Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev -- Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! These words were spoken by President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin at the Wall that separated East and West Germany. Many thought it was a provocative speech that would threaten efforts at Glasnost and Perestroika. It proved to be a turning point in the cold war. A year and a half later the “wall” was torn down. I did not agree with Reagan’s economic policies, but applauded his grit in facing down the Russians. I believe his stance on pursuing the “star wars” weapons initiative was what finally bankrupted the Soviets as they could not afford to compete with the United States anymore. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. I remember this speech well. President John F. Kennedy inspired the youth of America to come and serve our country. Carl Sandburg was our poet laureate. We were all very idealistic. After the prosperity of the 1950’s and the cold war, we were ready for a new, young and vibrant president. Eisenhower had been grandfatherly and kept us safe, but President Kennedy told us the torch was passed to a new generation of Americans – that was us. We had no idea of the terrible things to come. The assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the tragedy of Viet Nam, and our cities burning with racial strife.

The Progressives Woodrow Wilson and FDR

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-- anywhere in the world. I have chosen a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s third term State of the Union Address to Congress in 1941. We had not yet entered the war or been bombed by Japan at Pearl Harbor. There were many who wanted to remain isolationists even though Europe was being devastated and Great Britain was putting up a brave front. In this speech known as the Four Freedoms speech, he outlines our purpose for supporting the allies in WWII. This is the basis for the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was also espoused by President Wilson in his Four Points speech.

December 3, 2013

"Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." This is Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and in it he takes the south to task for slavery. He says that he hopes that the war ends before every drop blood drawn from the lash shall be paid by the sword. He feels the Civil War is a scourge on both the North and the South for allowing slavery.

November 26,2013

"I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity. They defined with tolarable distinctness, in what respects they did consider all men created equal - equal in "certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I chose this quote of Lincoln's from his speech on the Dred Scott Decision. I agree with Lincoln that our forefathers meant that all men were created equal. Lincoln in one of his most famous speeches is quoted as saying "A house divided against itself cannot stand...this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free." Thomas Jefferson even though a slave owner knew it to be wrong and believed that slavery would eventually end. The Dred Scott decision would be a catalyst to the beginning of the Civil War. "Lincoln first sought to prevent secession and then to end slavery with compronise and compensation." Julia Ward Howe, a white abolitionist, felt that there should be more positive lyrics to the tune of "John Brown's Body Lies A Moldering in the Grave," so she wrote the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," to be used with the same tune. Howe's hus band had entertained John Brown in their home. The Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments published this broadside with the lyrics. Julia Ward Howe. "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Published by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments. Broadside. Rare Book and Special Collections. (4-20) I chose this article because I used to play John Brown's Body on the piano and never realized it was the same tune as the Battle Hymn of the Republic' It is indeed fitting that John Brown's heroism is commemorated in a song with better lyrics than John Brown's body lies a moldering int he grave to Glory glory halleluah his truth goes marching on. An African American Medal of Honor Winner Christian A. Fleetwood. Diary, September 24, 1864. Holograph manuscript. Christian A. Fleetwood Papers, Manuscript Division. (4-14) These pages of Christian Fleetwood's diary detail his actions during a battle at Chaffin's farm near Richmond, Virginia, on September 29, 1864, which led to his receipt of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Fleetwood was one of fourteen African American men who received the medal for meritorious service during the war. Christian A. Fleetwood in uniform. Albumen print, carte de visite, 1884. Manuscript Division. (4-15) Fleetwood's regiment, the 4th U. S. Colored Infantry, saw action in Virginia. His diary also documents North Carolina campaigns and President Lincoln's visit to the front lines in June 1864.