By David Harmer On this day in 1775, colonial militiamen from the Massachusetts countryside, defending their homes, their freedoms, and their own elected government, routed 1,700 British regulars, sending them from Concord to Charlestown in ignominious retreat. Loosely organized farmers and tradesmen, who supplied their own weapons and elected their own officers, defeated the professional […]

By David Harmer Lots of people demand their rights as citizens. But how many accept the corresponding responsibilities? Not nearly enough! That’s why this week (March 6-10), as we join in celebrating Civic Learning Week, Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge is highlighting one of our unique contributions to civic education: the Bill of Responsibilities. I’d […]

By David Harmer Today is the birthday of General George Washington, who, through sheer strength of character, held the underfunded, undersupplied, underequipped, ragtag Continental Army together through six and a half long, lonely, perilous years of fighting, until, against all odds, the Revolutionary War was won and America’s independence achieved. Among our nation’s founders—a constellation […]

By David Harmer Encompassing the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, the first Negro History Week was observed in 1926. Fifty years later, in connection with the nation’s bicentennial, the annual observance was expanded to a month. In his message marking the occasion, President Gerald Ford declared: Freedom and the recognition of individual rights […]

By David Harmer Q: If pro is the opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress? A: Congress! Attributed variously to Paul Harvey, Will Rogers, and other wags, that old joke gained new currency earlier this month when members of the newly elected House of Representatives met on January 3, as required by […]

By David Harmer On this day in 1777, General Washington led the soldiers of the Continental Army into Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Here, 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia, they established the winter encampment that became the crucible of the American Revolution. Some idea of their suffering can be gleaned from Washington’s words, written less than two […]

By David Harmer On this day in 1791, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. How well do you know the story? Take this quiz to find out! ANSWERS 1. Why did the Constitution originally not include a bill of rights? When Virginia delegate George Mason proposed one, the Constitutional Convention rejected it. […]

By David Harmer On this day in 1863, dedicating the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Abraham Lincoln says: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in […]

By David Harmer Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. […]

By David Harmer I have often been awakened . . . by the most heartrending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed […]