On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee‘s last attempt at breaking the Union line ends in disastrous failure, bringing the most decisive battle of the American Civil War to an end.
Read it all and read about Pickett’s charge, the battle that effectively ended the Gettysburg campaign.
On this day in 1863, during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia attacks General George G. Meade‘s Army of the Potomac at both Culp’s Hill and Little Round Top, but fails to move the Yankees from their positions.
From the History Channel online.
The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee‘s Army of Northern Virginia.
A good piece that reminds us of the quality of President Washington’s character along with a sample of the vision for our nation by our Founding Fathers. Would those leaders today who have embraced lawlessness embrace that vision. For those with ears to hear, listen and understand.
Catholics were barred from holding office in many places, prevented from voting, required to swear oaths rejecting papal authority and, in some colonies, prohibited from openly practicing their faith.
Carroll experienced that discrimination firsthand. As a child, he was sent to Europe for a Catholic education because such schooling was unavailable to him in Maryland. He later joined the Jesuits, a Catholic religious order known for education, missionary work and scholarship. While Jesuits later became deeply rooted in American Catholic life, Carroll’s formation had to take place overseas because Catholic institutions in the colonies were still sharply limited.
Yet rather than seeking a return to an established Catholic state, Carroll believed the new American republic offered something better.
“He thought the separation of church and state was a good thing,” O’Donnell said.
The letter to Washington was sincere, she said, but also carefully calculated.
“Carroll admired Washington throughout Washington’s life,” O’Donnell said. “This letter was sincere and also in a way strategic: Carroll wanted Washington to publicly affirm Catholics’ welcome place in the new nation.”
If the letter was a test, she added, it was one Carroll expected Washington to pass.
Carroll was joined by several of the young nation’s most prominent Catholic leaders. The address was signed by his cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton — the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence — as well as his relative Daniel Carroll, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and Congressman Thomas FitzSimons of Pennsylvania. Together, they argued that American Catholics had earned the same rights of citizenship through their contributions to the Revolutionary War and the nation’s founding.
“American Catholics’ remarkable transformation — from being suspected subjects of a king to being trusted citizens of a new republic — is wonderfully illustrated in Bishop John Carroll’s 1790 letter to George Washington,” said Breidenbach, who is also the author of the book “Our Dear-Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America”.
Washington’s reply left little doubt where he stood.
He thanked Catholics for the “patriotic part” they had played during the Revolution and wrote that they were already “realizing, instead of anticipating, the benefits of the general Government.”
Butterfield said the response reflected Washington’s broader vision for the country.
“As long as you demean yourself as a good citizen and follow the laws, it doesn’t matter what your religious beliefs are,” Butterfield said, summarizing Washington’s message. “You’re fully a part of the nation.”
Washington, Butterfield said, recognized that every public word he spoke helped define the new republic.
“He is fully aware that he is a symbol of the nation, that the words that he speaks have consequences, that every word that he says matters.”
Washington expressed the same principle in his correspondence with other minority religious communities, including the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island.
“Washington makes clear that he’s not asserting ‘toleration,’ which would imply that a group of people are being given some kind of special permission to exist and worship,” she said. “Rather, all good citizens have the same rights regardless of religion.”
Although several states continued to maintain religious restrictions for decades, the new federal government charted a different course.
Yes indeed, Justice Thomas. Yes indeed. For those with ears to hear, listen and understand.
As the Fourth of July approaches in this semiquincentennial year of the Declaration of Independence, the best commemorations will contain some element of civic education—a reflection on the words and deeds of the American Founding. In advance of celebrating what Frederick Douglass called “the first great fact” in our nation’s history, Justice Clarence Thomas delivered a civic cri de coeur at the University of Texas at Austin on the principles of the Declaration and the character necessary for maintaining the American way of life.
Exhibit A was the black American community in which he was raised. Identifying himself as “American by birth and Georgian by the grace of God,” Thomas showed his affection for a country where the black residents of Pin Point, Georgia, affirmed the nation’s “promised ideals” even as they experienced “the indelible mark of segregation and its companion evils.” Their moral fiber in the face of Georgia’s segregation laws and customs taught him his worth as a human being and his rights as an American. As Thomas put it, “At home, at school, and at Church, we were taught that we were inherently equal…. [T]hat you did not get your rights or your dignity from those governments, but from God.” That moral self-understanding, shaped by the ideals of the American Founding and a culture shaped by Christianity, was central to Thomas’s message about the Declaration of Independence.
The venue for Thomas’s civics lesson was UT’s new School of Civic Leadership (SCL), established, as he noted, to teach students about “Western civilization and the American constitutional tradition.” While applauding their efforts to “rejuvenate our fellow citizens’ commitment to the principles of the Declaration of Independence,” he pointed out that SCL’s mission was to offer civic education “as part of a larger quest for wisdom about how to live and how to lead.”
