Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Wisconsin

2007-06-24T20:03:26Z

ArkR3:

[[Image:wisc_flag.jpg|right|thumb|Wisconsin state flag]]'''Wisconsin''', the "Badger State", or unofficially "America's Dairyland", was the thirtieth state to enter the union, on May 29, 1848. The capital city of Wisconsin is [[Madison]]. The state is expected to be a key battleground in the [[2008 Presidential Election]]. It is the home state of presidential candidate [[Tommy Thompson]], who served as a four-term governor from 1987 to 2001.

The town of Ripon in Wisconsin has been considered "The Birthplace of the [[Republican Party]]".

The state tree is the sugar maple, the state song is "On Wisconsin", the state flower is the wood violet, the state bird is the American [[robin]], the state animal is the [[badger]], the state [[fossil]] is the [[trilobite]], and the state fish is the [[muskellunge]]. [http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/scc/kids/facts.htm]

Wisconsin's nickname, "The Badger State," recalls the lead mining boom of the 1830s. Wisconsin was a mining state before it was a farm state. Native Americans knew about lead deposits; initially, metallic lead could be picked up from the ground without digging. Cornish miners were some of the earliest European settlers of the state.<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-026/?action=more_essay Lead Mining in Southwestern Wisconsin]</ref> Southwestern Wisconsin is now a sparsely populated agricultural region, but for a while it was the economic center of the state. The first territorial capital was Belmont,<ref>{http://www.belmontwi.com/pages/1/index.htm Belmont Wisconsin] town website</ref> located about thirty miles from Dubuque, Iowa). Lead mining peaked in the mid-1840s, and the California gold rush of 1849 drew many miners away. The current population of Belmont is 891.<ref>[http://www.idcide.com/citydata/wi/belmont.htm Belmont profile], idcide website.</ref>

Wisconsin cannot be stereotyped politically. It is often associated with the name of anti-communist crusader [[Joseph McCarthy]], but is equally tied to that of Robert M. La Follette and his Progressive Party. [[Victor Berger]], the first socialist elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Frank Zeidler, the Mayor of Milwaukee from 1948-1960 was the last in a string of twelve socialist mayors of Milwaukee, whose emphasis on the basics of municipal service led them to be called "sewer Socialists."<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-043/?action=more_essay Milwaukee Sewer Socialism], Wisconsin State Historical Association]</ref>

==Sports in Wisconsin==

Milwaukee Wisconsin is home to three professional sports teams. The Brewers (baseball), the Bucks (basketball), and the Admirals (hockey). Wisconsin is also home to the Green Bay Packers football team which has largest following of any professional sports team in the state. Wisconsin is also home to various college sports programs, most notably the Wisconsin Badgers and the Marquette Golden Eagles.

== Abortion in Wisconsin ==

Wisconsin has the 8th lowest [[abortion rankings|abortion rate]] in the United States, and it has declined to a record low since 1974, the first year after ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'':<ref>Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com (Apr. 9, 2007)
http://www.lifenews.com/state2218.html</ref>

:There were 9,580 abortions done in the state in 2006, down from 9,817 in 2005. This is the third year in a row that abortions in the Midwestern state have decreased and the number is the lowest since 1974.

:"Wisconsin Right to Life is ecstatic that Wisconsin abortion numbers continue to decline," Barbara Lyons, the group's director, told LifeNews.com in a statement.

:"In addition, the abortion rate (which represents the number of abortions per 1000 women of childbearing age) remains at 8, which is one of the lowest abortion rates in the nation," Lyons added. The national abortion rate is about 15 per 1,000 women.

:In the statement, Wisconsin Right to Life<ref>http://www.wisconsinrighttolife.org</ref> suggests that the abortions are on the decline because of its work and pro-life legislation the state has enacted and polls showing that younger Americans are more pro-life than previous generations. ...

:There are 14 abortions per 100 life births in Wisconsin, lower than the 24 per 100 live births nationwide.

:In 2006, there were 596 abortions on minors. Written consent (usually by a parent) was provided in 530 of these; the patient was an emancipated minor in 24; and a court granted a petition to waive the parental consent requirement in 42. There were no teens who got abortions after being victimized by sexual assault. ...

