"Lest we forget!" God and country . ne cent for tribute ON June 20, 1815, an American squadronunder Commodore Stephen Decatursmashed the Barbary pirates in a furious battleoff Cartagena, Spain, and instilled an ever-lasting respect for the American flag in theMediterranean. For more than 300 years these pirates, withfortified cities, armies and fleets of war vessels,had preyed upon the commerce of the Christ-ian world. When this great battle occurred,six maratime nations were paying annualtribute to the Dey of Algiers. Spain, France, England and Holland triedfor three centuries to break their
"Lest we forget!" God and country . ne cent for tribute ON June 20, 1815, an American squadronunder Commodore Stephen Decatursmashed the Barbary pirates in a furious battleoff Cartagena, Spain, and instilled an ever-lasting respect for the American flag in theMediterranean. For more than 300 years these pirates, withfortified cities, armies and fleets of war vessels,had preyed upon the commerce of the Christ-ian world. When this great battle occurred,six maratime nations were paying annualtribute to the Dey of Algiers. Spain, France, England and Holland triedfor three centuries to break their power, andfailed, and when the pirates demanded tributefrom the United States of America, PresidentJames Madison, repeating the words madefamous by Charles Cotesworth Pinckneywhen Minister to France, said:— Millions for defense but not one cent for tributeT ^ And Decatur proved it. This infant nationsucceeded where all others failed. Long live the United States of America! P ROCLMM UBERTY THROUGH OUT ALL THE LAND ryaaSKprsa&i. JULY 4^1776 The Declaration ofIndependence FIFTY-SEVEN American patriots, formingthe Congress of our original thirteencolonies, unanimously adopted the Declara-tion of American Independence at Indepen-dence Hall, Philadelphia, Pa., on July 4, 1776. Each knew he was risking his life when hepenned his name, and Benjamin Franklin said: **We must hang together or we will hangseparately. Then and there the Liberty Bell pealedforth thJe great message inscribed on its rim:— Proclaim Liberty throughout all the landyunto all the inhabitants thereof. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration,which laid down for all time the splendidprinciple that governments derive their justpowers from the consent of the governed. Thatis the cornerstone of democracy. While the signers were mutually pledging their lives,their fortunes and their sacred honor to the Declaration ofIndependence, George Washington and the Continental Armywere proving every paragraph of the worlds most
Size: 1386px × 1803px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidlestweforget, bookyear1921
