Entries by Our Lost Founding

U.S. Constitution: No debating “God governs…”

On this day in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia begin debating the first draft of the Constitution. Our post from June 21st, (edited slightly) the day in 1788 that the Assembly ratified the Constitution, bears repeating: “God Governs In the Affairs of Men” The Constitution is the second of two of Our essential founding documents. The first, the Declaration of Independence, explains the basis of Our nation, and contains several direct references […]

August 6, 2016 /2 Comments/by

Star-Spangled Motto: Pre-orders and Prizes!

July 30th is the 60th anniversary of “In God We Trust” as the Official Motto of the United States of America, despite the assertion of some that it is “E Pluribus Unum.”  In fact, a similar phrase appears in the fourth and final stanza of a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14th, 1814: Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto – “In God […]

July 29, 2016 /2 Comments/by

Laus Deo

On this day in 1775, by riding out in front of the American troops and drawing his sword, George Washington formally takes command of the Continental Army after having been appointed commander in chief by the Continental Congress on June 14th. After the American Revolution, General Washington temporarily retired to his estate at Mount Vernon. In 1787, he presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Then, in February 1789, he was unanimously elected as the […]

July 3, 2016 /0 Comments/by

The Last Monday in May

On this day in 1783, “A Great Jubilee Day” was held on the last Monday in May at North Stratford (now Trumbull), Connecticut to celebrate the end of fighting in the American Revolution. The celebration included feasting, prayer, speeches, toasts, militia maneuvers with cannon discharges, and is one of the earliest documented celebrations of its kind. Read the following excerpt from Reverend Samuel Orcutt’s A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City […]

May 26, 2016 /0 Comments/by

What Peter Heck and Our Lost Founding have in “Common”

Four years ago, a family man named Peter Heck from Kokomo, Indiana, came to Glad Tidings Church in Muncie, Indiana, where my wife and I were members at the time, and over the course of four days, he made a powerful presentation entitled “78: How Christians Can Save America.” I was enthralled. Here was this public high school history teacher from small-town, middle America traveling and delivering, in entertaining fashion, compelling truths about our nation’s […]

April 25, 2016 /0 Comments/by

Harriet Tubman on the Twenty : ” ‘Twant me, ’twas the Lord.”

Lately, it has been in the news that the U.S. Treasury will put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 bill design, to be unveiled in 2020. ” ‘Twas the Lord” When asked how she was able to lead people to freedom on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman would respond: ” ‘Twant me, ’twas the Lord. I always told Him, “I trust you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect […]

April 21, 2016 /0 Comments/by
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“I bade adieu”

On this day, April 16, 1789, newly elected President George Washington leaves Mount Vernon for New York to be sworn in as the first American president on April 30. He wrote in his diary: “I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express.” So, when I have a setback, like I did today, which […]

April 17, 2016 /0 Comments/by

John Barry and National Champions

On this day in 1776, Navy Captain John Barry makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward. The capture elevated Captain Barry into a national hero. Barry received his first captain’s commission in the Continental Navy on March 14, 1776. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, signed it. After the war, he became America’s first commissioned naval officer, at the rank of commodore, receiving […]

April 7, 2016 /0 Comments/by

Resolved

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress takes the first step toward American independence by opening American ports to international trade with any part of the world that is not under British rule, in response to the punishing American Prohibitory Act passed by British parliament in December 1775. Resolved, That all goods, wares, and merchandise, except such as are made prize of, which shall be imported directly or indirectly from Great Britain or Ireland, into […]

April 6, 2016 /0 Comments/by
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Veto; Power

On this day in 1792, President George Washington exercised the first presidential veto of a Congressional bill, the Apportionment Act of 1792. Washington sought opinions from his closest advisors: Edmund Randolph, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Henry Knox. Though the opinions of the four men were split, the President ultimately deemed the Act unconstitutional, despite his concerns that his veto may make it appear that he was “taking side with a Southern party.” In another […]

April 5, 2016 /0 Comments/by

Happy… Evacuation Day?!

On this day in 1776, British forces evacuate Boston following an 8-year occupation and 11-month siege when General George Washington’s Continental Army fortified Dorchester Heights with cannons captured at Ticonderoga. The “Evacuation” was General Washington’s first victory of the war, and significant psychologically as the first city to be liberated is where the rebellion began. Saint Patrick’s Day parades have been held in Boston since 1876, though Evacuation Day was not declared a state holiday until 1901. […]

March 17, 2016 /0 Comments/by