Dorothy Thompson — (John Willson, Chronicles, April 2012)

This Syracuse-educated journalist was, by all accounts in the interwar years, the most influential woman inAmerica, save Eleanor Roosevelt?  She wrote posts from abroad and columns for the New York Herald Tribune, and she was the first reporter expelled from Nazi Germany (by Hitlerʼs direct order). In spite of her personal success, her 1939 essay “The Dilemma of the Liberal” lamented the empty prosperity and elusive happiness of the age in the absence of faith and communal roots.

 “He descended into Hell” — (Tabletalk daily lesson,April 30)

The phrase “He descended into hell” in the old Apostlesʼ Creed, despite much controversy over its meaning through the ages, almost surely asserts that Christ bore the full wrath of hell while on the cross, satisfying the demands of divine justice for His people.

The notion of some that Christʼs spirit went down to hell for a time after His death, either to more fully atone for sin or to preach to confined souls there, seems out of character with several biblical passages and teachings. (To mention here just one, Jesus, undergoing the pangs of crucifixion, told the repentant thief with whom He suffered that that very day they would meet in paradise).

Thus, Jesusʼ descent into hell is better understood after the manner of John Calvin (1509–1564). The French Reformer observed, “After explaining what Christ endured in the sight of man, the Creed appropriately adds the invisible and incomprehensible judgment which he endured before God, to teach us that not only was the body of Christ given up as the price of redemption, but that there was a greater and more excellent price—that he bore in his soul the tortures of a condemned and ruined man.”

 The Solemn Spectacle of the Choctaws — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 246-247)

“I saw them embark to cross the great river, and this solemn spectacle will never leave my memory.One heard neither tears nor complaints among this assembled crowd; they were silent. Their misfortunes were old, and they felt them to be irreparable.” 

The observer was French nobleman and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859), and the observation is recorded in his famous Democracy in America (1835). What Tocqueville saw was the departure of the Choctaws from Memphis, Tennessee, across the frozen Mississippi, late in the Year of Our Lord, 1831.

The Choctaws were one of several NativeAmerican tribes whose fate (banishment to the West on reservations) was sealed by Andrew Jacksonʼs Indian removal policy, a prescription popular with mostAmericans and passed by Congress, “The Indian Removal Act,” on May 30, 1830.

Click here for a printable copy…

This week marks the conclusion of the Spring H&H posts, though there may be a short postscript. We will be tested this Friday (May 11) on posts 5-8.The Spring 2012 H&H Test will follow at the end of May.

 Johann Reuchlin — (Almanac,April 24)

This German linguist (1455–1522), uncle to Lutherʼs lieutenant Philipp Melanchthon, advanced Old Testament translation and helped preserve the literature of the Jews? In his day many writings of a Hebraic or Jewish cast, including his own, were threatened with suppression by both church and state.  Nonetheless, his scholarly good will prevailed to the delight of those seeking a return “to the sources,” that is to the ancients, including the prophets and apostles, in their original languages.

 King Arthur — (Almanac,April 26)

The life and times of this legendary English king were first recorded and brought into Western literature by Welsh chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 1100s?  Monmouth, in his Historia Regum Britanniae, sought to make of the collected tales of the kingdom not a biography or a history, but a romance to refresh Anglo-Saxon traditions in the wake of the Norman (French) conquest. To this day all we know for sure of Monmouthʼs royal subject is that he ruled sometime after the Romans left Britain in the 400s.

 Pactum Salutis — (Michael Horton, Tabletalk,April 2012)

This Latin title identifies the biblical “covenant of redemption,” in which the three persons of God, from all eternity, mutually pledge to save an elect people, out of a mass of perishing sinners, from their sins?  In this covenant, says theologian Michael Horton, “The Father gave the Son a people whom the Spirit would eventually unite to Him in history,” while “the Son signed His death warrant, joyfully assuming the office of Mediator between God and man.”

 Church of the Holy Sepulcher — (Almanac, May 3)

Still a prime pilgrimage site in Jerusalem, this sacred structure was raised as a result of a determined search for relics in the 300s AD and was rebuilt by European Crusaders in the 1000s? It was Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine and known herself for acts of piety, who in Palestine in 326 discovered what she believed was the mount of Christʼs crucifixion (Golgotha) as well as remains of His true cross.The mount became the site for the sacred dwelling.

