gave government employees their sought after three-day weekends….
American children … learn little or nothing about the greatest man in the history of America, without whose extraordinary virtues and sacrifices they would not be free…. I urge that … should be reinstated … celebrated on its date…not another day for the three-day holiday convenience of alleged ‘public servants’ …
Do any Americans, adults or children, give even a moment’s thought, during the 3-daysale-a-thon, to Washington and his values, values which we need so desperately and have disregarded so completely?
George Washington …set an enduring example of fidelity to God and Country. His life should be known, remembered, honored, and emulated by Americans of this and future generations, as he was by the generation of the Founding Fathers who knew him best… ‘First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.’
[President’s Day] ’celebrates’ … an undifferentiated mass of competent men and con men, the good, the bad, the ugly, the avaricious, meretricious, and salacious, who have managed, often by hook and crook, and lying through their teeth, to get themselves elected President.’
…Washington was regarded as the ‘indispensable man’ without whose leadership freedom would never have been achieved in the war against England, then the greatest military power on earth…With the abolition of George Washington’s Birthday, and Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday to satisfy government employees three-day weekend demands, the only American in all of history now to have a National Holiday in his name is Martin Luther King. [Emphasis added]
The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington (2019) Meltzer & Mensch
George Washington the man
George Washington never considered himself a scholar. But he was attentive to detail and tirelessly diligent. He became learned from his experience as a planter, military commander, local-official, national and international statesman. He commanded a British army in the French and Indian War. As a planter, he invested wisely and became relatively wealthy in real estate.
Most important! He was an original Founding Father of our Revolution.
Historians have settled that George Washington was 6’ 2 ½” tall, a height which towered over his contemporaries. More important, he towered over them in many ways.
Think about the others. They were brilliant, and many highly educated. They included Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, George Mason, Samuel Adams, John Adams ,James Madison, Richard Henry Lee, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Thomas Jefferson.
All of the diverse personalities who served on the Revolution’s Continental Congress were knowledgeable of the ideas of political philosophers, including Montesquieu, Locke, and Edmond Burke.
They examined how other peoples had chosen to run their nations and analyzed how various systems reacted to the realities of human nature.
Although there were differences on various issues, they all agreed on one subject – only George Washington had the character and dignity required to chair the Convention.
It produced an unprecedented, history- changing document, The Declaration of Independence.
The stirring opening words of the Declaration have been credited to Thomas Jefferson but were actually the product of George Mason of Virginia.
George Mason
George Mason, author of The Virginia Declaration of Rights,
George Mason’s Declaration of Rights, began with these words:
That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights...namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. (Mason’s work was the basis for the soon enacted Bill of Rights Amendments.)
One easily can see how Jefferson’s immortal words relied on Mason’s previously articulated thoughts:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, … as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
The DECLARATION details the wrongs and concludes:
We …appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world … solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states;… And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
The Declaration of Independence was ratified as of July 4, 1776. The War for Independence was officially begun.
Victory
Washington’s once ‘ragtag” Army became a formidable fighting force and, at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781, defeated Lord Cornwallis’ British Army.
American troops storming a British redoubt: Battle of Yorktown 28th September to 19th October 1781 in the American Revolutionary War
After victory, generals, past and present, have capitalized on their fame for personal gain. These new people, these ‘Americans’, wanted Washington to stay on permanently as their leader. Many wanted him to be King.
All George Washington wanted was to resign, and go home. And he did!
NEXT
The decade following Yorktown was a difficult one. Leaders struggled to form the new government they had created. Various Articles of Confederation, as the new rules were called, were debated and rejected. Ten interim presidents could not get the job done.
The delegates had discovered…that, although they could not agree on the duties of the government, they could all agree on the man who should fulfill them: the only man whose virtue was absolutely beyond question, His Excellency, General George Washington.
Washington was happy in Mount Vernon, with Martha, successfully rebuilding the war ravaged estate. He was “wealthy and revered.”
But, once again, back they came to ask him to ask him to return. Reluctantly, he subordinated his contented retirement to his duty, and stepped up to chair what forever would be known as The Constitutional Convention. https://www.shmoop.com/george-washington/constitution.html
George Washington accepted the job and performed it superbly.