:Some 85 percent of the abortions were surgical and 15 percent involved abortion drugs, an increase of one percent over 2005.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:US state]]

Wisconsin

2007-06-24T20:00:08Z

ArkR3:

[[Image:wisc_flag.jpg|right|thumb|Wisconsin state flag]]'''Wisconsin''', the "Badger State", or unofficially "America's Dairyland", was the thirtieth state to enter the union, on May 29, 1848. The capital city of Wisconsin is [[Madison]]. The state is expected to be a key battleground in the [[2008 Presidential Election]]. It is the home state of presidential candidate [[Tommy Thompson]], who served as a four-term governor from 1987 to 2001.

The town of Ripon in Wisconsin has been considered "The Birthplace of the [[Republican Party]]".

The state tree is the sugar maple, the state song is "On Wisconsin", the state flower is the wood violet, the state bird is the American [[robin]], the state animal is the [[badger]], the state [[fossil]] is the [[trilobite]], and the state fish is the [[muskellunge]]. [http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/scc/kids/facts.htm]

Wisconsin's nickname, "The Badger State," recalls the lead mining boom of the 1830s. Wisconsin was a mining state before it was a farm state. Native Americans knew about lead deposits; initially, metallic lead could be picked up from the ground without digging. Cornish miners were some of the earliest European settlers of the state.<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-026/?action=more_essay Lead Mining in Southwestern Wisconsin]</ref> Southwestern Wisconsin is now a sparsely populated agricultural region, but for a while it was the economic center of the state. The first territorial capital was Belmont,<ref>{http://www.belmontwi.com/pages/1/index.htm Belmont Wisconsin] town website</ref> located about thirty miles from Dubuque, Iowa). Lead mining peaked in the mid-1840s, and the California gold rush of 1849 drew many miners away. The current population of Belmont is 891.<ref>[http://www.idcide.com/citydata/wi/belmont.htm Belmont profile], idcide website.</ref>

Wisconsin cannot be stereotyped politically. It is often associated with the name of anti-communist crusader [[Joseph McCarthy]], but is equally tied to that of Robert M. La Follette and his Progressive Party. [[Victor Berger]], the first socialist elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Frank Zeidler, the Mayor of Milwaukee from 1948-1960 was the last in a string of twelve socialist mayors of Milwaukee, whose emphasis on the basics of municipal service led them to be called "sewer Socialists."<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-043/?action=more_essay Milwaukee Sewer Socialism], Wisconsin State Historical Association]</ref>

== Abortion in Wisconsin ==

Wisconsin has the 8th lowest [[abortion rankings|abortion rate]] in the United States, and it has declined to a record low since 1974, the first year after ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'':<ref>Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com (Apr. 9, 2007)
http://www.lifenews.com/state2218.html</ref>

:There were 9,580 abortions done in the state in 2006, down from 9,817 in 2005. This is the third year in a row that abortions in the Midwestern state have decreased and the number is the lowest since 1974.

:"Wisconsin Right to Life is ecstatic that Wisconsin abortion numbers continue to decline," Barbara Lyons, the group's director, told LifeNews.com in a statement.

:"In addition, the abortion rate (which represents the number of abortions per 1000 women of childbearing age) remains at 8, which is one of the lowest abortion rates in the nation," Lyons added. The national abortion rate is about 15 per 1,000 women.

:In the statement, Wisconsin Right to Life<ref>http://www.wisconsinrighttolife.org</ref> suggests that the abortions are on the decline because of its work and pro-life legislation the state has enacted and polls showing that younger Americans are more pro-life than previous generations. ...

:There are 14 abortions per 100 life births in Wisconsin, lower than the 24 per 100 live births nationwide.

:In 2006, there were 596 abortions on minors. Written consent (usually by a parent) was provided in 530 of these; the patient was an emancipated minor in 24; and a court granted a petition to waive the parental consent requirement in 42. There were no teens who got abortions after being victimized by sexual assault. ...

:Some 85 percent of the abortions were surgical and 15 percent involved abortion drugs, an increase of one percent over 2005.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:US state]]

Wisconsin

2007-06-24T19:59:45Z

ArkR3:

[[Image:wisc_flag.jpg|right|thumb|Wisconsin state flag]]'''Wisconsin''', the "Badger State", or unofficially "America's Dairyland", was the thirtieth state to enter into the union, on May 29, 1848. The capital city of Wisconsin is [[Madison]]. The state is expected to be a key battleground in the [[2008 Presidential Election]]. It is the home state of presidential candidate [[Tommy Thompson]], who served as a four-term governor from 1987 to 2001.

