Topics: Military

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.

The US Navy dates its origins back to 1775. It began with an August 26, 1775 instruction from Rhode Island to their representatives in the Continental Congress to call for the establishment of a navy, explaining that “every principle, Divine and human, require us to obey that great and fundamental Law of Nature — self preservation — until peace shall be restored upon constitutional principles.”

The Continental Congress, not in session at that time, took up the issue when it returned and on October 13, 1775, the Continental Navy was created. The Continental Navy peaked at 31 ships in 1777 and contributed to key victories, but by the war’s end in 1783, it had shrunk amid losses. It was fully disbanded in 1785 after the Treaty of Paris.

This action, however, left American commercial ships in the Mediterranean unprotected. So in 1784, five Muslim nations began attacking American ships and killing and enslaving sailors. With no Navy to deter these terrorists, the United States government’s only recourse was to make huge extortion payments to the terrorists in exchange for their promise to limit future attacks. Frustrated by the navy’s absence and mounting pirate ransoms, President Washington urged Congress to rebuild in 1794, authorizing six frigates. Congress agreed and President John Adams executed and expanded the plan during the 1798 Quasi-War with France. President Thomas Jefferson then used the Navy to launch America’s first war on Muslim terrorists, defeating them and ending their attacks against American citizens and interests.

Following this, the Navy slowly shrank in size until it numbered only 40 combat-ready ships by the beginning of the Civil War (the Confederates had none, though they built a formidable ironclad force). The War resulted in a naval build up on both sides, with several major naval battles. (Pictured on the right, is the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first encounter between ironclad armored ships.)

After the War, the Navy once again shrank, but during WWII, it was rebuilt. By the end of 1945, the US Navy consisted of over 1,300 major combat ships (such as battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines), over 83,000 mine laying ships and landing craft, with over 3.3 million naval personnel.

Military cutbacks under the Obama administration once again dramatically reduced the size of the Navy, leaving only 275 ships and 330,000 active duty naval personnel, with 100,000 reserves.

The pattern is clear: when we dramatically cut the military, we invite outside attacks. So, while remembering the origins of the US Navy, let’s pray for all those that serve in that branch — and indeed, for those who serve in all branches of our Armed Forces to keep Americans safe around the world!