 Lachlan Macquarie — (Almanac, May 3)

Born on a small isle in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, this British soldier (1761–1824) is known to history as the “Father of Australia?” Appointed governor of New South Wales, a colony for convicts, in 1810, he preserved its penal status while issuing a call to his fellow Hebrideans and Highlanders to come and settle the “land down under.”As it turned out, Scots soon made up a quarter of the population, setting the stage for an advanced Christian civilization.

Worldʼs Columbian Exposition — (Almanac, May 1)

A year late with its grand opening, this 1893 Chicago extravaganza commemorated the quadricentennial of the first voyage of Columbus to the New World? The mass exhibit venue, “the fairest fair of them all” says author George Grant, revolved around “an imposing courtyard of Babylonian proportions” with buildings, all white and of classical design, that created a resplendent, ethereal, New Jerusalem effect. The fairʼs sponsors sought to prove that Americaʼs cultural sophistication could rival Europeʼs.

 Black Hawk War — (America, Vol. 1, p. 242)

This war, named for the prominent chief of the Sac & Fox tribes, erupted on the Illinois frontier in the spring of 1832? The Sac & Fox, removed west of the Mississippi earlier but now starving and chased by hostile Sioux, returned to Illinois where they tangled with state militia (including Abraham Lincoln) and terrorized settlements. Eventually, the tribes were wiped out, their chief managing to escape, only to be dealt with later with mercy by the U.S. militaryʼs Jefferson Davis and President Jackson himself.

 Cherokees — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 242-243)

This Indian nation, residing mostly in Georgia, endured an horrific “Trail of Tears” in the 1830s,suffering forcible deportation by the U.S. to Indian Territory (todayʼs Oklahoma)? With U.S. Government and N.E. missionary support, the tribe acquired literacy, learned Christianity, authored a political constitution, and established its own legislature. Tragically, they fell victim to ambiguities of jurisdiction (between the legal authority of the U.S. and that of the States) and finally to a popular Jacksonian Indian removal policy.

 Declaration of Independence — (America, Vol. 1, p. 246)

“[The king]. . .has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Thus wrote Thomas Jefferson in this beloved American political document? Jefferson, ordinarily gracious and generous in his attitude toward Native Americans, even to the point of defending their humanity before skeptical European philosophers, is here constrained to take a different tack.

For a printable copy, click here…

This weekʼs summaries or Q&A are all based upon W. Bennettʼs America, Volume 1.

 “Lighthouses of the Sky” — (America, Vol. 1, p. 217)

Chosen the 6th U.S. president in the 1824 contest, it didnʼt take long for John Quincy Adams (MA) to propose an ambitious governmental program including a national version of astronomical observatories, “lighthouses of the sky” as he called them.

His initial Message to Congress also urged significant spending increases for the navy, funds for “internal improvements” (roads, canals, & harbors), and high tariffs (taxes) on imports to protect the products of domestic industry.

Sweepingly, the son of the second president called for “laws promoting the improvement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, the cultivation and encouragement of the mechanic and of the elegant arts, the advancement of literature, and the progress of the sciences, ornamental and profound.”

Adams had assumed the mantle, as he said, of a “national Republican,” supposedly a member of the movement championed by Jefferson, but with dreams and visions for the country calling for political centralization more on the order of Hamilton.

Good Counsel for the Young (and for us all) — (America, Vol. 1, p. 218)

Jefferson, in retirement, wrote lots of letters including his running correspondence with John Adams (once their strained relations were healed).  What follows is his advice to a young man (Thomas Jefferson Smith), the son of a good friend:

Few words will be necessary, with good dispositions on your part.Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents.  Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself.Be just.Be true.  Murmur not at the ways of Providence.  So shall the life into which you have entered be the portal to one of eternal and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it is permitted to care for the things of this world, every action of your life will be under my regard.  Farewell.

House of Representatives — (America, Vol. 1, p. 221)

As required by the Constitution, this federal lawmaking body determines the outcome of a presidential contest when no candidate gets a majority of electoral college votes?

In such instance, the members of the body choose (with one vote allotted to each state delegation) from among the top three candidates in the electoral vote tally. This happened in 1800 (when Jefferson was chosen over Burr andAdams) and again in 1824 (when John Q. Adams won out over Andrew Jackson and William Crawford.

The Election of 1828 — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 224-225)

With this yearʼs presidential election the seeds of Americaʼs mass democracy, with its newfound concern for popular vote totals, were sown?  Jackson trounced incumbent John QuincyAdams in the worldʼs first political contest where over 1 million votes were cast (out of a total population of about 13 million). The mass campaign, however, seemed to bring out the worst in the campaigners; “the standards for decency and just plain truthfulness,” says William Bennett, “could hardly have been lower.”

John C. Calhoun — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 230-234)

This acclaimed South Carolinian (1782–1850) was educated in New England (at Yale) and began his U.S. political career as a “War Hawk” in the House?  In the 1820s, he served as vice president under both John QuincyAdams and Adamsʼs arch-rival Andrew Jackson. It was in the Senate, however, where he made his mark in a spirited defense of Southern interests (including slavery) as well as theoretical justification of state nullification and secession as remedies for unconstitutional federal acts.

“Tariff of Abominations” — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 234-240)

The South Carolinians assigned this derisive title to the high and onerous tax on manufactured imports passed by Congress in 1828? The controversial tax occasioned Calhounʼs written “Exposition and Protest” and a stirring debate in the Senate between Robert Hayne (SC) and Daniel Webster (MA) over the nature of the Union. As the Palmetto State took steps toward nullifying the repulsive law in its jurisdiction, Congress defused the crisis by a compromise measure that lowered the tax.

Daniel Webster — (America, Vol. 1, p. 235)

“I go for the Union as it is.It is, Sir, the peopleʼs Constitution, the peopleʼs government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people.” So replied this New England statesman (1782–1852) on the floor of the U.S. Senate in 1830 to the statesʼ rights arguments of Senator Robert Hayne and Vice President John C. Calhoun, both of South Carolina? His speech, a paean to the priority of a peopleʼs Union as opposed to a statesʼ Union, has inspired generations ofAmericans.

Force Bill — (America, Vol. 1, p. 239)

President Jackson, in an unyielding response to South Carolinaʼs 1832 Nullification Ordinance, pressed Congress to enact this 1833 military measure?  The measure gave Jackson the authority to send an army if necessary to make the South Carolinians comply with U.S. tariff laws (the object against which their ordinance was directed). As it turned out, the bill empowering Jackson and a related one, the Compromise Tariff of 1833, arrived on the commander-in-chiefʼs desk on the same day.

 Click here for a printable copy…

 Our entries this week include content from Tabletalk magazine as well as William Bennettʼs America, Vol. 1 and George Grantʼs The Christian Almanac.

Creek Confederacy — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 207-208)

“Until this is done, your nation cannot expect happiness or mine security.” Thus said General Andrew Jackson to this southwestern Indian league, demanding that it cede millions of acres (much ofAlabama & Georgia) to the United States? The confederacy had incurred U.S. wrath when it brutally massacred about 250Americans at Fort Mims (near todayʼs Mobile, Alabama) inAugust 1813; Jackson in turn routed them at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (eastern Alabama) in March 1814.

 Battle of New Orleans — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 208-212)

With the British poised to wrest Louisiana from the U.S., the Americans scored one of their greatest military triumphs ever in this January 1815 battle?  Jackson led a motley force of 5,000, including Kentucky & Tennessee militia, that in a matter of minutes inflicted devastating losses on the redcoats (almost 2,000 casualties). Curiously, the war (War of 1812) was actually over when the battle was fought; a peace pact, word of which spread slowly, had been signed in Belgium on Christmas Eve, 1814.

 “the Hero” — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 212-214)

For most early 19th-centuryAmericans, this unembellished title summed up their view of TennesseeʼsAndrew Jackson? The general was lauded for beating back the British at New Orleans, fiercely repressing Indian raids (Creeks & Seminoles) in the South, and forcefully challenging Spanish possession of Florida.  Speaker of the House and “war hawk” Henry Clay (KY), however, publicly admonished Jackson for reckless and autonomous acts which, he said, endangered republican government.

 Missouri Compromise — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 214-215)

This congressional act (1820) admitted two states (one free & one slave) to the Union, while also prohibiting slavery in the northern reaches of the Louisiana Territory?Most were pleased with the careful arrangement, conciliatory to North and South, but Jefferson in retirement heard “a fire bell in the night” and the “knell of the Union.” What alarmed him most was the loss of liberty for new states, their domestic affairs (in this case the status of Negroes) now subject to federal mandate.

 Monroe Doctrine — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 215-216)

“It would be more candid as well as more dignified to avow our principles explicitly to France and Russia than to come in as a cock-boat in the wake of a British man-of-war.” Thus John QuincyAdams advised President Monroe, recommending that this policy statement (1823) on colonization in the New World be issued independently of Britain? Nonetheless, it was truly the British fleet, not American parchment, that safeguarded the newly-independent nations of Latin America at the time.