The town of Ripon in Wisconsin has been considered "The Birthplace of the [[Republican Party]]".

The state tree is the sugar maple, the state song is "On Wisconsin", the state flower is the wood violet, the state bird is the American [[robin]], the state animal is the [[badger]], the state [[fossil]] is the [[trilobite]], and the state fish is the [[muskellunge]]. [http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/scc/kids/facts.htm]

Wisconsin's nickname, "The Badger State," recalls the lead mining boom of the 1830s. Wisconsin was a mining state before it was a farm state. Native Americans knew about lead deposits; initially, metallic lead could be picked up from the ground without digging. Cornish miners were some of the earliest European settlers of the state.<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-026/?action=more_essay Lead Mining in Southwestern Wisconsin]</ref> Southwestern Wisconsin is now a sparsely populated agricultural region, but for a while it was the economic center of the state. The first territorial capital was Belmont,<ref>{http://www.belmontwi.com/pages/1/index.htm Belmont Wisconsin] town website</ref> located about thirty miles from Dubuque, Iowa). Lead mining peaked in the mid-1840s, and the California gold rush of 1849 drew many miners away. The current population of Belmont is 891.<ref>[http://www.idcide.com/citydata/wi/belmont.htm Belmont profile], idcide website.</ref>

Wisconsin cannot be stereotyped politically. It is often associated with the name of anti-communist crusader [[Joseph McCarthy]], but is equally tied to that of Robert M. La Follette and his Progressive Party. [[Victor Berger]], the first socialist elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Frank Zeidler, the Mayor of Milwaukee from 1948-1960 was the last in a string of twelve socialist mayors of Milwaukee, whose emphasis on the basics of municipal service led them to be called "sewer Socialists."<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-043/?action=more_essay Milwaukee Sewer Socialism], Wisconsin State Historical Association]</ref>

== Abortion in Wisconsin ==

Wisconsin has the 8th lowest [[abortion rankings|abortion rate]] in the United States, and it has declined to a record low since 1974, the first year after ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'':<ref>Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com (Apr. 9, 2007)
http://www.lifenews.com/state2218.html</ref>

:There were 9,580 abortions done in the state in 2006, down from 9,817 in 2005. This is the third year in a row that abortions in the Midwestern state have decreased and the number is the lowest since 1974.

:"Wisconsin Right to Life is ecstatic that Wisconsin abortion numbers continue to decline," Barbara Lyons, the group's director, told LifeNews.com in a statement.

:"In addition, the abortion rate (which represents the number of abortions per 1000 women of childbearing age) remains at 8, which is one of the lowest abortion rates in the nation," Lyons added. The national abortion rate is about 15 per 1,000 women.

:In the statement, Wisconsin Right to Life<ref>http://www.wisconsinrighttolife.org</ref> suggests that the abortions are on the decline because of its work and pro-life legislation the state has enacted and polls showing that younger Americans are more pro-life than previous generations. ...

:There are 14 abortions per 100 life births in Wisconsin, lower than the 24 per 100 live births nationwide.

:In 2006, there were 596 abortions on minors. Written consent (usually by a parent) was provided in 530 of these; the patient was an emancipated minor in 24; and a court granted a petition to waive the parental consent requirement in 42. There were no teens who got abortions after being victimized by sexual assault. ...

:Some 85 percent of the abortions were surgical and 15 percent involved abortion drugs, an increase of one percent over 2005.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:US state]]

Battle of Gettysburg

2007-06-24T19:57:57Z

ArkR3:

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Cwlogo.png|200px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|The Civil War
1861 - 1865
|-
|Begun
|July 1, 1863
|-
|Ended
|July 4, 1863
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of the Potomac
|-
|Commander
|MGEN [[George Meade]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: gray no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of Northern Virginia
|-
|Commander
|GEN [[Robert E. Lee]]
|-
|}
'''The Battle of Gettysburg''' took place during the [[American Civil War]] from July 1 to July 4, 1863. General [[George Meade]] commanded the [[Union]] [[Army of the Potomac]] while general [[Robert E. Lee]] led the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army of Northern Virginia.

