American Minute

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After slavery ended in the U.S., President Grant spoke to Congress, December 1, 1873, of "several thousand persons illegally held as slaves in Cuba...by the slaveholders of Havana, who are vainly striving to stay the march of ideas which has terminated slavery in Christendom, Cuba only excepted." In February 1898, the U.S.S. Maine blew up in Havana's Harbor, killing 266 sailors. In April, Congress wrote: "The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization...Resolved...the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free." In May, Commodore Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. In July, Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders captured Santiago, Cuba. On July 6, 1898, President William McKinley stated: "With the nation's thanks let there be mingled the nation's prayers that our gallant sons may be shielded from harm alike on the battlefield and in the clash of fleets...while they are striving to uphold their country's honor." The Treaty ending the Spanish-American War was signed DECEMBER 10, 1898.

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Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in Russia, DECEMBER 11, 1918. He was arrested for writing a letter criticizing Joseph Stalin and spent eleven years in prisons and labor camps. He began writing and eventually received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Solzhenitsyn wrote: "At the height of Stalin's terror in 1937-38...more than 40,000 persons were shot per month...Over there people are groaning and dying and in psychiatric hospitals. Doctors are making their evening rounds, injecting people with drugs which destroy their brain cells." Solzhenitsyn continued: "You know the words from the Bible: 'Build not on sand, but on rock'.... Lenin's teachings are that anyone is considered to be a fool who doesn't take what's lying in front of him. If you can take it, take it. If you can attack, attack. But if there's a wall, then go back. And the Communist leaders respect only firmness and have contempt and laugh at persons who continually give in to them." Solzhenitsyn concluded: "America...they are trying to weaken you; they are trying to disarm your strong and magnificent country...I call upon you: ordinary working men of America...do not let yourselves become weak."

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Pennsylvania - The Continental Congress met there, the Declaration of Independence was signed there, the Liberty Bell was rung there, and the Continental Army spent the freezing winter of 1777 at Valley Forge there.The Constitution was written there, and for awhile the United States Capitol was there. It became the 2nd State to join the Union on DECEMBER 12, 1787. The first Colonial Legislative Act, called the Great Law of Pennsylvania, December 7, 1682, stated: "That no person...who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty God to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World...shall in any case be molested or prejudiced for his, or her Conscientious persuasion or practice." Benjamin Franklin helped write Pennsylvania's 1776 Constitution, which stated in Frame of Government, Chapter 2, Section 10: "Each member of the legislature, before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration: 'I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governour of the Universe, the Rewarder of the good and Punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.'"

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Phillips Brooks was born DECEMBER 13, 1835. The bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, Brooks is probably best remembered for a song he wrote two years after the Civil War, which goes: "O little town of Bethlehem! How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years, Are met in thee tonight." At Harvard, Phillips Brooks was taught by Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. President Jimmy Carter, seeking U.N. sanctions against Iran, December 21, 1979, stated: "Henry Longfellow wrote a Christmas carol in a time of crisis, the War Between the States, in 1864. Two verses of that carol particularly express my thoughts and prayers and, I'm sure, those of our Nation in this time of challenge...I would like to quote from that poem 'And in despair I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men. Then pealed the bells, more loud and deep, God is not dead, nor does he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men.'"

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He caught a chill riding horseback several hours in the snow while inspecting his Mount Vernon farm. The next morning it developed into acute laryngitis and the doctors were called in. Their response was to bleed him heavily four times, a process of cutting one's arm to let the "bad blood" out. They also had him gargle with a mixture of molasses, vinegar and butter. Despite their best efforts, the doctors could not save former President George Washington and he died DECEMBER 14, 1799, at the age of sixty-seven. After saying "Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go" and "I should have been glad, had it pleased God, to die a little easier, but I doubt not it is for my good," George Washington, at about 11pm, uttered his last words: "Father of mercies, take me unto thyself." On Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon is engraved: "I am the Resurrection and the Life; sayeth the Lord. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., which is 555 feet tall, has engraved on its metal cap the Latin phrase "Laus Deo," which means "Praise be to God."

