Christian Heritage

By Bob Ellis • January 2nd, 2009

American Minute from William J. Federer
JANUARY 2nd is Betsy Ross Day.
Born a day earlier, January 1, 1752, to a Quaker family in Philadelphia, she was 8th of 17 children.
Apprenticed as a seamstress, she fell in love with upholsterer John Ross, son of an Episcopal rector at Christ Church and nephew of George Ross, signer of [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Portland Chase, reported that September 1862, President Lincoln commented to his Cabinet after the Confederate Army lost the Battle of Antietam: “The time for the annunciation of the emancipation policy can no longer be delayed. Public sentiment will sustain it, many of my warmest friends [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
On DECEMBER 31, 1955, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led a nonviolent protest by boycotting the city buses of Montgomery, Alabama.
Rev. King stated: “If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, And never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently, At God’s great judgment seat” wrote Rudyard Kipling in Ballad of East and West.
Born DECEMBER 30, 1865, in Bombay, India, he was sent back to England at age 5 [...] Read more »

This is a great Fox News Special on Religion and History in Washington, D.C. Newt Gingrich touched on some of this material when he spoke at the FRC Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C. a few months ago.
Every year the fight continues over where nativity scenes and menorahs can be displayed. Join host Newt Gingrich [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Armenia was the first nation to become Christian, with its capitol of Ani called the “city of a 1,001 churches.”
Muslim Turks began invading in the 11th century, making Christian second-class citizens called “dhimmi” and forcing boys to convert and serve the Muslim army as “Janissaries.”
When the Ottoman Empire [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
The first six months of the Revolution saw the Continental Army chased from New York, New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Ranks dwindled from 20,000 to 2,000 exhausted soldiers- most leaving at year’s end when their six-month enlistment was up.
Expecting British invasion, the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia and sent the [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
President Hoover wrote in 1932: “Your CHRISTMAS Service held each year at the foot of a living tree which was alive at the time of the birth of Christ…should be continued as a further symbol of the unbroken chain of life leading back to this great moment in the spiritual [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
On Christmas eve, DECEMBER 24, 1492, Columbus’ ship, the Santa Maria, ran aground on the island of Haiti. Columbus left 40 men and named the settlement la Navidad, promising to return the next year.
He wrote that day to Spain’s King and Queen: “In all the world there can be [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
After the Continental Army was driven out of New Jersey, an article titled “The American Crisis” was published in the Pennsylvania Journal, DECEMBER 23, 1776.
Written by an aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene named Thomas Paine, General Washington ordered it read to the troops: “These are the times that try [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Battle of the Bulge–Nazi’s amassed three armies for an enormous attack against the Allies in the Ardennes Forest and soon surrounded the 101 Airborne Division in southern Belgium, demanding their surrender.
U.S. General Anthony McAuliffe answered in one word: “Nuts.”
This response confused the Nazi commander, causing him to hesitate. [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.”
These were the words of John Newton, a former slave ship captain, who died DECEMBER 21, 1807.
At age 11, his mother died and [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Ronald Reagan stated in his Christmas Address, DECEMBER 20, 1983: “Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations we forget the true meaning of Christmas…the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ…During this glorious festival let us renew our determination to follow His example.”
Franklin Roosevelt said in his [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Driven into Pennsylvania by the British, the Continental Army set up camp at Valley Forge, DECEMBER 19, 1777, just 25 miles from British occupied Philadelphia.
Lacking food and supplies, soldiers died at the rate of twelve per day. Of 11,000 soldiers, 2,500 died of cold, hunger and disease.
A Committee [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” was a carol written by Charles Wesley, born DECEMBER 18, 1707, at Epworth, England.
The 18th child of Rev. Samuel and Susanna Wesley, he excelled in school and came to the attention of Garret Wesley, or Wellesley, a Member of Parliament with a large fortune [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
A peer of Mozart and Haydn, he started becoming deaf at age 28, yet incredibly wrote some of the world’s most beautiful symphonies, concertos and sonatas. This was Ludwig van Beethoven, baptized DECEMBER 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany.
President Jimmy Carter noted while visiting Bonn, July 14, 1978: “As the [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
The Boston Tea Party took place DECEMBER 16, 1773, just three years after the Boston Massacre, where the British fired into a crowd, killing five.
The British passed unbearable taxes: 1764 Sugar Act -taxing sugar, coffee, wine; 1765 Stamp Act -taxing newspapers, contracts, letters, playing cards and all printed materials; [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Newly independent, the thirteen States were concerned their new government may become too powerful, as King George’s was. They insisted handcuffs be place on the power of the Federal Government. We call these the First Ten Amendments or Bill of Rights, ratified DECEMBER 15, 1791.
The First states: “Congress shall [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
He caught a chill riding horseback several hours in the snow while inspecting his Mount Vernon farm. The next morning it developed into acute laryngitis and the doctors were called in. Their response was to bleed him heavily four times, a process of cutting one’s arm to let the “bad [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Phillips Brooks was born DECEMBER 13, 1835. The bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, Brooks is probably best remembered for a song he wrote two years after the Civil War, which goes: “O little town of Bethlehem! How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, [...] Read more »

American Minute from William J. Federer
Pennsylvania – The Continental Congress met there, the Declaration of Independence was signed there, the Liberty Bell was rung there, and the Continental Army spent the freezing winter of 1777 at Valley Forge there.
The Constitution was written there, and for awhile the United States Capitol was there.
It became the [...] Read more »