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The year 1776 is well known in American history. Obviously, it is directly associated with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it is also the year Nathan Hale gave his life for America. [1] A simple schoolteacher, he wanted to serve his country. [2] Military intelligence about the British was badly needed, which meant doing undercover work as a spy. [3] He volunteered for this assignment. His friends warned him that he would fail, for he did not know how to lie — often a requisite trait for a good spy. [4]

He seemed to be succeeding in his mission and was returning to the American Army, when one of his relatives turned him in to the British, who captured him on September 21, 1776.  [5] The British executed him the following day, denying his last request for a Bible to comfort him. His last words before he was hung were, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” [6]

These words have inspired generations of Americans, and were regularly taught to school students. But in recent years, Nathan Hale and heroes like him have largely disappeared from American public education as well as many history books. We need to reintroduce American students (and even adults) to our forgotten heroes and thus ignite the patriotic spirit in younger generations. As children across the nation have now returned to school, help inspire a child that you know with the amazing legacy left us by those who have come before.

One way to do this is through uplifting books designed for youth. For example, Patriots, Redcoats, & Spies is an historical novel tracing the efforts of two teenage boys fighting for the American cause by carrying out a secret mission as spies. Just like Nathan Hale, these fourteen year old boys also fight hardships and discovery at every turn. Find out what happens to them in Patriots, Redcoats, & Spies!

We also have some two dozen biographies designed for young Americans in our Biographies series. Give your child — or children you know, or even yourself — a chance to learn about some of the greats in American history, including Abigail Adams, the Wright Brothers, George Washington Carver, and so many others. Get inspired with accounts of the heroes who made America great.

[1] Dictionary of American History, James Truslow Adams, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1940), Vol. III, p. 5.

[2] I. W. Stuart, Life of Captain Nathan Hale, The Martyr-Spy of the American Revolution (Hartford: F.A. Brown, 1856), pp. 28-44.

[3] Benson J. Lossing. Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Six, or the War of Independence; A History of the Anglo-American, From the Period of the Union of the Colonies Against the French, to the Inauguration of Washington, the First President of the United States of America (New York: Edward Walker, 1847), p. 206 note.

[4] Mrs. Maria Campbell, Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General William Hull (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1848) p. 35. See also, Benson J. Lossing, The Two Spies: Nathan Hale and John Andre, (New York: De. Applerton and Company, 1886), p. 14.

[5] Dictionary of American History, James Truslow Adams, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1940),  Vol. III, p. 5. See also, I.W. Stuart, Life of Captain Nathan Hale, the martyr-spy of the American revolution (Hartford : F. A. Brown; 1856), p. 110; and George Dudley Seymour, Documentary Life of Nathan Hale, Comprising All Available Official and Private Documents Bearing on the Life of the Patriot (New-Haven: Privately Printed for the Author, The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1941), p. 158, “Colonel Greene’s Picture of Nathan Hale as a School-Teacher: Testimony of Samuel Green respecting Nathan Hale given to me [Isaac W. Stuart]; and by me taken in the historical hall January, 1847.”

[6] Dictionary of American History, James Truslow Adams, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1940), Vol. III, p. 5, see also George Dudley Seymour, Documentary Life of Nathan Hale, Comprising All Available Official and Private Documents Bearing on the Life of the Patriot (New-Haven: Privately Printed for the Author, The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1941), p. 310.

Brutal events in the Middle East continue to receive high billing in news headlines: beheadings and shootings by ISIS; the slaughter of Christians; increased attacks against numerous nations; the U.S. Embassy in Libya evacuated; and so forth. Such news always comes with concern, but these type of reports are not new.Most Americans are unaware that Islamic terrorists have been attacking Americans from the time that we became an independent nation.

When the American Revolution ended in 1783, America turned its attention to dealing with five Muslim nations that regularly targeted Americans overseas: Tunis, Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli, and Turkey. So in 1784, the Continental Congress dispatched John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson to try to negotiate an end to the unprovoked attacks. The diplomatic efforts largely failed, and the aggression continued.

By the time that Jefferson took office as president 17 years later in 1801, almost one-fifth of the federal budget was being spent to placate the terrorists. Deciding that it was time for the attacks to come to an end, Jefferson took the brand-new Navy, loaded the ships with Marines, and dispatched them to end the constant threat.

After five years of fighting terrorist forces and freeing captured Americans, Tripoli finally signed a treaty and the hostilities ceased — temporarily. But when America became embroiled in the War of 1812, Algerian terrorists began once again to attack American ships.

In 1815 when peace was reached with the British, President James Madison sent the military against Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Finally, on August 9, 1815 — two hundred years ago (>and 31 years after the conflict began) — a peace treaty was signed. To read the documents of the first American War Against Terror and to see the terrorists’ motivations for attacking Americans is just like watching today’s news reports. To help understand what is happening now and what will be required to end the conflict, David Barton shares the history of America’s First War on Terror.

With the recent hostility against military chaplains, it is worth recalling the distinguished history of the chaplain corps as it celebrates its 240th birthday.

On July 29, 1775, the Army Chaplain Corps was organized by the Continental Congress. Numerous famous leaders have served as military chaplains, including Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

WallBuilders has numerous original sermons preached by those who served as Revolutionary War chaplains, including Manasseh Cutler (chaplain to four different units), Benjamin Trumbull (also a noted historian), and Timothy Dwight (who later became President of Yale).

The rich legacy of the service and sacrifice of chaplains continued long after the American Revolution. For example, Hiram Rhodes Revels, America’s first black U.S. Senator, was a chaplain during the Civil War. James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball, was a chaplain in WWI. During WWII, the “Four Chaplains” gave their lives to save hundreds of soldiers during the sinking of the Dorchester.

Although Chaplains are now under direct assault from Progressives and Secularists, their work is indispensable to the spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being of America soldiers, sailors, and airmen.

So, Happy Birthday to the military chaplain corps!