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