Throughout the war the Confederates had fewer soldiers and resources than the north, and they knew that without outside aid they could never finally win their independence. Throughout the war they the Confederate government had attempted to gain the aid of the British, but up to this point they had failed. One of the main reasons that the British had abstained from aiding the south was that they were not convinced that the Confederates could finally win the war. The northern invasion which ended at Gettysburg was an attempt to prove to the world that the Confederate States of America was a legitimate country and that they were capable of finally winning their freedom from the Union.

Up until Gettysburg the Confederate army had generally been successful, although they were always outnumbered in men and supplies. While Lee was used to fighting with inferior numbers he was also severely handicapped at Gettysburg by the recent loss of his best general, [[Stonewall Jackson]], as well as the absence of his famed cavalry commander [[J.E.B Stuart]], who he usually counted on for reconnaissance.

After four days of bitter fighting the battle ended with a Union victory and heavy casualties on both sides, especially among the Confederates. The battle was the first and last attempt of the Confederates to invade the north. It was considered the turning point or "High Tide" of the Civil War, for from this point on the Confederates never won another major battle. Famous minor battles that it included were: [[Pickett's Charge]], [[The Battle of Little Round Top]], and [[The Battle for Cemetery Ridge]].
[[image:Gettysburg.jpg|500px|thumb|left|"A Harvest of Death." Gettysburg, July 1863. Timothy O'Sullivan.]]

Months after the battle, on November 19, 1863, [[Abraham Lincoln| President Lincoln]] came to the [[Pennsylvania]] town and issued his famous "[[Gettysburg Address]]". The moving eulogy was a call to the American people to remember where they had come from and why they were fighting the war. It ended, "...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."

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gettysburg, Battle of}}
[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:American Civil War]]

George Meade

2007-06-24T18:56:16Z

ArkR3: New page: '''George Gordon Meade''', known among his troops as "the goggle eyed snapping turtle", was one of the more successful union generals of the Civil War. He is most famous for leading the [[...

'''George Gordon Meade''', known among his troops as "the goggle eyed snapping turtle", was one of the more successful union generals of the Civil War. He is most famous for leading the [[Union]] [[Army of the Potomac]] to victory at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]].

==Early Life==

George Gordon Meade was born in Cadiz, Spain on December 31, 1815. At the time his father was working as an agent for the [[U.S. Navy]]. While Meade was still young his family returned to the States settling in Philadelphia. The remainder of Meade's youth was spent in moving between Baltimore and Washington as his father attempted to avoid financial ruin. Finally, in 1831 he became a cadet at West Point.

==Military Career==

Meade graduated nineteenth in his class of 1835 and became a Lieutenant in the artillery. He was stationed in Florida where he came down with a fever as was re-assigned to Massachusetts. He quickly became disillusioned with the army and in 1836 he resigned. After marrying, however, he again joined the army in 1842 and eventually fought under Winfield Scott in the Mexican War.

When the Civil War broke out he became a brigadier general in the volunteers. In 1862 his brigade was assigned to the [[Army of the Potomac]] where he saw hard fighting and received two wounds. After returning to the army he fought at such notable battles and Second Bull Run, and Antietam, and was eventually promoted to major general.

When the Confederate army under General Lee invaded Pennsylvania in 1863 Meade was given command of the Army of the Potomac which, three days later, he led to victory at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]].

Meade retained command of the Army of the Potomac for the remainder of the war, though for most of the time he was under the direct supervision and command of General Grant. After the war he was given command of some of the military districts into which the south was divided. He died on November 7, 1872 of a combination of war wounds and pneumonia.

==Bibliography==

http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/sidebar/meadebio.htm

http://www.us-civilwar.com/meade.htm

Battle of Gettysburg

2007-06-24T18:21:33Z

ArkR3:

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Cwlogo.png|200px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|The Civil War
1861 - 1865
|-
|Begun
|July 1, 1863
|-
|Ended
|July 4, 1863
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of the Potomac
|-
|Commander
|MGEN [[George Gordon Meade]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: gray no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of Northern Virginia
|-
|Commander
|GEN [[Robert E. Lee]]
|-
|}
'''The Battle of Gettysburg''' took place during the [[American Civil War]] from July 1 to July 4, 1863. General [[George Meade]] commanded the [[Union]] [[Army of the Potomac]] while general [[Robert E. Lee]] led the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army of Northern Virginia.

