Month: July 2026

America – the Birth of a Great Nation (In Honor of our 250th Birthday)

By Edith Hathaway © 2026

“The cause of America is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal; and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of which, their affections are interested.”

      Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Philadelphia, Jan. 10, 1776

The American Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) contains a long list of grievances against the British Crown. Tensions had been escalating since the early 1760s, especially with British seizures of American colonists’ ships and sloops.  It all began soon after the French and Indian Wars (May 1754 to Oct. 1763), which the British won.  But the wars had so drained the British treasury that there was now an urgent need to raise funds. So they decided to tax the American colonists.  Continue reading →

George Washington – America’s First Commander-in-Chief, First President & Founding Father

By Edith Hathaway © 2026

“He [Washington] was the highly favored instrument whose patriotism and name contributed greatly to the establishment of the independence of the United States.”           Benjamin Rush

“He has so much martial dignity in his deportment that you [would] distinguish him to be a gentleman and a soldier among ten thousand people. There is not a king in Europe that would not look like a valet de chambre by his side.”                                Benjamin Rush

George Washington was a man of exceptional physical strength and fortitude.  He was also mentally tough and courageous. Even his stature at 6’3” tall made him stand out among the men of his era.  But he was also a very principled man gifted not only as an innovator in agriculture (a lesser known fact) but as a political and military leader. Most importantly, he understood that liberty was a gift from God and that he was fighting for a sacred cause, not for personal glory. Continue reading →