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Newly independent, the thirteen States were concerned their new government may become too powerful, as King George's was. They insisted handcuffs be place on the power of the Federal Government. We call these the First Ten Amendments or Bill of Rights, ratified DECEMBER 15, 1791. The First states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Regarding this, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808: "I consider the government of the U.S. as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the U.S." Jefferson continued: "Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets."

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The Boston Tea Party took place DECEMBER 16, 1773, just three years after the Boston Massacre, where the British fired into a crowd, killing five. The British passed unbearable taxes: 1764 Sugar Act -taxing sugar, coffee, wine; 1765 Stamp Act -taxing newspapers, contracts, letters, playing cards and all printed materials; 1767 Townshend Acts -taxing glass, paints, paper; and 1773 Tea Act. While American merchants paid taxes, British allowed the East India Tea Company to sell a half million pounds of tea in the Colonies with no taxes, giving them a monopoly by underselling American merchants. Disguised as Mohawk Indians, a band of patriots called Sons of Liberty, led by Sam Adams, left the South Meeting House toward Griffin's Wharf, boarded the ships Dartmouth, Eleanor and Beaver, and threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor. The men of Marlborough, Massachusetts, declared: "Death is more eligible than slavery. A free-born people are not required by the religion of Jesus Christ to submit to tyranny, but may make use of such power as God has given them to recover and support their liberties...We implore the Ruler above the skies that He would bare His arm...and let Israel go."

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A peer of Mozart and Haydn, he started becoming deaf at age 28, yet incredibly wrote some of the world's most beautiful symphonies, concertos and sonatas. This was Ludwig van Beethoven, baptized DECEMBER 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany. President Jimmy Carter noted while visiting Bonn, July 14, 1978: "As the world's people speak and work and live together, we all could well remember the poem of Friedrich Schiller, immortally put to music by the great Beethoven, a son of Bonn, the "Ode to Joy": "Alle Menschen werden Bruder Wo dein sanfter Flitgel weilt." ("All mankind shall be brothers where thy gentle wings abide.") Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" is also used as the tune of Princeton professor Henry Van Dyke's hymn "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee." In 1801, Beethoven, being deaf, wrote: "No friend have I. I must live by myself alone; but I know well that God is nearer to me than others in my art, so I will walk fearlessly with Him." Supreme Court Justice Jackson wrote in McCollum v. Board of Education, 1948: "It would not seem practical to teach...the arts if we are to forbid exposure of youth to any religious influences. Music without sacred music...would be...incomplete, even from a secular point of view."

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"Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was a carol written by Charles Wesley, born DECEMBER 18, 1707, at Epworth, England. The 18th child of Rev. Samuel and Susanna Wesley, he excelled in school and came to the attention of Garret Wesley, or Wellesley, a Member of Parliament with a large fortune in Daugan, Ireland. Having no child, he offering to adopt Charles as his heir, but Charles declined. After graduating from Oxford, Charles sailed to the colony of Georgia with his brother, John, who was the colony's Anglican minister. Charles was secretary to the colony's founder, General James Oglethorpe. Their desire to minister to Indians never materialize so they returned to England where their preaching started the Great Awakening Revival. John founded the Methodist Church and Charles wrote over 6,000 hymns. In 1753, around the time 21-year-old George Washington was fighting in the French and Indian War, Charles Wesley penned the famous words: "Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the new-born King, Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With th' angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem."

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Driven into Pennsylvania by the British, the Continental Army set up camp at Valley Forge, DECEMBER 19, 1777, just 25 miles from British occupied Philadelphia. Lacking food and supplies, soldiers died at the rate of twelve per day. Of 11,000 soldiers, 2,500 died of cold, hunger and disease. A Committee from Congress reported "feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessary to amputate them." Soldiers were there from every State in the new union, some as young as 12, others as old as 60, and though most were white, some were African American and American Indians. Quaker farmer Isaac Potts observed General Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow. Hessian Major Carl Leopold Baurmeister noted the only thing that kept the American army from disintegrating was their "spirit of liberty." In a letter written to John Banister, Washington recorded: "To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without shoes, by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet...and at Christmas taking up their...quarters within a day's march of the enemy...is a mark of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled."

