Fall History & Heritage — #7 (October 24)
We continue our study ofAmerica & the West with the sources indicated below:
Alexander Hamilton — (Almanac, Oct. 18)
Born of French and Scottish blood in the West Indies and orphaned by age 11, this brilliant American Founder (1757–1804) became the indispensable aide to George Washington in both war and peace? His influence was critical in calling for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and he authored most of the Federalist essays that argued for ratification of the final document of that convention. As Treasury secretary his economic plan shaped the young nationʼs debt, tax, tariff, and banking policies.
George Washington Carver — (Almanac, Oct. 20)
Raised by his parentsʼ former owners in post-slavery Missouri, this African-American botanist (c.1864–1943) developed over 300 peanut products in an effort to relieve poverty in the rural South? He earned degrees (bachelorʼs & masterʼs) from Iowa State College before joining Booker T. Washingtonʼs Tuskegee Institute inAlabama. At Tuskegee, he pioneered programs to teach poor farm families in the hinterland and championed new uses for pecans and sweet potatoes (in addition to peanuts).
Tertullian — (Tabletalk Bible lesson for Oct. 10)
Anative of Carthage in northAfrica, this early church father (d. 220 AD) was evidently the first theologian to use the term Trinitas (Trinity) in his formulations on the nature of God? He also reputedly said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” a declaration the truth of which is attested by history itself. From Pharaoh in Biblical times to the Communist rulers of China today, state persecution of the saints has not stamped out their faith, but, paradoxically, strengthened it.
“Come Over and Help Us” — (America, Vol.1, p. 31)
Echoing the apostle Paulʼs vision of a man from Macedonia (Acts 16:9), the first Great Seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony pictures a partially clothed Indian making this poignant plea? The seal, of course, was designed by some Englishmen to exhort their compatriots to brave anAtlantic crossing and join their “errand in the wilderness.” Ulterior motives aside, the sealʼs slogan suggests that the Christian rationale for colonization was deemed the noblest in post-Reformation England.
The Patriotism of John Smith — (America, Vol.1,pp. 33-34)
Of Captain John Smith, a bold leader who disciplined and thus saved the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in its earliest years, Bill Bennett writes, “The young and daring Smith was an English patriot: [He complained], ʻWhy should the brave Spanish soldier brag the sun never sets in the Spanish dominions, but ever shineth on one part or other we have conquered for our king?ʼ”
Arguably, Smithʼs complaint, with its implied frustration over Spainʼs temporal advantage in global competition, is less about patriotism than nationalism or imperialism. Neither gold nor glory (nor the arrogant claim to be the worldʼs liberator) is the chief concern of patriots. The time-tested ways of their fathers and the welfare of their hearths and homes are enough for them.
It was English journalist G.K. Chesterton (1874–1936) who wondered about the wisdom of imperialism when he first heard that the sun never set on his native landʼs Union Jack. “What good is a country without a sunset?” asked Chesterton.
“The Wisest Fool in Christendom” — (America, Vol.1, p. 37)
Learned but lacking wisdom, the Stuart dynastyʼs James I of England (r. 1603–1625) was branded (by his foes) with this derisive title? James sought conformity among rival Protestant factions (Anglicans, Puritans, Separatists), but even his sponsorship of literatureʼs greatest masterpiece (King James Bible, 1611) failed to achieve his goal. Growing desperate, he set the stage for an historic religious exodus by demanding that dissenters cease their dissent, or else he would “harry them out of the land.”
Plymouth Rock — (America, Vol.1, p. 39)
“Here is a stone which the feet of a few outcasts pressed for an instant; and the stone becomes famous; it is treasured by a great nation; its very dust is shared as a relic.”
The quote above comes from the political classic Democracy in America (1835) by FrenchmanAlexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859). Tocquevilleʼs 17th-century “outcasts” were in the habit of electing yearly (about 30 times) as their governor the noble William Bradford, and the stone the French scholar lauds is this New England landmark?
“AModel of Christian Charity” — (America, Vol.1, pp. 40-41)
Aboard the ship Arbella in the “Great Migration” of English Puritans to Massachusetts Ba(1630), lawyer John Winthrop (soon to be the colonyʼs first governor) preached a famous lay sermon which went by this title? Winthropʼs words were a reminder to his brethren that their declared intention to build a “Bible Commonwealth” in the New World would not go unnoticed elsewhere. “We shall be as a city upon a hill,” he said (quoting Christʼs Sermon on the Mount). “The eyes of all people are upon us.”
Veritas — (America, Vol.1, p. 41)
This Latin word meaning “truth” was made the motto of Harvard College, founded by Puritans in Cambridge (Massachusetts Bay) as early as 1636? The purpose of the college was to advance the gospel by means of an educated ministry, for which candidates were trained in the Scriptures and the classics in their original tongues. The Puritans, both in England and New England, were a highly educated breed who carried the Old Worldʼs standards of literacy and learning to the New World.