Where critics of these new civic centers view them as ideological silos, Thomas sees SCL as reclaiming the university’s mission as a truth-seeking institution. That means not just presenting answers—like the self-evident truths of the Declaration—but also having debates and arguments about them. “Indeed,” Thomas observed, “your School of Civic Leadership was created to host such arguments.” Foremost among the arguments against America’s Founding principles are those associated with the progressivism championed by Woodrow Wilson, which Thomas identified as bad for both America and the world.
On the domestic front, Thomas contrasted the principles of equality, individual rights, and government by consent of the governed with progressivism’s rejection of the founders’ natural rights philosophy and elevation of rule by experts. Faith in historical progress to determine the proper relationship between the citizen and the state replaced God and nature as the ground of human equality, civil liberties, and legitimate government. The result was a federal government that racially segregated its workforce and eugenics policies that supported the sterilization of persons deemed unfit to reproduce. Thomas demonstrated how a rejection of “the transcendent origin of our rights” led the government to violate equality under the law and basic human dignity.
As bad as these policies were in America, their effects internationally were far worse. Thomas identified Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao as the political monsters of the 20th century who claimed to rule in the interest of the masses but served the interests of the few. As Thomas soberly recounted, “Fascism—which, after all, was a national socialism—triggered wars in Europe and Asia that killed tens of millions.” He added, “The socialism of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China proceeded to kill more tens of millions of their own people.” Thomas didn’t spend much time proving his case; he simply stated his conclusions, inviting any doubters to prove him wrong by considering the available evidence.
With so few college courses required in American history, let alone world history, it’s no surprise that students lack even a passing awareness of the human devastation resulting from the real-world application of theories claiming to supplant the self-evident truths of the Declaration.
A popular belief is that Elizabeth Griscom, a Philadelphia flag maker who was also known as Betsy Ross, sewed the first “official” flag in June 1776. The legend goes that George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross came to Betsy Ross’s house to discuss the design of a national flag. The original design had six-sided stars representing the thirteen colonies on a field of blue with red and white stripes. She suggested a five-pointed star. The three men, amazed at how quickly she could cut the five-pointed stars, assigned her with the task of sewing the flag.
This belief originated with William J. Canby, Ross’ grandson. He presented this idea to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1870 and stated that his aunt Clarissa Sydney Wilson, one of Ross’s daughters, told him the story in 1857. Ross had died twenty years prior. Today, there is no conclusive evidence supporting or denying this claim.
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the first Flag Resolution. This resolution officially adopted the “Stars and Stripes” as the national flag and states:
Resolved That the Flag of the united states be 13 stripes alternate red and white, that the Union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation.
June 14th is celebrated as Flag Day because of this resolution. Since the resolution did not specify the arrangements of the stars, flags exist with a variety of “constellations.” The “Betsy Ross” flag arranges the stars in a circular pattern.
Francis Hopkinson, signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey, claims that he designed the “Stars and Stripes” that was designated as the national flag. The above resolution was adopted from the Marine Committee, who had been using these guidelines for flags since July 4, 1776. Francis Hopkinson was chairman of the Navy Board’s Middle Department which was under the Marine Committee at the time that these guidelines were established in 1776. On May 25, 1780, he requested a quarter cask of wine in payment for his help in designing the national flag and aiding in designing the Great Seal for the United States. After his letter went unanswered, he asked for £2,700. The Auditor General, James Milligan, and the Chamber of Accounts, investigated his claim and noted that Hopkinson was not the only person on the Navy Committee or the three Great Seal committees, so he should not singularly be called out and compensated for his work. There are no surviving illustrations of his design, but the flag most likely has 13 red and white stripes, and 13 six-pointed stars in a field of blue.
Also get yourself educated on how to properly fly the flag if you don’t know already. Happy Flag Day!
From here:
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag.
Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes in many ways–displaying the flag in the front of their homes, parades, and other patriotic observances. Prior to 1916, many localities and a few states had been celebrating the day for years. Congressional legislation designating that date as the national Flag Day was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1949; the legislation also called upon the president to issue a flag day proclamation every year.
Read it all from the Library of Congress.
And check out this interesting webpage from History.com for all kinds of info about Flag Day, including tips on how to properly display a flag. Happy Flag Day!
God bless ’em. Truly a remarkable generation. For those with ears to hear, listen and understand.
As America marks the 82nd anniversary of D-Day on Saturday, a group of women whose wartime labor helped sustain the Allied war effort gathered in New Orleans to remember a generation that is rapidly disappearing.
More than 30 surviving “Rosie the Riveters” gathered at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, where they were honored for helping power the wartime industrial effort that supported Allied forces during World War II.
“Every day, memories of World War II — its sights and sounds, its terrors and triumphs — disappear,” according to The National WWII Museum’s site.
The women were recognized during the Museum’s annual Dr. Hal Baumgarten D-Day Commemoration and as recipients of the institution’s 2026 American Spirit Award, the Museum’s highest honor.
