Seven Events That Made America America: And Proved That the Founding Fathers Were Right All Along

515 Pages·2011·1.66 MB·English

by  Larry Schweikart

Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Introduction

Chapter 1. - MARTIN VAN BUREN HAS A NIGHTMARE AND BIG
GOVERNMENT IS BORN . . . ...
Chapter 2. - THE DRED SCOTT DECISION WRECKS AN ECONOMY AND
HASTENS A WAR
Chapter 3. - JOHNSTOWN FIGHTS A FLOOD AND DEMONSTRATES THE
POWER OF PRIVATE COMPASSION
Chapter 4. - IKE HAS A HEART ATTACK, TRIGGERING DIETARY
NANNYISM
Chapter 5. - A STEEL GUITAR ROCKS THE IRON CURTAIN
Chapter 6. - RONALD REAGAN TRIES TO KEEP THE PEACE . . . AND
MAKES HIS BIGGEST MISTAKE
Chapter 7. - BARRY MAKES A SPEECH . . . AND THE MEDIA GETS
CHILLS UP ITS LEG

CONCLUSION
Acknowledgements
NOTES
INDEX
ALSO BY LARRY SCHWEIKART
48 Liberal Lies About American History

America’s Victories

A Patriot’s History of the United States

SENTINEL
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First published in 2010 by Sentinel,
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Copyright © Larry Schweikart, 2010 All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schweikart, Larry.
Seven events that made America America : and proved that the founding fathers were right all along /
Larry Schweikart.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-1-10143302-7
1. United States—History—Miscellanea. 2. National characteristics, American—Miscellanea. I. Title.
E179.S353 2010
973—dc22
2010003098

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INTRODUCTION
You don’t have to be an American history expert to identify certain critical
events in our past that shaped our country. Pearl Harbor, the D-Day invasion,
9/11, the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy, the Great Depression,
important court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education—these are just a
few of the milestones in our nation’s history that likely spring to most people’s
memory. On the other hand, not all important changes in our past have unfolded
in a single day, but rather were the results of profound unresolved issues (slavery
and the Civil War), a slow change in culture (the status of women in the
twentieth century), or the response to long-standing international tensions (the
Cold War). No one can point to a particular “where were you?” moment with
such transformations, as they reflected slow, but important, incremental changes.
The most difficult—and interesting—parts of history to understand are those
that spark deep and significant changes but are not necessarily obvious. That is
the purpose of this book—to explore and explain some of these forgotten or
unheralded moments in an effort to show the profound way in which they
influence our history. Yet there is a second purpose in this book, namely, to
examine the seven events I have chosen in light of the Founders’ vision for
America. How would George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson,
and other Founders have interpreted these events? Did the event confirm the
vision of the Founders or constitute a departure from their hopes? In short,
would the Founders have approved or disapproved of the actions that followed
from the event itself? Most important, what can we learn from these events of
our past to help build a better future and a stronger America?
For example, Madison wrote with mixed emotions about “factions,” or
partisan strife, disdaining it (as did Washington), yet acknowledging it as
unavoidable and inherent in human nature. “Ambition should counter ambition,”
he observed. However, he likely would have been appalled at Martin Van
Buren’s invention of a new, national party machinery, which evoked loyalty by
rewarding supporters with jobs in both the party and the government. The result