For a printable copy. click here…

We continue our study ofAmerica & the West (having just taken a test on Spring H&H posts1-4) with the following entries and the sources indicated:

 TheApostlesʼCreed — (Tabletalk magazine, March 6 & 29)

A product of early church history originating perhaps as early as the 100s AD, this classic creed may be subdivided into three articles related to the Trinity?The articles, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, may be titled “God the Father and our creation; God the Son and our deliverance; God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.” The creed summarizes aptly, both in what it says and what it does not say, the biblical gospelʼs insistence that “Salvation is of the LORD” (Ps. 3:8).

 Samuel Johnson — (Almanac,April 3)

“The chief glory of every people arises from its authors; whether I shall add anything by my own writings to the reputation of England must be left to time.”  So said this English man of letters (1709–1784), a devout Anglican and a brilliant stylist whose wit and wisdom were recorded for all time by biographer James Boswell. In his famed Dictionary of the English Language (1755), 40,000 words are defined succinctly and illustrated with selections from classic prose and poetry.

 Booker T. Washington — (Almanac,April 5)

Author of Up From Slavery, this American educator (1856–1915) led the way for emancipated Negroes to participate more fully inAmerican trades and professions? For such a purpose he was called in 1881 to directAlabamaʼs Tuskegee Institute, a mere dream for state officials with no money, nor land, nor buildings, nor students, nor faculty. By the time he died, however, the institute could boast of over 100 buildings, about 200 teachers, 1,500 students, and a $2-million endowment fund.

 Booker T. Washington and Race Relations inAmerica — (teacherʼs commentary) Unlike many civil rights leaders who came after him, Booker T. Washington (d. 1915) didnʼt urge his brethren to join a mass movement to agitate for their rights, nor did he press for U.S. laws forcing states and localities to honor such rights. An example of his rhetorical substance and style, as quoted by philosopher Claude Polin in the March 2012 issue of Chronicles, follows below: 

We are to be tested in our patience, our forbearance, our perseverance, our power to endure wrong, to withstand temptation, to economize, to acquire a new skill. . . . [T]his country demands that every race measure itself by theAmerican standard. . . .This is a passport to all that is best in life, and the Negro must possess it or be debarred.  No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized.

 Seems like itʼs an appeal, as old as the hills, to faith, character, and community. In so many words:  attend to duty, to industry, to education, to your souls, and to service to your neighbors wherever you happen to be.  It may not be the quickest or easiest way to gain the respect of the white majority, but itʼs the surest.  (One might add that itʼs the only way to please the One whose judgment outweighs that of any human tribunal.)

 Doubts about such a strategy, however, and increasing frustration with it plagued the 20th-century. Many liberals, both black and white, dismissed Booker T.ʼs ways as, at best, an exercise in futility, painfully gradual and helplessly meek, and at worst a sellout to the dominant white power structure. African-American leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963) and, later, Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) would opt for a more confrontational and forthrightly political means of overcoming racial injustice.

 “A Splendid Misery” — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 195-198)

Jefferson used this paradoxical phrase to describe the U.S. presidency when he saw the toll the office had taken on George Washingtonʼs health? As chief executive Jefferson himself didnʼt fare too well, particularly in his 2nd term, as both England and France challenged American shipping with seeming impunity. When leaving the Executive Mansion for good (1809), Jefferson wrote, “Never did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power.”

 Tecumseh — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 198-199)

“Where today are the Pequot?  Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pokanoket, and many other once powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white man, as snow before a summer sun.” The message was delivered by this Shawnee chieftain (1768–1813), the inspiration for an Indian confederacy to resist white expansion into the Ohio valley?  He was killed by William Henry Harrisonʼs forces in the Battle of theThames (1813).

 the “War Hawks” — (America, Vol. 1, p. 199)

The midterm election of 1810 rewarded a new generation of Republicans in Congress who wanted to pay back the British for offenses, or perceived offenses, on the seas and on the western frontier (stirring up Indian hostility). Known to history by this name, their number included John C. Calhoun of South Carolina?  Older Republicans like John Randolph of Roanoke, however, found fault with their belligerency, their covetous gaze upon Canada, and their obsession with “Free Trade and Sailorʼs Rights.”

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Our study of the seemingly infinite heritage of America and the West continues with the entries below (in Q & A or summary form) and the sources indicated.

 providence — (Tabletalk magazine, March 20)

This term in Christian theology refers to Godʼs sovereign superintendence and governance of all things, especially His personal direction of the course of history? Among its many dimensions, says the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), it encompasses the work of the Deity to uphold “heaven and earth and all creatures.”And as Hebrews 1:3 makes abundantly clear, it is particularly the Son, “the radiance of Godʼs glory,” who does the upholding by “the word of his power.”

