Posts by Rick Chromey
Alexis De Tocqueville: The French Man Who Saw America’s Past, Present and Future
TweetShareShare “[It’s] the most comprehensive and penetrating analysis of the relationship between character and society in America that has ever been written.”[1] That’s how one historian described Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America; a work many consider among the most influential literary works of the 19th century. Published in two volumes between 1835 and 1840,…
Read MoreAmerica the Secular? Flipping the Script on the Founding of a Nation
TweetShareShareSince the 1980s, it’s been a popular refrain to refer to America’s founding as secular in nature. Proponents of secularism often use selective quotes to promote their nonreligious agendas (1). Many Founding Fathers are now considered “Deist” (read: agnostic, atheist). These include heavyweights like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and George Washington. Perhaps we…
Read MoreThe Big Switch That Wasn’t: The Dixiecrats, Race and 1964
TweetShareShareIt’s known as “The Big Switch.” A historical moment when Southern Democrat politicians converted to Republicanism and refashioned the G.O.P. into a racist political party (according to their opponents). In an heated Twitter exchange between Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez (D-NY) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), this “big switch” was the grist of the Millennial Democrat’s argument.…
Read MoreJohn Ericsson: The Swede that Saved the Union
TweetShareShareWhen it comes to America’s naval history, few had more influence on battleship design than a man named John Ericsson. In fact, it’s a Swedish story better than ABBA. Ericsson was a Swedish American who revolutionized steamship propulsion through his invention of the screw propeller. He also invented the first submarine boat, self-propelled torpedo and…
Read MoreHarlan Sanders: The Kentucky Colonel Who Made Chicken Finger-Lickin’ Good
TweetShareShare The story of the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken is one worth knowing. Harlan Sanders (1890-1980) was a true late bloomer. He was also a man who relentlessly refused to give up on his dreams. And later, even his own soul. Sanders didn’t open his first restaurant until he was 40 years old, and…
Read MoreDred Scott: The Man Behind the U.S. Supreme Court’s Worst Decision
TweetShareShareMany legal scholars believe the Dred Scott decision was the worst by a U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes called it the Supreme Court’s “greatest self-inflicted wound.” But why did it happen? Who was Dred Scott? And why should we know his story? DRED SCOTT was born a slave in Virginia (1799). His…
Read MoreFour Chaplains Day: A Day When Faith Led Through Sacrifice and Service
TweetShareShare February 3 is honored as “FOUR CHAPLAINS DAY.” Never heard of it? It’s a fascinating story that needs to be told and shared. In the early morning hours of February 3, 1943 the U.S.A.T. Dorchester–packed with 902 servicemen–was hit by a Nazi torpedo. The surprise attack killed several soldiers and trapped dozens of others.…
Read MoreNazism: How Hitler Used Fascism and Eugenics to Transform 1930s Germany
TweetShareShare Few four-letter words spark more fear, insult and outrage than Nazi. And well it should. Nazism carries a boatload of baggage, even for generations that never experienced the Holocaust and fascism of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. “Nazi” is a nickname linked to a political ideology characterized by dictatorial rule, forcible suppression of opponents and…
Read More“God Helps Those Who Helps Themselves”: The Eclectic Faith of Benjamin Franklin
TweetShareShareBenjamin Franklin was a scientist, patriot, politician, diplomat…and Deist. That’s a fact according to many modern historians. After all, Franklin himself advocated for Deism. He once wrote that his skepticism of Christianity made him “a thorough Deist.”[i] Of course it should be noted he wrote that conviction at the tender age of fifteen in a…
Read MoreHark! The Herald Wesley Wrote: How a Christmas Hymn Transformed America
TweetShareShare In 1739 a young colonial Georgia preacher wrote a “Hymn for Christmas Day.” His opening line was “Hark! how all the welkin rings.” Welkin is an old Dutch word for “heaven.” The lyricist’s name? Charles Wesley. In the late 1720s, he and his older brother John had founded a new form of Protestant Christianity…
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