Throughout the war the Confederates had fewer soldiers and resources than the north, and they knew that without outside aid they could never finally win their independence. Throughout the war they the Confederate government had attempted to gain the aid of the British, but up to this point they had failed. One of the main reasons that the British had abstained from aiding the south was that they were not convinced that the Confederates could finally win the war. The northern invasion which ended at Gettysburg was an attempt to prove to the world that the Confederate States of America was a legitimate country and that they were capable of finally winning their freedom from the Union.

Up until Gettysburg the Confederate army had generally been successful, although they were always outnumbered in men and supplies. While Lee was used to fighting with inferior numbers he was also severely handicapped at Gettysburg by the recent loss of his best general, [[Stonewall Jackson]], as well as the absence of his famed cavalry commander [[J.E.B Stuart]], who he usually counted on for reconnaissance.

After four days of bitter fighting the battle ended with a Union victory and heavy casualties on both sides, especially among the Confederates. The battle was the first and last attempt of the Confederates to invade the north. It was considered the turning point or "High Tide" of the Civil War, for from this point on the Confederates never won another major battle. Famous minor battles that it included were: [[Pickett's Charge]], [[The Battle of Little Round Top]], and [[The Battle for Cemetery Ridge]].
[[image:Gettysburg.jpg|500px|thumb|left|"A Harvest of Death." Gettysburg, July 1863. Timothy O'Sullivan.]]

Months after the battle, on November 19, 1863, [[Abraham Lincoln| President Lincoln]] came to the [[Pennsylvania]] town and issued his famous "[[Gettysburg Address]]". The moving eulogy was a call to the American people to remember where they had come from and why they were fighting the war. It ended, "...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."

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gettysburg, Battle of}}
[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:American Civil War]]

Babe Ruth

2007-06-24T03:09:03Z

ArkR3:

[[Image:the_babe.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Babe Ruth''' is baseball's most famous hitter. He started with the [[Boston Red Sox]] as a succesful pitcher (94-46), but he is most famous for his middle and later career as an outfeilder for the [[New York Yankees]]. He hit 714 home runs, a record until [[Hank Aaron]] broke it in the 1970's.

[[category:sportspeople]]

Washington's farewell adress

2007-06-23T21:57:17Z

ArkR3:

Washington's farewell adress

2007-06-23T21:56:39Z

ArkR3:

Washington's farewell adress

2007-06-23T21:55:48Z

ArkR3:

Washington's farewell adress

2007-06-23T21:55:06Z

ArkR3: Replacing page with ''''George Washington's Farewell Address''' was published in the Independent Chronicle on September 26, 1796. The tone of the address is fatherly, for President Washington is at...'

Washington's farewell adress

2007-06-23T21:53:23Z

ArkR3: New page: '''George Washington's Farewell Address''' was published in the Independent Chronicle on September 26, 1796. The tone of the address is fatherly, for President Washington is attempting to ...

'''George Washington's Farewell Address''' was published in the Independent Chronicle on September 26, 1796. The tone of the address is fatherly, for President Washington is attempting to impart to the American people what he believes their course of action should be through the following years.

<blockquote>
Friends and Citizens:

The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.

The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.

In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it.

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion.

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.

The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.

But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rival ships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens?

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.

However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.

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. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. 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. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?

Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it 7 It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim.

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils 7 Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient government. the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.

Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.

How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them.

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the twenty-second of April, I793, is the index of my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness.

The considerations which respect the right to hold this con duct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all.

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.
</blockquote>

Jefferson Davis

2007-06-23T21:18:49Z

ArkR3:

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Jefferson_davis.jpg|200px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: gray no-repeat scroll top left;"|Jefferson Davis
President of the Confederate States of America
|-
|Born
|1808
|-
|Died
|1889
|-
|}

'''Jefferson Davis''' was born in Kentucky on June 3, 1808. Davis was born into a military family, his father having served in the Revolutionary War, and in 1828 he was appointed to the United States Military Academy. He served in the military from 1831 until 1835 when he resigned and settled in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Jefferson Davis is best known as the one and only president of the [[Confederate States of America]], but he did not even get involved in politics until 1843 at the age of 35. He was elected to Congress in 1845 and resigned in 1846 to re-enter the army during the Mexican War. He continued in this service until 1847 when he was appointed by the governor of Mississippi to fill a vacancy in the Senate.