 Poor Laws — (Almanac, March 22)

Paraphrasing the Talmud, Benjamin Franklin observed that American charity “is the noblest charity, preventing a man from accepting charity, and the best alms, enabling men to dispense with alms.”  Franklin spoke in praise of a welfare system conditioned by work, frugality, keeping faith with oneʼs family, and local administration.  Such was the legacy of Old World Christendom, particularly these 1589 English decrees, wisely conserved by generations of Americans?

 Great Migration — (Almanac, March 29)

“Anno Domini 1630, March 29, Easter Monday.  Riding at the Cowes, near the Isle of Wight, in the Arbella, a ship of three hundred and fifty tons.” Thatʼs how English Puritan John Winthrop (1588–1649), a lawyer and the first governor of Massachusetts Bay, began his illuminating journal entries, a rich resource for scholars ofAmericaʼs origins. Winthrop was among hundreds of Puritans who braved an Atlantic crossing bound for New England in 1630, an event known to history by this name?

 Minims — (Almanac, March 27)

This Catholic order of monks, founded by Francis of Paola (southern Italy) in the 15th-century (1400s), derives its name from the Latin word for “least”? It received the sanction of the Roman Church, and devoted itself primarily to service to the needy in the spirit of Christʼs teaching that the last would be first and the least the greatest of all. Like other Catholic communions it had its scholars, like French mathematician Marin Mersenne who greatly facilitated exchanges among scientists in the 1600s.

 Joseph Damien de Veuster, “Father Damien” — (Almanac, March 29)

In some sense the Mother Theresa of the late 19th-century, this Belgian Catholic priestʼs epitaph reads, “Died a Martyr of Charity”?  He spent a decade in Honolulu (1864-1873) before requesting transfer to the central Hawaiian island of Molokai to minister to the lepers there. “Out of a chaos of neglect,” said one biographer, “he brought order, hope and support for the community” (including schools, churches, hospitals & the like) before succumbing to the dread disease himself in 1889

Hilaire Belloc — (Almanac, March 20)

Born of French and English parentage and proud of his dual citizenship, this Catholic writer and statesman (1870–1953) defended Western traditions against all perceived foes in over a hundred books? The many targets of his polemics included socialism (in the highly influential The Servile State, 1912) and Protestantism. His career had been profoundly shaped by a pilgrimage he made to Rome in 1901, on foot from France across the Alps, as he related in his classic account The Path to Rome.

 Northeast (New York & New England) — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 189-191)

While the Republicans were riding high with electoral success in the early 1800s, certain“High” Federalists from this section of the country plotted secession? Timothy Pickering and Roger Griswold were among such Federalists supporting Aaron Burr (Jeffersonʼs VP who had fallen out of favor with Republicans) for governor of a prestigious state in 1804. Burr, they believed, would aid their secessionist ambitions, but he lost the election due, in part, to denunciations of his character by Hamilton.

 Marbury v. Madison — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 192-193)

To the chagrin of the Jeffersonians, the Marshall Supreme Court greatly expanded U.S. judicial powers in this landmark 1803 case? In his opinion, Chief Justice John Marshall denied a Federalist plaintiff his appointed judgeship (it need not be honored by the Jefferson Administration), but only because that part of the JudiciaryAct of 1789 relevant to the appointment was unconstitutional. The Court thereby claimed it could decide on the constitutionality of any law, a power known as “judicial review.”

 Horatio Nelson — (America, Vol. 1, p. 195)

“England expects every man will do his duty.” The famous charge was issued by this English admiral just prior to his mighty triumph over a combined French-Spanish fleet off Spainʼs Cape Trafalgar in 1805 (the acclaimed naval Battle of Trafalgar)? The Royal Navy, with a decided edge in firepower despite fewer ships in this instance, prevented Napoleon from invading England, dashed French and Spanish ambitions in North America, and secured for a century her own mastery of the seas.

For a printable copy, click here…

As passionate supporters of a classical education, we feel that sometimes a portion of the classical curriculum is overlooked–the quadrivium. So we would like to explore this area a bit more.

