Inspired his countrymen - George Washington

To clue you in to where my thoughts are coming from tonight, I have to give you a bit of background. . . .

Over the summer we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Washington D.C. It was one of the most educational experiences of my life. That may sound sad to some, but, that was my first visit to D.C.!
What made the experience even greater was the fact that this was our first year homeschooling. So, as my children are still young, we thought it was a good opportunity to study the founding of America.
Armed with hundreds of hours of audio books, several atlases, a book entitled, "The Footsteps of George Washington" we packed the van so full, I couldn't fit our stroller for our 2month old. Ahhh . . . who's gonna need a stroller for a newborn? ;) Did I mention I have a total of five kids?

After a grueling 8.5 hr drive we arrived. Pee breaks and all. My husband was working in Columbia, MD so we didn't stay right in D.C. In which I am grateful, I enjoyed visiting all the surrounding areas as well.

Tonight my focus of thought turned to George Washington, yet again. I had an endorsement meeting this evening, that has all but caused my brain to shut down.

This past week I was trying to re-acquaint myself with the political processes, local politics and such. It was hard to do because we are studying Ancient Egypt, Biology and Math, Math, Math. I try not to get on the American History kick, because I could dive into that topic and never come back up for air. There is so much information about the founding of America that I was never taught as a student, that I just can't get enough of it. Sounds ridiculous I'm sure, but hey, it's my blog, stop reading it if you want.

See, I wasn't taught American History from original sources, I was taught from a predigested, politically correct textbook. Sorry to say, but it's the truth. I know it's the truth, because I made a visit to George Washington's House. I saw one of the Bibles that belonged to George Washington. I read letters written by GW himself about many issues and the fact that he prayed, yes prayed! Now since prayer isn't in style right now, it's not in the textbooks. I got to visit churches that GW attended. I have never seen so many Biblical quotes within a 50 mile radius as their are in the D.C. area. It seems strange for a country that wasn't founded on Christianity to have so many scriptural quotes in every fiber of it's being.

The visit to Mt. Vernon was one of the highlights of the trip, I have such a love of the land and a deep sense of patriotism, I kept trying to imagine what GW was thinking during his lifetime. When he sat on his front porch, what thoughts were going through his head? The early years, the later years looking back. It was an indescribable gamut of thoughts and feelings.

When you first go thru the gates at Mt. Vernon they direct you to a theatre for an introduction. The neatest idea I have seen at any museum. It really set the stage and the tone for the rest of the visit. Even my toddler was completely engrossed in it.

In this video it depicts a George Washington that seemed so real, young and full of passion. Quite handsome, if I do say so. One of the major points that stuck out in my mind, was his passion for the land. They show a scene where the men are less than enthusiastic about the very apparent potential of being slaughtered by the British Military, and GW gives them a little pep talk.
In this talk he pretty much explains that at this point, we can die now, or keep fighting for our land, fight for the idea, the idea of real freedom and die later, but it would be for a good cause. Of course GW puts it into much more passionate wording.
But the general gist of it was, here we aren't fighting for some king, so he can have wealth, power, and more riches, what we are fighting for here is ours, this is our land. We settled it, it is our right to own it. That is the whole reason we came to this country.
Maybe I was suffering from post pardom, but I was almost in tears by the end of this 20 min introduction. I was truly moved by the amount of passion and determination these few men had. We have to remember they weren't a highly trained, armed military, they were a slapped together mismatched militia of all sorts. Many were wealthy wimps that died of pneumonia before they finished saddling their horse. The ones who survived did so, because they believed in something. They believed they had a right. They had a right to believe in God, they had a right to keep what they worked for, they had a right to own land, they had a right to pursue happiness.
I was so depressed to come back to reality. George Washington would be devastated to see what had become of the country that he gave his life for, gave all he had, and then some. I have to wonder why? Why did this country take the turn it took? I believe . . . I am willing to take responsibility for the rights that I have been afforded at the cost of the blood of others. Are there any other people out there that feel the same way? When I look back at what sacrifices these men, women and children gave to secure my right to believe, to hope, to strive for true freedom, I feel an obligation to at the very least exercise the rights they secured for me and hopefully continue to secure those rights for generations to come.
Our America turned out more voters for Dancing with the Stars than for a Presidential Election. Sad, to say the least. What did all those people fight for and die for? So we can sit by idly and let them slip away? God forbid.
I have to think that perhaps these last few generations have had things too easy, myself included. We have not had to suffer, go without, or fight for our rights. People have to go around door to door to try to convince people to even register to vote, when only three generations ago they had to kill or be killed to secure that very same right.

Part of our Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (Note: the original hand-written text ended on the phrase "the pursuit of property" rather than "the pursuit of Happiness" but the phrase was changed in subsequent copies in part because it was broader. The latter phrase is used today).
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.


"In January 1919, the bill passed the Senate, and on August 26, 1920, after two-thirds of the states had ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, women won the right to vote."

"President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law pledged the federal government to enforce equal access to the ballot in the South."


Only 64% of our citizen population voted in 2004. Another sad note is half of them don't fully understand what they are voting for or against.


It is getting difficult to maintain a good outlook on this subject. Part of me is still naive enough to believe things could change. Even worse, part of me is just plain ignorant enough to think I could make a difference. I keep thinking, maybe they don't realize how important this really is, they just don't know what it's all about, and that's why they don't care. And I keep thinking of ways to just get people interested in the issues and getting people registered to vote. Is there anything that would make a difference? Is there some way to inspire people to care about their own country?
To keep myself from going crazy with this issue, I am resigning to the fact that I can only do what I can do and I will have to pray for the rest.
I am going to do my research, find good candidates, promote the hell out of them and pray for the best. But, at least I'm not setting back in silence.

So each day or week or ever so often I will be updating my "Political Candidates" links at the top of my blog site. And at the bottom of the site I will be adding more information about the various government offices and what they do. This is a good time to teach the kids by example, don't exclude them from this uniquely American process, let them help you with the research, and choose candidates based on the right reasons and let people know about it. This can also be a great lesson on Truth in Media I believe Konos has a unit study that would work great for this topic.

Please don't sit idly by and watch what so many people worked so hard to accomplish slip away.