After the Confederate defeat in the [[American Civil War]] Davis was stripped of his US citizenship, which was posthumously restored by [[Jimmy Carter|President Carter]] in 1978. [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29993]

A controversial plaque on the wall of a The Bay department store in Montréal commemorates a visit to the city by Davis

{{expand}}

Battle of Gettysburg

2007-06-23T20:41:58Z

ArkR3:

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Cwlogo.png|200px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|The Civil War
1861 - 1865
|-
|Begun
|July 1, 1863
|-
|Ended
|July 4, 1863
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of the Potomac
|-
|Commander
|MGEN [[George Gordon Meade]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: gray no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of Northern Virginia
|-
|Commander
|GEN [[Robert E. Lee]]
|-
|}
'''The Battle of Gettysburg''' took place during the [[American Civil War]] from July 1 to July 4, 1863. General [[George Meade]] commanded the [[Union]] [[Army of the Potomac]] while general [[Robert E. Lee]] led the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army of Northern Virginia.

Throughout the war the Confederates had fewer soldiers and resources than the north, and they knew that without outside aid they could never finally win their independence. Throughout the war they the Confederate government had attempted to gain the aid of the British, but up to this point they had failed. One of the main reasons that the British had abstained from aiding the south was that they were not convinced that the Confederates could finally win the war. The northern invasion which ended at Gettysburg was an attempt to prove to the world that the Confederate States of America was a legitimate country and that they were capable of finally winning their freedom from the Union.

Up until Gettysburg the Confederate army had generally been successful, although they were always outnumbered in men and supplies. While Lee was used to fighting with inferior numbers he was also severely handicapped at Gettysburg by the recent loss of his best general, [[Stonewall Jackson]], as well as the absence of his famed cavalry commander J.E.B Stuart, who he usually counted on for reconnaissance.

After four days of bitter fighting the battle ended with a Union victory and heavy casualties on both sides, especially among the Confederates. The battle was the first and last attempt of the Confederates to invade the north. It was considered the turning point or "High Tide" of the Civil War, for from this point on the Confederates never won another major battle. Famous minor battles that it included were: [[Pickett's Charge]], [[The Battle of Little Round Top]], and [[The Battle for Cemetery Ridge]].
[[image:Gettysburg.jpg|500px|thumb|left|"A Harvest of Death." Gettysburg, July 1863. Timothy O'Sullivan.]]

Months after the battle, on November 19, 1863, [[Abraham Lincoln| President Lincoln]] came to the [[Pennsylvania]] town and issued his famous "[[Gettysburg Address]]". The moving eulogy was a call to the American people to remember where they had come from and why they were fighting the war. It ended, "...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."

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gettysburg, Battle of}}
[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:American Civil War]]

Battle of Gettysburg

2007-06-23T20:36:43Z

ArkR3:

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Cwlogo.png|200px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|The Civil War
1861 - 1865
|-
|Begun
|July 1, 1863
|-
|Ended
|July 4, 1863
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of the Potomac
|-
|Commander
|MGEN [[George Gordon Meade]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: gray no-repeat scroll top left;"|Army of Northern Virginia
|-
|Commander
|GEN [[Robert E. Lee]]
|-
|}
'''The Battle of Gettysburg''' took place during the [[American Civil War]] from July 1 to July 4, 1863. General [[George Meade]]commanded the [[Union]] [[Army of the Potomac]] while general [[Robert E. Lee]] led the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army of Northern Virginia.

Throughout the war the Confederates had fewer soldiers and resources than the north, and they knew that without outside aid they could never finally win their independence. Throughout the war they the Confederate government had attempted to gain the aid of the British, but up to this point they had failed. One of the main reasons that the British had abstained from aiding the south was that they were not convinced that the Confederates could finally win the war. The northern invasion which ended at Gettysburg was an attempt to prove to the world that the Confederate States of America was a legitimate country and that they were capable of finally winning their freedom from the Union.