If you have read anything about educating classically you have probably heard the term “trivium” because that is greatly discussed within the confines of a classical curriculum. However, grammar, logic, and rhetoric are but the first of three stages of education as laid out by Plato in The Republic. The second stage, the quadrivium, is composed of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music (or harmonics). The final stage is both dialectic and philosophy, where dialogue between two or more people with different views on a specific subject use reasoned arguments to establish the truth of the matter.

Though each of these subjects has practical value, Plato espoused their study in a pure sense, to help the learner be more thoughtful in all his studies, making him a better leader. In looking at Plato’s own words about the mathematical sciences, it is clear that these subjects and a theoretical approach to teaching them is a part of a classical curriculum.

“‘You see therefore,’ I pointed out to him, ‘that this study looks as if it were really necessary to us, since it so obviously compels the mind to use pure thought in order to get at the truth.’” ~ Plato

The study of arithmetic is not simply the learning of fundamental operations with numbers. It is the study of the rules and relations of numbers to one another. This includes the study of number patterns and sequences, equations and their methods for solution, and all the proofs that go along with these ideas. A basic example of this is our multiplication tables. Beyond just memorizing them, it is important to understand that multiplication is just repeated addition. ex. 3X4 = 4+4+4. In a similar manner, exponents are repeated multiplication as in 5² = 5×5. Most people today would consider these “honors” courses, yet Plato found this to be foundational to a good education.

Geometry is considered in a likewise fashion. Though the study of geometry can center on memorizing numerous formulas for all kinds of problems, Plato’s approach is quite different. His approach looks at definitions and patterns to rigorously prove any conjectures put forth by the student, again making the student more pure or rigorous in his thoughts. An example would be proving the similarity of different figures.

“‘We shall therefore treat astronomy, like geometry, as setting us problems for solution,’ I said, ‘and ignore the visible heavens, if we want to make a genuine study of the subject and convert the mind’s natural intelligence to a useful purpose.’” ~ Plato

Astronomy at this point is not a study of the constellations, but is instead an examination of the equations for the movement of the heavenly bodies. Music is also approached mathematically and not as performance. Here it is looking at patterns and ratio. The purpose of a student’s study is, again, to find patterns, develop proofs, and discover truth.

The study of algebra, geometry, physics, trigonometry, and calculus forces us to be careful in our thoughts and greatly appreciate the beauty and complexity of creation. Plato would likely agree with a great many scientists who say that “mathematics is the language God has written the universe in.”

It is much easier to solve real world problems when you understand how mathematics works and not just have a long list of methods to solve a myriad of problems. Using this approach we begin to see the interconnectedness of all the mathematical sciences. Studying the quadrivium would be perfect for high school students who are ready for a more in-depth look at all these subjects. There are many good programs available to us as homeschoolers that emphasize a conceptual/theoretic understanding of mathematics. Pairing one of these with a thorough great books study will help round out your classical curriculum.

The Old Schoolhouse Blog

“Letter to the Danbury Baptists” — (America, Vol. 1,pp. 179-181)

In this 1802 letter to a Connecticut religious society, Jefferson noted the existence of “a wall of separation between Church & State” to restrain the conduct of the government of the U.S.? Oft-cited and controversial, Jeffersonʼs letter pointed to the FirstAmendment and the express powers of the president and Congress to cast doubt on the constitutionality even of national days of prayer. Curiously, Jefferson attended worship in the House of Representatives not long after he penned the letter.

 Sally Hemings — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 181-182)

In the 1802 midterm elections, the Federalists disgraced themselves further by alleging that Jefferson begot children by this woman, one of his slaves?  Jefferson was stung by the accusation, but it did nothing to brighten his opponentsʼ prospects at the ballot box; Republicans (Jeffersonʼs party) won in a landslide. The dubious charge has resurfaced in our day with fanfare and supposed DNA confirmation, but it cannot be proven that Thomas Jefferson was the father of the children in question.

 Stephen Decatur — (America, Vol. 1,pp. 182-183)

“Our country: In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country right or wrong!” The sentiments were uttered in a toast by this U.S. Navy Lieutenant, hero of the War against the Barbary Pirates (1801–1805) off the northern coast of Africa? The Muslim states of that region (the Barbary coast) had made it a practice for centuries to seize and demand ransom for European (and also American) merchant ships, a practice Jefferson decided to challenge by force.

 treaty-making power — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 183-186)

When Napoleon offered to sell Louisiana to the U.S., President Jefferson wanted desperately to make the deal.  For 12 million dollars or 4 cents an acre, the 1803 transaction would double the size of the country and, more importantly, secure the port city of New Orleans forAmerican trade. Jefferson, however, had doubts about the constitutionality of the purchase, doubts resolved in the end by appeal to this express presidential power (exercised with “the advice and consent of the Senate”)?

