American Heritage Enrichment Ideas
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Carol Inman
Subject: American Heritage
The American Heritage idea came from someone on a RS list and we thought
it was great for literacy topic. We are planning to show the
movie "A More Perfect Union", order through Deseret Book for
$19.95, (http://deseretbook.com/products/2691116/index.html
We would then tell about the $1 bill (we'd have a $1 bill on an overhead
so everyone can see it as we talk...unless they have one in their purse)
THE DOLLAR BILL
Take out a one dollar bill and look at it. The one dollar bill you're
looking at first came off the presses in 1957 in its present design. This
so-called paper money is in fact a cotton and linen blend, with red and blue
minute silk fibers running through it. It's not paper money at all...its
fabric money. We've all washed it without it falling apart. A special
blend of ink is used, the contents we will never know. It is overprinted
with symbols and then it is starched to make it water resistant and pressed
to give it that nice crisp look. If you look on the front of
the bill, you will see the United States Treasury Seal. On the
top you will see the scales for the balance - a balanced budget. In
the center you have a carpenter's T-square, a tool used for an even
cut. Underneath is the Key to the United States Treasury.
That's all pretty easy to figure out, but what is
on the back of that dollar bill is something we should all know. If
you turn the bill over, you will see two circles. Both circles,
together, comprise the Great Seal of the United States. The First
Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of
men come up with a Seal. It took them four years to accomplish this
task and another two years to get it approved.
If you look at the left hand circle, you will see a Pyramid. Notice
the face is lighted and the western side is dark. This country
was just beginning. We had not begun to explore the West or decided
what we could do for Western Civilization. The Pyramid is un-capped,
again signifying that we were not even close to being finished. Inside
the capstone you have the all-seeing eye, and ancient symbol for divinity.
It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but
a group of men, with the help of God could do anything. "IN GOD WE
TRUST" is on this currency. The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS,
means "God has favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid,
NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means "a new order has begun." At the base of
the pyramid is the Roman Numeral for 1776.
If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it carefully,
you will learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United
States. It is also on the Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell,
Florida National Cemetery and is the centerpiece of most hero's
monuments. Slightly modified, it is the seal of the President of the
United States and it is always visible whenever he speaks, yet no one
knows what the symbols mean.
The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory for two reasons
first, he is not afraid of a storm; he is strong and he is smart
enough to soar above it. Secondly, he wears no material crown. We had just
broken from the King of England. Also, notice the shield is unsupported.
This country can now stand on its own. At the top of that shield you
have a white bar signifying congress, a unifying factor. We were
coming together as one nation. In the Eagle's beak you will read, "E
PLURIBUS UNUM", meaning "from many (people) one (nation)."
Above the Eagle you have thirteen stars representing the thirteen
original colonies, "exploding" to roll away any clouds of misunderstanding
and doubt. Again, we were coming together as one. Notice what
the Eagle holds in his talons. He holds an olive branch and arrows.
This country wants peace, but we will never be afraid to fight
to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants
to face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns toward the
arrows. They say that the number 13 is an unlucky number. This is almost
a worldwide belief. You will usually never see a room numbered 13,
or any hotels or motels with a 13th floor. But think about this: 13
original colonies,13 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 13
stripes on our flag, 13 steps on the Pyramid, 13 letters in the Latin
phrases "Annuit Coeptis" and "E Pluribus Unum", 13 stars above the
Eagle, 13 bars on that shield, 13 leaves on the olive branch, 13 fruits,
and if you look closely, 13 arrows (and later, for minorities:
the 13th Amendment). Why didn't we know this?
You probably don't know it and your children don't know it because
no one ever felt it important enough to tell us about it. The schools no
longer teach American History with an emphasis on what it took to found
this country and gain our freedom from the English crown; on the moral
underpinnings, courage, and conviction of our Founding fathers. It used to
be "United we stand, divided we fall." N
Now, everything now is about "celebrating our differences", "moral
relativism" and moral equivalency", that no one set of beliefs
are better than another. Group rights divide and "Balkanize" people
against one another to give one group "an advantage" over the other.
They teach that our country is no longer a "melting pot" where people
should assimilate into one (E Pluribus Unum), rather it is a "salad
bowl" where all the pieces are separate and distinct (but if you don't
like cucumbers, tomatoes, or Romaine lettuce you can easily pick them
off your plate). The real story of the strong religious convictions
and values of our founders, and what it meant to them to risk
their lives and property to follow those beliefs, has been diminished,
distorted, covered over, and regrettably, dismissed as "non-inclusive".
Too many veterans have given up too much to ever let that meaning fade.
Many veterans remember coming home to an
America that doesn't care. Too many veterans never came home
at all. Tell your kids and grand-kids
what a dollar bill really stands for. Because if you don't, nobody
else will.
-Anonymous
We would tell about the signers of the Declaration of Independence and what
they sacrificed for us to enjoy freedom.
FIFTY-SIX MEN WHO SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before
they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons
captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary
War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honor.
WHAT KIND OF MEN WERE THEY?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers
and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed
the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would
be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept
from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay
his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his
family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his
family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty
was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton,
Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General
Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly
urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and
Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his
wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children
fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For
more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his
wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion
and a broken heart.
Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were
not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means
and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing
tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration,
with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually
pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never
told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War.
We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and
we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much
for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your
4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask
for the price they paid.
REMEMBER: FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!
The other thing is a book review of "Other Eminent Men of Wilford Woodruff"
by Vicki Jo Anderson. It is the biographies of the other eminent
men (and a list of the women) who were baptized by Wilford Woodruff after
they visited him in the St. George temple. There were "50 other eminent
men" along with the Declaration of Independence signers. This is a great
book about the things in their lives that made them the type of men
that would be granted the privilege of going to the prophet and requesting
baptism. She got her list of their names from WW's journals and then
did research on each name. They were people like William Thackery, Amerigo
Vespucci, Daniel Webster, Wordsworth, David Livingstone, Sir Walter Scott,
Goethe, Stonewall Jackson,Lord Byron, Christopher Columbus, Charles Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte, Admiral Farragut, Henry Clay, Robert Burns to name a
few. Some of the women were Marie Antoinette, Jane Austen, Charlotte
Bronte, Sarah Barnard, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sarah Kemble Siddons,
Dorothy Payne (Dolley Madison), Abigail Smith Adams (wife of John),
Martha Wayles Jefferson (wife of Thomas), 10 of the eminent women were relatives
of George Washington. There were 68 women (20 were not listed by name).
We are also going to have a tea dying demonstration (and possibly cross stitch)
and then serve pie and ice-cream.
Our HFPE meeting will be the first Tuesday of the month so we'll be able
to get this done before flag day (June 13?) and the 4th of July.
We'll give out copies of the information so that women can go home and teach
their families also.