Up until Gettysburg the Confederate army had generally been successful, although they were always outnumbered in men and supplies. While Lee was used to fighting with inferior numbers he was also severely handicapped at Gettysburg by the recent loss of his best general, [[Stonewall Jackson]], as well as the absence of his famed cavalry commander J.E.B Stuart, who he usually counted on for reconnaissance.

After four days of bitter fighting the battle ended with a Union victory and heavy casualties on both sides, especially among the Confederates. The battle was the first and last attempt of the Confederates to invade the north. It was considered the turning point or "High Tide" of the Civil War, for from this point on the Confederates never won another major battle. Famous minor battles that it included were: [[Pickett's Charge]], [[The Battle of Little Round Top]], and [[The Battle for Cemetery Ridge]].
[[image:Gettysburg.jpg|500px|thumb|left|"A Harvest of Death." Gettysburg, July 1863. Timothy O'Sullivan.]]

Months after the battle, on November 19, 1863, [[Abraham Lincoln| President Lincoln]] came to the [[Pennsylvania]] town and issued his famous "[[Gettysburg Address]]". The moving eulogy was a call to the American people to remember where they had come from and why they were fighting the war. It ended, "...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."

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gettysburg, Battle of}}
[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:American Civil War]]

New Deal

2007-06-23T18:00:45Z

ArkR3:

The so-called '''New Deal''' was the name coined by [[President of the United States of America|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], for the [[Socialism|socialist]]ic program he conducted throughout the Great Depression. This program had three aspects: relief, recovery and reform. It sought to provide immediate relief for the millions of unemployed. Roosevelt believed the New Deal would aid in recovery and reform in hopes of ending the Great Depression.

==Economic planning==

As the Depression set in, terms like “[[planned economy]]” and “national planning” became the watchwords of the day. <ref>[http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1468 ''FDR: The Man, the Leader, the Legacy''], Ralph Raico, Future of Freedom Foundation, April 1, 2001. Retreived from The Independent Institute.org 06/17/07.</ref> They had been used by theoriticians for years and popularized by best-selling writers like George Soule and Stuart Chase, who lauded the Soviet Gosplan (central planning), asking plaintively, “Why should the Russians have all the fun of remaking a world?” The most prominent of the [[Brain Trust]]ers and the man often considered the chief ideologist of the “first New Deal” (roughly, 1933–34), was [[Rexford Guy Tugwell]]. Tugwell was a follower of the school of thought known as Institutional Economics, founded by the eccentric writer on economics, [[Thorstein Veblen]]. His official position was assistant secretary of agriculture, that is, second in command to [[Henry A. Wallace]], but his influence extended far beyond that. In 1927, Tugwell traveled to the Soviet Union and observed through scientific economic planning the Soviets were able to “carry out their industrial operations with a completely thought-out program.” “The future,” he announced, “is becoming visible in Russia.” Tugwell scorned the [[free market]] as anarchical, an uncoordinated muddle of hopelessly conflicting aims and purposes. It would have to be replaced by national planning, or technocracy, another shibboleth of the day, implying rule by the technical experts and managers, <ref>''The Managerial Revolution'', James Burnham, Indiana University Press, Bloomingham 1966.</ref> like himself.

==Collectivism==

There was a peculiar affinity between the New Deal and the European dictatorships that on occasion extended even to [[fascism]] and [[national socialism]] Early on, FDR referred to [[Benito Mussolini]] as “the admirable Italian gentlemen,” stating to his ambassador in Rome, “I am much interested and deeply impressed by what he has accomplished." Mussolini, in turn, was flattered by what he saw as the New Deal’s copying of his own corporate state, in the [[National Recovery Act]] (NRA) and other early measures. Even [[Hitler]] had kind words at first for Roosevelt’s “dynamic” leadership, stating that “I have sympathy with President Roosevelt because he marches straight to his objective over Congress, over lobbies, over stubborn bureaucracies.”

What linked the New Deal to the regimes in Italy and Germany, as well as in Soviet Russia, was their fellowship in the wave of [[collectivism]] that was sweeping the world. In an essay published in 1933, [[John Maynard Keynes]] observed this trend, and expressed his sympathy with the “variety of politico-economic experiments” under way in the continental dictatorships as well as in the United States. All of them, he gloated, were turning their backs on the old, discredited [[laissez-faire]] and embracing national planning in one form or another.

