Our Nation's History

We have a rich history from the beginning of our country to the present day and our country has been a beacon of hope for individuals across the globe. This does not come without enemies who want to destroy our way of life but we have never backed down from a fight. The fight today is nothing like we have experienced in the past. Our enemies are using different tactics than in the past and we must use different tactics to fight them. The earlier settlers were not afraid of going into battle when it was something that was worth fighting for and our freedoms and security are worth fighting for. We need to have the resolve to do what it takes to protect and defend our country like the early settlers did.

Our way of government when our country first began was unlike any in existence at the time and today the same is true. Through the years we have had many issues some of which required amendments to the Constitution to address. Our Constitution is a living document as many have stated and can be modified or amended through a process involving Congress and state governments. The rich history of our country should never be forgotten or changed to reflect something other than what really took place. Today our education system and those who generate textbooks for our educational institutions have taken the approach to be politically correct in a way that distorts the events in which our country has been involved.

As individuals and families began settling on our land we were under the control of England and in time the control became too much and we declared our independence. Several issues were involved with this decision the most important of which was tax without representation. As a new country under the control of England we had little if any say in the rules and taxes that were levied. The Revolutionary War was a hard fought one which took resolve and persistence from those who came to settle the new land. This was not the only battle we had to maintain our independence a second war titled the War of 1812 again required our persistence to maintain the freedoms that were put in place. In later years we experienced what has been called the War Between the States or Civil War and this battle which went on for years is still impacting the actions of individuals today. These events impacted our country and what it has become today but other events mentioned later impacted not only our country but the world as it is today.

The Constitution we have today was not the first action to establish some rules associated self-government activity. It was the mayflower Compact which was signed on November 11, 1620 before we fought for our independence. Another document was the Articles of Confederation ratified on November 15, 1777 and our Constitution was ratified on September 17, 1787. This last document has been changed over the years to reflect needed changes or additions that were not originally addressed. One of these was the women’s right to vote for which the amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920.

The impact of our country can be seen on the rest of the world if our history is examined as it truly happened. The wars or conflicts in which we became involved greatly impacted our country and the rest of the world. Examples include World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Our involvement had an impact on the world at the time and that impact still exists today. The single event which forced our involvement in World War II was the attack which took place at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. One impact which is still remembered today is the day when we dropped the Atomic Bomb on cities in Japan on August 9, 1945.

Wars were not the only events which impacted the rest of the world. How could be forget the Industrial Revolution of the 1790’s for the first flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903. These events if they had never happened we would see a different world than what we have today. Events such as changed the course of our history and was not always about wars or conflicts. We had two major purchases that to this day are the Louisiana Purchase on April 30, 1803 and the purchase of Alaska from Russia on March 30, 1867 for $7.2 million dollars which was a large amount of money for a country not even a 100 years old.
We also can never forget our involvement with the space exploration and flight as our President made a commitment to put a man on the moon within 10 years. This was accomplished but it took a committed country to develop the technology with the resolve necessary to make it happen. It was one of our greatest achievements and no history book should change the impact our space program had not only on our reputation but the products that were developed out of necessity. Flying in space involves compact spaces and innovation had to be created to provide the necessary life sustaining technology including the ability to provide food and water to keep our astronauts alive.

One last point to make is that we are in a battle for our survival with the type of enemies we have who want to cause our way life and freedoms harm. The attack we experienced on September 11, 2001 should never be forgotten and we as individuals and our government need to take the necessary precautions to keep all Americans safe both at home and abroad. We have become or at least some of us have become so consumed on our personal agendas to change the ways things have been for years such as the display of the Ten Commandments on public land or names of teams which have been in place for over 50 years in some cases. These are actions which is affecting the history of our country for the future. Granted there are always going to be individuals who object to these types of activities and I agree they have a right to their opinion but in these instances and others their opinion should not impact our rights under the Constitution. In the case of team names requiring teams to change their names based on some individual or group’s objection is wrong.

We are a country built on respecting individual opinions. We have the right to free speech and freedom of the press among others. We can exercise these rights as granted by the Constitution. We are not always going to agree with the opinions of others and as such we should respect those opinions. Our country stood firm in the early days and stood together resist oppression from those who wanted to impact the decisions we make. We have a Congress that we have given the responsibility and authority to make decisions in our best interest and the best interest of the country. Our future history will depend on the actions of individuals in Congress today and into the future.

The future of our county is at stake today and the right decisions need to be made by all elected officials and when bad decisions are made Congress needs to step up to the plate and say enough is enough. This involves decisions made by the President. Our type of government was created with the philosophy of separation of powers. Each branch of government is equal to the other and if bad decisions are made the other two needs to take the action to nullify the decisions made. This can be accomplished through the power of the purse but this Congress and others seem to lack the will to impact the execution of decisions especially when they either violate current law or the principles on which this country was found. If this type of action is not taken the type of government we may have in our future history may be far different than we have today. Let us hope this Congress or the next one along with the newly elected President will change the path our country is on today so we have a brighter future and history which will return the prestige and respect we so richly deserve as a country.