Monday, February 20, 2017

Presidents' Day Trivia and Thoughts


Today is Presidents' Day. When I was younger, we celebrated Lincoln's birthday on February 12 and Washington's birthday on February 22.

In the 1960's, an effort was made to combine the two holidays through the Uniform Holiday Act. The effort failed, but a piece of the legislation was passed in 1971. Presidents' Day was moved to the third Monday in February. Many patriotic groups use this date for reenactments and events honoring various presidents.*

I found a couple of quotes by George Washington which illustrate his beliefs:

"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."

The study of American History is critical to the future of our country. Our freedoms depend on each generation understanding what it took to secure them and how our government was designed to work.

While researching for a project, I was distressed to see government sites wiped clean of references to Christianity. Many of the history books and internet websites put forth a revised history that bears little or no resemblance to the truth. They don't back up their claims with original documents or simply omit whole chunks of information.

I'm thankful for David Barton, at Wallbuilders, and others who have original documents from the Founding Fathers and raise awareness of our true history. If we forget our roots as a country, we're in serious danger of seeing the type of scenario found in my novels (The Moses Trilogy and The Christmas Wish).

We remember George Washington (the Father of our Country) and Abraham Lincoln on this day. If not for these great men and so many others, America would not exist.

*Thanks to History.com for the information on Presidents' Day.

Writers:  Does history provide inspiration for your writing? Please share.

Readers:  What is your favorite time period in American History? Do you look for books that are based on those eras? Please share.

Photo Credit:  Mana Media


1 comment:

Karen Lange said...

You know I love reading historical fiction, and I suppose I am partial to anything before 1900 mostly. Although I do enjoy those from the early 1900's as well. Thanks for the info and links! ;)