It goes without saying that the New Deal was a much milder form of the collectivism. In all of the national planning schemes, government gained power at the expense of the people, with the leaders seeking to impose a philosophy of life that subordinated the individual to the needs of the community—as defined by the state.

==100 Days==
In May 1933, the Thomas Amendment to the [[Agricultural Adjustment Act]] (AAA) was passed, giving the president the authority to increase the money supply by $3 billion in unbacked bills and to reduce the value of the gold dollar by up to half. In June, a supine Congress delivered to FDR the joint resolution he had requested, forbidding private debtors to fulfill their obligations in gold and relieving the government of its own sworn obligations. <ref>''The New Ordeal'', Freeman Tilden, The North American Review, v. 239, February 1935, p. 131-7.</ref>

==Civilian Conservation Corps==

The inner affinities of the New Deal with the continental dictatorships is well illustrated by one of the first measures passed during FDR’s first Hundred Days and was a program that was one of FDR’s favorites, the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC).

Young men were enrolled as amateur forest rangers, marsh-drainers, and the like, on projects designed to improve the countryside. The recruits were given room and board, clothing, and a dollar a day. More than two and half million of them passed through the camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps, until the program was abolished in 1942, when the men were needed for the draft.

In 1973, John A. Garraty published an important article on the CCC in the ''American Historical Review'' <ref>''The New Deal, National Socialism, and the Great Depression'', John A. Garraty, American Historical Review, Vol. 78, October 1973. </ref> Garraty was Gouverneur Morris Professor of American history at Columbia and later general editor of the ''American National Biography''. Yet, while a warm admirer of FDR, Garraty was compelled to note the striking similarities between the CCC and parallel programs set up by the Nazis for German youth. Both were essentially designed to keep young men out of the labor market. Roosevelt described work camps as a means for getting youth “off the city street corners,” Hitler as a way of keeping them from “rotting helplessly in the streets.” In both countries much was made of the beneficial social results of mixing thousands of young people from different walks of life in the camps. . . . Furthermore, both were organized on semi-military lines with the subsidiary purposes of improving the physical fitness of potential soldiers and stimulating public commitment to national service in an emergency.

Garraty listed many other similarities between the New Deal and National Socialism. Like Roosevelt, Hitler prided himself on being a “pragmatist” in economic affairs, trying out one panacea after another. Through a multitude of new agencies and mountains of new regulations, both in Germany and America, owners and managers of enterprises found their freedom to make decisions sharply curtailed.

The Nazis encouraged working-class mobility, through vocational training, the democratizing youth camps, and a myriad of youth organizations. They usually favored workers as against employers in industrial disputes and, in another parallel to the New Deal, supported higher agricultural prices. Both FDR and Hitler “tended to romanticize rural life and the virtues of an agricultural existence“ and harbored dreams of the rural resettlement of urban populations, which proved disappointing. Characteristically for the collectivist movements of the time, “enormous propaganda campaigns” were mounted in the United States, Germany, and Italy (as well, of course, as in Russia) to fire up enthusiasm for the government’s programs.

It is no wonder, then, as Professor Garraty writes, that “during the first years of the New Deal the German press praised him [Roosevelt] and the New Deal to the skies. . . . Early New Deal policies seemed to the Nazis essentially like their own and the role of Roosevelt not very different from the Führer’s.”

==Timeline==

1933 to 1937 were recovery years stimulated by the New Deal government spending. However by 1937 the nation had nowhere near recovered to where it was in 1929.

The 1937 - 1943 Depression was longer in duration than the 1929 - 1932 crash, the result of massive government intrusion into the private economy which stunted growth. Manufacturing demand stimulated by WWII led to the 1943-1949 recovery, where finally, in 1949, the New York Stock Exchange recovered to the level it had been at 1929.

Many New Deal reforms were unpopular and criticized. In 1948 President [[Harry Truman]] ran on a reformed New Deal platform called the [[Fair Deal]], which was regarded largely as an admission the New Deal had not been fair.

==See also==
*[[New Ordeal]]

==References==
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[[Category:United States History]]