Over a period of 5 months, George Washington coordinated the efforts of these diverse personalities. The delegates studied the ideas of political philosophers, including Montesquieu, Locke, and Edmond Burke, all of whom influenced the final document.
Edmund Burke
John Locke
John Locke
English philosopher… often considered…
One of the the most influential
Enlightenment thinkers in history.
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” British statesman Edmund Burke
The delegates examined how other peoples had chosen to run their nations and analyzed how various systems reacted to the realities of human nature. They established a CONSTITUTION of carefully constructed checks and balances to form a government never before seen on the planet, one which William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1892
characterized as “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.”
With George Washington’s leadership, in 1789, The Constitutional Convention had created the world’s first Republic.
There was no question who would be the first president.
George Washington was not just the “right man”, for this critical time. He was the only man able to ensure the Constitution worked as intended. Washington did not even fight it. He was unanimously voted to lead this Republic.
Many forms of address for him were suggested including “King”, “Your Excellency”, “Your Majesty”, “Your Highness”; Washington would have none of it. He was to be Mr. President.
Had he desired the presidency for life, it was his. Rather he set the wise policy that the presidential tenure should be limited to 2 terms.
He set the precedent of giving what is known now as a State Of The Union address.
Washington served brilliantly and set a policy few successful leaders in history would have done. Had he desired the presidency for life, it was his. Rather he set the policy that the presidential tenure should be limited to 2 terms.
Take the time to read the excellent advice Washington gave us in his Inaugural and Farewell Addresses.
And then lament how our Founders have been succeeded by our politicians: political parasites, greedy, selfish, egotistical crooks whose focus is one thing only - getting and staying elected to keep ‘their’ seat at the taxpayers trough.
We have squandered Washington and the Founders’ hard earned legacy!
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S PRE-EMINENCE HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED THROUGH THE AGES AND THE WORLD
George Washington’s humility was an exception: …lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.
Generally, ego is a necessity to be a political leader. Yet, here are a few celebrated individuals who publicly announced Washington’s superiority: Napoleon, Bolivar, Lafayette, O’Connell, Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln!
My favorite is the Daniel Webster’s tribute:
America has furnished to the world the character of Washington! And if our American institutions had done nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the respect of mankind.
A MODEST PROPOSAL
In 1879, Congress made Washington’s Birthday a federal holiday …The States joined in designating the holiday which, until 1971, was celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday, February 22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington’s Birthday
Let’s trade in the holidays for Presidents’ Day and Columbus Day and revert back to the February 22 holiday as WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY and CELEBRATE IT ON WHATEVER DAY IT FALLS.
It will serve as AN ANNUAL REMINDER OF WHAT WE OWE THIS EXCEPTIONAL MAN
Ronald Reagan, the patron Saint, of this blog, noted that we needed, now more than ever, to heed the principles for which Washington stood: “Religion, Morality, and Brotherhood were the pillars of society -and [we cannot] have morality without religion.”
President Reagan often referenced these words of President Washington:
Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle…It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. [Emphasis added.] http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp
What better way to conclude than with this principle, the foundation of all that George Washington accomplished:
·
Richard M. Coleman served as National Co-Chair, Lawyers for Reagan-Bush ’84 and really does miss Ronald Reagan. A graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, Dick is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a past president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the National Caucus of Metropolitan Bar Leaders. A professor on the faculty of Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution for 17 years, he received Pepperdine’s Excellence in Teaching Award. He has hosted TV forums on legal and financial topics and written and spoken extensively on political issues.
This Post Script is a new feature to this blog.
It is being used to note that the only federal holiday for an individual to occur annually on the same day is for Martin Luther King, January 17. It is a fitting honor for the man most associated with making segregation illegal.
Older readers will remember that Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12 used to be a federal holiday, no matter which day it occurred, until President Lincoln was dumped into the deservedly maligned “President’s Day.”
A suggestion: Why not join honoring Abraham Lincoln with Martin Luther King? Is it not an appropriate and fitting union.
January 17 will be a day to give joyous recognition to the man who made slavery illegal with the man who made segregation illegal:
LINCOLN-KING DAY!
Below are links to many of the supporting citations in the article as well as sites with further information about our First President.
http://ireallymissreagan.com/footnotes-writ-large
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ewart_Gladstone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ewart_Gladstone
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