From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:
During the battle to ratify the U.S. Constitution, many Americans worried that the founding document failed to list specific rights to be protected against abuse of power. Thomas Jefferson, who generally approved of the new Constitution, put voice to that view when he wrote to James Madison: “A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth . . . and what no just government should refuse.” To gain support for the Constitution, Federalists agreed to add amendments protecting personal liberties.
Madison was one of those who had considered a list of protected rights unnecessary. He believed the Constitution, as written, gave the federal government no power to violate citizens’ liberties. He also worried that listing specific rights might imply that the government could limit rights not listed. Nevertheless, when the First Congress met in New York in 1789, he set about crafting a set of amendments. “If we can make the Constitution better in the opinion of those who are opposed to it,” he said, “without weakening its frame, or abridging its usefulness in the judgment of those who are attached to it, we act the part of wise and liberal men to make such alterations as shall produce the effect.”
Madison and a few colleagues sifted through scores of proposed amendments and winnowed them down to a brief list, using the Virginia Declaration of Rights and other precedents as guides. Congress sent twelve amendments to the states for approval. Ten were eventually ratified. On December 15, 1791, Virginia became the last state needed for ratification, and the Bill of Rights went into effect. Those first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, preserving such cherished rights as freedom of speech, press, and religion, lie at the heart of Americans’ faith in limited government and the rule of law.
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. It's "a daily newsletter that will teach you key events that took place each day in American history." Click here to subscribe.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Thursday, October 29, 2020
The Rescue of the Lost Batallion
From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a suspicious U.S. government ordered 110,000 people of Japanese descent into internment camps. Yet when offered the chance to join the Army, many Japanese Americans jumped at the opportunity to prove their loyalty. Hundreds ended up in the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese American unit that saw some of the hardest fighting of World War II.
Perhaps their finest hour came in October 1944 in the Vosges Mountains of France, where the Germans had surrounded 211 U.S. soldiers, many of them Texans, on a ridgetop. “Medical supplies low, no rations for three days . . . need ammunition,” the desperate Americans radioed. News reports called the Texans the “Lost Battalion.” The 100th/442nd got orders to save them.
The men started into the hills in darkness so thick, each grasped the man ahead to keep from losing the way. As they climbed the steep, forested slopes, the Germans opened fire. “I had never seen men get cut down so fast, so furiously,” one GI remembered. They pushed forward a yard at a time.
Two days later, on October 29, the exhausted soldiers charged up the slope they dubbed “Suicide Hill” in a last effort to break the German line. “I didn’t think about dying,” a private later said. “I had a job to do.” On October 30 the men of the Lost Battalion saw Americans where Germans had been. The 100th/442nd had arrived.
The 100th/442nd became one of the most decorated units in U.S. Army history. Its members received 9,486 Purple Hearts for battle wounds. Its twenty-one Medal of Honor recipients included Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. In 1959, when Inouye was told to “raise your right hand” to be sworn in as the first Japanese American member of Congress, a hushed awe came over the House of Representatives. Congressman, later Senator, Inouye had lost his right arm in service to America.
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. You’ll read about heroes, their achievements, and key events that took place “On This Day” in American history. Click here to subscribe.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a suspicious U.S. government ordered 110,000 people of Japanese descent into internment camps. Yet when offered the chance to join the Army, many Japanese Americans jumped at the opportunity to prove their loyalty. Hundreds ended up in the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese American unit that saw some of the hardest fighting of World War II.
Perhaps their finest hour came in October 1944 in the Vosges Mountains of France, where the Germans had surrounded 211 U.S. soldiers, many of them Texans, on a ridgetop. “Medical supplies low, no rations for three days . . . need ammunition,” the desperate Americans radioed. News reports called the Texans the “Lost Battalion.” The 100th/442nd got orders to save them.
The men started into the hills in darkness so thick, each grasped the man ahead to keep from losing the way. As they climbed the steep, forested slopes, the Germans opened fire. “I had never seen men get cut down so fast, so furiously,” one GI remembered. They pushed forward a yard at a time.
Two days later, on October 29, the exhausted soldiers charged up the slope they dubbed “Suicide Hill” in a last effort to break the German line. “I didn’t think about dying,” a private later said. “I had a job to do.” On October 30 the men of the Lost Battalion saw Americans where Germans had been. The 100th/442nd had arrived.
The 100th/442nd became one of the most decorated units in U.S. Army history. Its members received 9,486 Purple Hearts for battle wounds. Its twenty-one Medal of Honor recipients included Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. In 1959, when Inouye was told to “raise your right hand” to be sworn in as the first Japanese American member of Congress, a hushed awe came over the House of Representatives. Congressman, later Senator, Inouye had lost his right arm in service to America.
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. You’ll read about heroes, their achievements, and key events that took place “On This Day” in American history. Click here to subscribe.
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