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Ronald Reagan stated in his Christmas Address, DECEMBER 20, 1983: "Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations we forget the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ...During this glorious festival let us renew our determination to follow His example." Franklin Roosevelt said in his Christmas Message, 1942: "I say that loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is not enough- that we as a Nation and as individuals will please God best by showing regard for the laws of God. There is no better way of fostering good will toward man than by first fostering good will toward God. If we love Him we will keep His Commandments." Franklin Roosevelt continued: "In sending Christmas greetings to the armed forces and merchant sailors...we include our pride in their bravery on the fighting fronts...It is significant that Christmas Day our plants and factories will be stilled. That is not true of the other holidays." Franklin Roosevelt concluded: "On all other holidays work goes on- gladly- for the winning of the war. So Christmas becomes the only holiday in all the year. I like to think that this is so because Christmas is a holy day. May all it stands for live and grow throughout the years."

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"Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see." These were the words of John Newton, a former slave ship captain, who died DECEMBER 21, 1807. At age 11, his mother died and he went to sea with his father. He fell in love with Mary Catlett while on shore leave, but overstaying his visit, he missed his ship's departure and was pressed by a gang onto the HMS Harwich. His reckless behavior caused him to be traded to a slave ship. While on a West African plantation buying slaves, his employer enslaved him. He was rescued, but continued his immoral life, deriding Christians with blasphemy that shocked even sailors. During a storm that nearly sank them, he first prayed. He read Thomas a Kempis' 'Imitation of Christ,' left the slave-trade and became a minister, preaching the rest of his life against slavery. Having encouraged William Wilberforce to end slavery in England, his tombstone read, "John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy."

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Battle of the Bulge- Nazi's amassed three armies for an enormous attack against the Allies in the Ardennes Forest and soon surrounded the 101 Airborne Division in southern Belgium, demanding their surrender. U.S. General Anthony McAuliffe answered in one word: "Nuts." This response confused the Nazi commander, causing him to hesitate. Three days later, after General Patton directed the entire Third Army to pray, weather cleared and Allies counterattacked. In his order, DECEMBER 22, 1944, General Eisenhower stated: "By rushing out from his fixed defenses the enemy may give us the chance to turn his great gamble into his worst defeat. So I call upon every man, of all the Allies, to rise now to new heights of courage...with unshakable faith in the cause for which we fight, we will, with God's help, go forward to our greatest victory." Two days later President Franklin Roosevelt stated: "It is not easy to say 'Merry Christmas' to you, my fellow Americans, in this time of destructive war...We will celebrate this Christmas Day in our traditional American way...because the teachings of Christ are fundamental in our lives...the story of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace."

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After the Continental Army was driven out of New Jersey, an article titled "The American Crisis" was published in the Pennsylvania Journal, DECEMBER 23, 1776. Written by an aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene named Thomas Paine, General Washington ordered it read to the troops: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country...Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Thomas Paine continued: "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly....Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated...God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction...who have so earnestly...sought to avoid the calamities of war." Paine concluded: "The whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back...by a few broken forces headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen...'Show your faith by your works,' that God may bless you...I thank God, that I fear not."

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On Christmas eve, DECEMBER 24, 1492, Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, ran aground on the island of Haiti. Columbus left 40 men and named the settlement la Navidad, promising to return the next year. He wrote that day to Spain's King and Queen: "In all the world there can be no better or gentler people. Your Highnesses should feel great joy, because presently they will be Christians, and instructed in the good manners of your realms." On DECEMBER 24, 1946, lighting the National Christmas Tree, President Truman said: "Our...hopes of future years turn to a little town in the hills of Judea where on a winter's night two thousand years ago the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. Shepherds keeping watch by night over their flock heard the glad tidings of great joy from the angels of the Lord singing, 'Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth, peace, good will toward men.'" President Truman continued: "If we will accept it, the star of faith will guide us into the place of peace as it did the shepherds on that day of Christ's birth long ago...Through all the centuries, history has vindicated His teaching." Truman concluded: "In this great country of ours has been demonstrated the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy."