The most important day in US history is March 20. On March 20, 1778, Benjamin Franklin met King Louis XVI at the Palace of Versailles. It was the pivotal diplomatic event of the American Revolution (1765-1783), and Franklin played a… Read More ›
history
Ghosts of Christmases Past
The City College of New York has sat there in Hamilton Heights since 1847, before the US Civil War. In the late 1930s, its canteen was filled with poor immigrant kids, all new to the New World and many of… Read More ›
Thank you, France
This Thursday is the Fourth of July. Every Fourth of July, I say a little prayer of thanks to France. France bought from the fledgling U.S. its first-ever tranche of federal bonds, thereby giving Washington enough cash to buy guns…. Read More ›
O Captain! My Captain!
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the… Read More ›
On Our Birthday—America as Idea
The United States is a nation consciously conceived, not one that evolved slowly out of an ancient past. It was a planned idea of democracy, of liberty of conscience and pursuit of happiness. It was the promise of equality of… Read More ›
Gregory's Writings 