According to the museum, the award recognizes individuals and organizations who “exemplify the outstanding qualities of the American spirit and inspire these values in others.”
This year’s recipients included more than 30 women wartime workers popularly known as “Rosie the Riveters,” acclaimed composer John Williams and former New Orleans Saints player and ALS advocate Steve Gleason.
The gathering came as Americans marked the anniversary of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944.
According to the Museum, more than 150,000 troops participated in the invasion, one of the largest amphibious military operations in history and a pivotal step toward the liberation of Western Europe.
While the men who landed on the beaches of Normandy are remembered each year, Museum officials said the women on the home front played an essential role in making Allied victory possible.
During World War II, millions of women entered the workforce as labor shortages transformed factories, shipyards and defense industries across the U.S.
On this date in 2010 at First United Methodist Church in Van Wert, OH we debuted the anthem commissioned in my mother’s memory, Longing to Draw Near by Craig Courtney. My grandparents Maney were married 109 years ago on this date in 1917 (109 years!! How can that be??), my dad participated in D-Day on this date in 1944, I graduated from high school 55 years ago on this date in 1971, and my daughter Bridget graduated from high school on this date in 2008. June 6 has been a big day for the Maney family!
Today marks the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the greatest amphibious assault the world has ever known (and hopefully will ever know). Sadly, most of those valiant soldiers are now dead, and our country is the poorer because of it.
The Normandy invasion was a terrible and costly effort on the part of the Allies and must have been horrendous to those who had to face the deadly onslaught of the Nazi defenders. I would commend Stephen Ambrose’s book, D-Day, to anyone who is interested in this monumental battle. Ambrose was a wonderful storyteller, which all good historians are, and meticulous in his research. He weaves an absolutely riveting and terrifying tale of what the first troops landing in Normandy that day faced, and anyone with a semblance of imagination who can put himself in those soldiers’ shoes is sure to wonder if he could have faced that deadly fire with the courage and resoluteness that those soldiers did. I am simply awe-struck by it all.
I am also proud that my own father, John F. Maney, was part of that great and historic event. Fortunately, he did not have to hit the beaches until D+2 because it wasn’t until June 8th that our forces were able to establish a beachhead substantial enough to land a significant artillery presence, of which he was part. Like almost all of his generation, my dad is now dead, but one of my fondest memories is when we went back to Uffculme, England in 1984 to visit where he was stationed. We went into a pub to get some supper and find a place to sleep that night, and ultimately were led to a man who had been a “honey-dipper” while dad was stationed there, prior to D-Day. When Roy entered the pub that evening, he shook my dad’s hand and said to him, “Hello, young soldier.” He then welcomed dad back and thanked him for his service. It was as poignant a moment as I have ever experienced because my dad was no longer young and was no longer a soldier; but he had been there, and he had been part of that monumental effort. I will always treasure it.
Thank you, young soldiers, for your bravery and determination in defeating an unspeakable evil that was Nazism. You paid a terrible price so that the rest of us can enjoy our freedom. I hope and pray we do not forget you or your generation, or the price freedom sometimes requires to persevere. Likewise, I pray we will not forget what it means to live responsibly in this democracy of ours so that we will not abuse the freedoms for which so many of you fought and died.
Who are your heroes from that generation? If they are still alive, take a moment today and thank them for being who they are.
Amen.
In the United States, June 6, 1944 will receive passing mention on news programs and social channels. There are few, if any, parades or official remembrances. Even those veterans who fought across the beaches and on to Berlin will receive scant recognition for what they did to liberate a continent and preserve the blessings of freedom for those who would follow.
In Normandy, they have not forgotten. They have not forgotten the Nazi occupation nor those who came ashore and dropped from the heavens [79] years ago. There are parades, remembrances, reenactments, parachute drops, and fireworks. The entire region, thousands of people, come out to welcome these heroes of the WW II generation, hug them, kiss them, ask them for photographs and autographs, and listen to their stories, stories they remember as if D-Day were yesterday.
But D-Day was not yesterday. It was [82] years ago. Those who fought there are creeping up on a century of life; some have passed that milestone. Soon they will walk among us no longer, their legacy honored by some, unappreciated by others, forgotten by too many.
The people of Normandy remember what it was like to be invaded and oppressed. And they remember what it was like to be liberated. They pass along the stories and the appreciation. What these men did on June 6, 1944, and in the months that followed will not be forgotten here. It is a privilege to spend time with them on the beaches, fields, and towns in which they fought.
As I push Walter Stowe through the Brittany American Cemetery in his wheelchair, he reminds me that in life we will touch a great many people. The question, he says, is will the people whose lives we touch be the better for it? Wise words.
Remember these citizen soldiers today and every day. Spend time with them at every opportunity. Listen to their stories. Embrace their wisdom. And when the last of them walks among us no longer, honor their sacrifice by standing strong for the freedoms for which they fought.
Remember them.
Read it all and watch President Reagan’s speech from 1984.
“My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum
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