 “the Corps of Discovery” — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 186-189)

What is known to history as the “Lewis and Clark Expedition” to explore the Louisiana Territory (1804–1806), President Jefferson called by this name?  Led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the party included the French trapper Toussaint Charbonneau and his Shoshone wife Sacagawea.  They eventually made it all the way to the Pacific via the Columbia River, but the legendary dream of an all-water Northwest Passage to the Orient died with their intrepid mission.

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Our entries this week are based on our usual sources with an assist from Forrest McDonaldʼs Statesʼ Rights and the Union: Imperium in Imperio (1776–1876). 

Cornelius Jansen — (Almanac, March 6)

This Flemish theologian (1585-1636) was censured by the papacy (Urban VIII) and the Jesuits for his Augustinus, a book about the teachings of the famous church father? ACatholic professor at Louvain in todayʼs Belgium, his writings influenced profoundly the French clergy, of whom about a fifth conceded agreement with his theses. In his feud with the Jesuits, he accused them of relying too much upon manʼs unaided reason and his good works as opposed to a truly Christian trust in Scripture and grace.

secularism — (Almanac, March 8th)

This modern ideology, prominent in the wake of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, requires what it regards as strict religious neutrality in political matters?It allows for nearly any input in the public square—reason, science, business, labor, race, gender, party—except the voice of the church or a traditional religion like Christianity. Curiously, the ideology has triumphed both in communist countries, where overt persecution is the norm, and democratic ones where propaganda holds sway.

Washingtonʼs Farewell — (America, Vol. 1, p. 164)

With assistance from Alexander Hamilton, Washingtonʼs wise and carefully crafted Farewell Address was first published in a Philadelphia newspaper in 1796.  It was never delivered publicly as a speech.

The main thrust of the message was to warn of what author William Bennett called “twin evils:” a divisive spirit of party and longterm commitment to the interests of foreign powers by means of entangling alliances. This was good counsel in the era of the Founders and, frankly, good counsel for any era. By Washingtonʼs second term (1793–1797), Federalists and Republicans were often at each otherʼs throats and the influence of foreign nations and their agents (France, England, Spain) made the political divide even wider.

Lastly, Washingtonʼs eloquent reminder about the importance of Christianity, and the manners and mores derived therefrom, to the cause of ordered liberty merits attention in all ages, particularly our own with its secular zeitgeist (“spirit of the times” in German). The Father of our Country wrote (in part):“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports.  In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens. . .

Alien and Sedition Acts — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 167-168)

President JohnAdams may have won a second term had he not agreed to these contentious bills (1798), supported strongly by the Federalist majority in Congress? One act made immigrants wait longer to become naturalized citizens, while the other sanctioned prosecution for publishing “defamatory” lies about U.S. officials. Aside from holding on to power, Federalist motives for the measures included fear of revolutionary unrest as well as the possibility (however remote) of invasion by France.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 168-169)

These resolutions (1798) censured the “Alien & Sedition Acts” and affirmed the general consensus of the Union as a compact of free and sovereign states?  Madison and, particularly, Jefferson argued that states may judge the constitutionality of U.S. laws and nullify them within their jurisdictions if found wanting. Logically, such an argument implied state secession as a last resort, if the constitutional crisis provoked by nullification could not be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.

Peace with France in the Year 1800 — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 169-170)

Undertaken for this purpose in U.S. foreign relations, JohnAdams, reflecting back on his presidential administration, said he would “defend [his] missions as long as I have an eye to direct my hand, or a finger to hold my pen”? Adams called the missions in question “the most disinterested and meritorious actions of my life.”  He had resisted the war-cries coming from Hamilton and many Federalists, thus preparing the ground, unwittingly, for an astounding U.S. real estate acquisition three years later (1803).

Alexander Hamilton and the Election of 1800 — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 171-176) Federalist titan Alexander Hamilton could hardly have played a more decisive role than he did in the election of his arch-rival, Republican Thomas Jefferson, to the presidency in 1800.

For starters, Hamilton denounced fellow-Federalist, sitting-President, and reelection candidate John Adams in a stinging 54-page letter. And in the end, his power to persuade Federalists in the House of Representatives swung the tie-breaking vote to Jefferson over the ambitious and crafty New York Republican Aaron Burr.

The House had the final say because Jefferson and Burr each garnered seventy-three electoral college votes in the election. Although it was abundantly clear to all that the Republicans had intended Jefferson to be president and Burr vice president, Burr was ambiguous on the matter publicly, and it took 36 ballots for the House of Representatives to decide in favor of Jefferson.

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We begin our spring posts with entries (Q&Aor summaries) based on readings in The ChristianAlmanac (Grant/Wilbur) and America, Vol. 1 (Bennett).

Look for 8 or 9 posts for the months of March, April, and May, followed by our Spring 2012 History & Heritage Test at the end of May.

 Mardi Gras — (Almanac, Feb. 23)

Seemingly of Celtic Christian origin, this festival (meaning “Fat Tuesday” in English) was introduced to NorthAmerica by the French in the early 1700s?Associated mostly with the Winter Carnival finale in New Orleans, the revelry is a lively component of culture in the entire Gulf Coast region.Author George Grant describes it as “a celebration of lifeʼs excesses before the austere self-sacrifices of the Christian season of Lent,” traditionally a time of fasting commencing on Ash Wednesday.

Hudson Taylor — (Almanac, March 1)

“My feelings on stepping ashore I cannot attempt to describe.My heart felt as though it had not room and must burst its bonds, while tears of gratitude. . .fell from my eyes.” So wrote this English missionary (1832–1905), a medical student of Methodist upbringing, when he first arrived on the streets of Shanghai in March 1854? Facing difficult cultural barriers, he adopted native dress and ways, founded an indigenous church, and evangelized far and wide through his China Inland Mission.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon — (Almanac, March 6)

A Calvinist and a proponent of Puritan writings, this English Baptist (1834–1892) was so masterful in the pulpit that he was dubbed the “Prince of Preachers”?  Under his leadership, Londonʼs Metropolitan Tabernacle became the largest single Christian congregation in the world.But however impressive his success as an orator, writer, and evangelist, he maintained his many charitable works (schools, orphanages, hospitals, and the like) were truly his most blessed endeavors.

From Whiskey Rebellion to Civil War? — (America, Vol. 1, pp. 161-162)

Author William Bennett points out, rather approvingly, that President Washingtonʼs armed response to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 would be taken up byAbraham Lincoln as a precedent for his use of force against the secessionist South in 1861.

 As Lincoln read the events of his day, the laws of the United States were once again being opposed (this time in several Southern states) “by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings,” a phrase found in the Militia Act of 1792 under which Washington acted.

But were the two events so similar?  Were they both instances of unlawful rebellion or insurrection on the part of delinquents or bands of protestors?The events in western Pennsylvania in the late 18th-century did seem to be of that variety. They were blamed on Democratic-Republican clubs whose zealotry, including a threat to take over Pittsburgh, was stirred up in part by the French ambassador Citizen Genet.  Neither the government of Pennsylvania nor the people of Pennsylvania gave any formal sanction to the protestors, and over half of Washingtonʼs militia consisted of Pennsylvanians.

19th-centurysecession, on the other hand, was carried out with scrupulous care for legality and republican liberty. In fact, the seceding states withdrew in precisely the same manner in which they entered the Union by ratifying the U.S. Constitution in the late-1780s. The legislatures of the Southern states, in both instances, provided for special state conventions in which representatives of the people took up the questions (whether to ratify the Constitution and embrace the Union, in the former instance, or whether to dissolve the bond with the United States and its Constitution in the latter). In other words, the same way the states entered the Union is the way they left it.

The acts of riotous mobs or powerful “combinations” of rebels? Hardly. Secession was an orderly act of the people of the seceding states in representative conventions under the sanction of their own legislatures.  Its character was republican through and through. Identical, as noted above, to the process used in the several states to ratify the U.S. Constitution in the first place, and just as representative as what the colonies did in 1776 in their Continental Congress when they “[dissolved] the political bands” connecting them to Great Britain and declared themselves “free and independent states.”

Lincolnʼs show of force to prevent Southern secession (and independence) only makes sense if you argue that states, acting communally as states under their own laws, cannot withdraw voluntarily from a political union they entered into voluntarily. Thatʼs a hard case to make (morally, legally, historically) no matter how you look at it.

The unpleasant, and deeply ironic, truth about the War Between the States may be this: In the name of republicanism or the consent of the governed, Lincoln made war against such consent; and in the name of saving the Union, he struck a mortal blow against it (at least in the sense of its character as a voluntary union of states).

“Forcing a state to remain in the union at gunpoint,” as professor Thomas DiLorenzo pointed out, “renders that state a conquered province, not a genuine partner.”

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