This text comes from our book, The American Venture . The cause of the Cuban rebels was generally popular in the United States, and some Americans favored U.S. intervention in their favor. The publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, though running rival newspapers, were united in promoting American entrance into the Cuban war. Despite President McKinley’s own reservations, his cabinet members divided over the question of war, with the assistant secretary of th

This text comes from our book, All Ye Lands . When Tsar Alexis’s son, Peter, was crowned tsar in 1696 at the young age of 24, he was determined to change the course of Russian history forever. He wanted to make Russia a truly great power, and to do this he thought he had to make Russia like the countries of western Europe. Even before becoming tsar, he had set about to learn everything he could about the West. After he became tsar, he disguised himself as a simple sailor and

This text comes from our book, From Sea to Shining Sea . Though the colonies had won their independence from Great Britain, all was not well in America. This was especially true for farmers, who had done quite well for themselves throughout the war selling crops to the Continental army. When the war ended, these farmers could not make as much money, since there was no longer an army to feed. So it was that many farmers could not pay back money they owed, nor could they pay th

This text comes from our book, The American Venture . It was under Eisenhower that the cease-fire that ended the Korean War was signed. Yet, though the United States engaged in no other wars in the Eisenhower years, the administration conducted covert operations in other countries. The chief instrument in these operations was the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. Though no war was declared, nor UN police action approved, the United States through the CIA helped topple and

This text comes from our book, From Sea to Shining Sea . The United States was not very well prepared to go to war with Great Britain. The British had a much larger army and the largest and most powerful navy in the world. Fortunately for the Americans, the British could not send many troops to America, since most of them were fighting Napoleon’s armies in Europe. Even so, in the early part of the war, the Americans lost most of their battles against the British. Battle betwe

This text comes from our book, The American Venture . Balboa’s discovery of the Pacific Ocean and, later, Elcano’s circumnavigation of the world had shown that the lands of America were not the outposts of Asia but a New World. Yet, though this New World offered its own tempting riches, European rulers still hoped to reach Asia. Though the continents of North and South America seemed to lie between the rulers and their dream, some Europeans hoped to find a passage or strait t

This text comes from our book, The American Venture . The Pope’s Peace Efforts When the Great War broke out in 1914, Pius X had been the reigning pope for over a decade. Rejecting the decision for war, Pius died, calling on the powers to abandon their “murderous struggle” and seek peace. The war was only a month old when Pius’ successor, Pope Benedict XV, took up the call for peace. On the Feast of All Souls, November 1, 1914, Benedict issued Ad Beatissimi , an encyclical let

This text comes from our book, Hope for the Ages . Though they had done it for previous emperors, the Senate refused to proclaim Hadrian a god following his death in 138. So, as one of his first acts as emperor, Antoninus persuaded the senators to deify his stepfather—an act of devotion and piety for which he received the title Pius , meaning “affectionately dutiful.” Antoninus Pius’ reign of some 23 years was a period when the Pax Romana  was most perfectly realized. Unlike

This text comes from our book, Hope for the Ages . In the region north and east of Gaul, along the Rhine and Main rivers and northward to the sea, lived a Germanic people called the Franks. For centuries, they had dwelt along the Rhine in three distinct groups: the Salian (who lived near the sea), the Ripuarian (who dwelt inland along the Rhine), and the Chatti. The Franks had not been part of the great invasions of the empire, though in the mid fourth century they had moved

This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations, Part II . In commenting on France’s June rebellion, the Duke of Wellington mused, “France needs a Napoleon! I cannot yet see him. . . . Where is he?” Louis-Napoleon Wellington no doubt knew of the Napoleon who had for two years been a sojourner in London. Wellington probably even knew of this man’s ambition. This Napoleon was Prince Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of the great Emperor Napoleon I. And he was ambitio

This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations, Part I . Martin Luther did not intend to destroy the Catholic Church, nor did he intend to start a separate church. Luther wanted to reform the Church, to bring it back to what it was meant to be—the pure Bride of Christ. Luther was not alone in wanting to reform the Church. Catholic humanists like Desiderius Erasmus of Holland, Thomas More of England, and the Cardinal Francisco Jiménez of Castile protested as loudly as Lut

This text comes from our book, Lands of Hope and Promise . The vigorous Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, had at last, it seemed, stabilized the government of France following the confusions that had followed the French Revolution. With peace established in France, Napoleon began to harbor the dream of a restoration of French power in North America. In 1800, he entered into secret negotiations with Spain over Louisiana, a vast territory stretching from New Orleans i

This text comes from our book, Hope for the Ages . By becoming Catholic and uniting most of Gaul under his rule, Chlodevech had established the first Catholic Germanic kingdom in Europe. Though the significance of this achievement was not apparent in his time or for over 200 years after Chlodevech’s death, history would later understand its meaning. The Germanic peoples would gradually be weaned away from their paganism and Arianism and drawn together by the unifying force of

This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations, Part II . Throughout the winter of 1815, the Congress of Vienna had continued its work, despite the return of Napoleon. By June 9, 1815, nine days before Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, the Congress had signed its “Final Act”—its settlement for Europe. At the heart of this agreement was Metternich’s goal that the boundaries of the European states should, as far as possible, return to what they had been before the French Revo

This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations, Part I . How to heal the Great Schism was the most important question of the time, but no one could come up with a solution. Finally, in 1394, the theology faculty at the University of Paris came up with one—have both popes resign and a new pope elected in their place. The university actually demanded that both popes resign, and the clergy of France, Bohemia, Hungary, and Navarre said they would not obey the Avignon pope un

This text comes from our book, Lands of Hope and Promise . Of all Europeans, it was the French people who most warmly supported the American Revolution. This at first might seem strange, for France was a highly centralized monarchy—just the kind of government that it seems would most oppose revolution. Yet, it had been only 14 years since the Treaty of Paris gave all of Canada to Great Britain, and many of the French and their king wanted to see their ancient enemy, England,

This text comes from our book, From Sea to Shining Sea . Not long after he helped the British capture Fort Duquesne, George Washington resigned from the colonial militia. The 26-year-old Washington was about to take on new responsibilities: marriage and family. On January 6, 1759, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow with two children. Martha not only brought happiness to Washington, but, because she was one of the richest women in Virginia, she brought him wealth. Tho

This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations, Part II . After failing to help Napoleon in the invasion of England, Admiral...

This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations, Part II . With Liberals challenging the tsar’s autocratic government, with Marxists...

This text comes from our book, Light to the Nations, Part I . While Luther was in the Wartburg, the city of Wittenberg was in a religious...