Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence by Carol Berkin

Released 2006.02.14   | Finished 2024.06.06  | Purchased

Note: A number of lectures are available on YouTube regarding this book, one hosted by American Revolution Institute dated January 7, 2016

As Dr. Berkin points out in one of the YouTube discussions of this book, women were not merely observers of the American Revolution. They did not sit on the sideline like at a football game and cheer on the participants or specific plays/actions within the battles. Whether a camp follower or the female at the home/business front regardless of her race or social standing, women were participants.

Dr. Berkin looked at the women on the North American continent as they were involved and how they were treated in the Revolution. Patriots vs Loyalists; well-to-do vs poor; White vs Indian vs Black.

 Women were in contact with both sides of the conflict. If she had stayed on the farm regardless of her success in maintaining the acres, troops came through like locusts taking what they could use. If the woman was lucky, raiding the larder was the only crime against her. Some of these ladies would destroy their work rather than have it stolen. Camp followers of both sides included colonial women in multiple capacities and for protection. Some found themselves taking water on the battleground as refreshment for men or cooling cannon.

Dr. Berkin’s examples of the situations women were varied and not the ones usually cited in history books written by men. She examined archives for information that was designated as ‘other’ to find information left by women. She also examined oral histories that were generally designated to the outer boundaries of history.

Recommendation: Excellent for women’s studies classes (at least they were called that 20 years ago) and for background/groundwork in American history. The book is finding an audience as the nation nears its 250^th anniversary.

About the Author

Carol Ruth Berkin was born in Mobile, Alabama on October 1, 1942. The mother of two, Berkin earned her undergraduate work at Barnard College (1964) and her Ph.D. from Columbia. American historian and writer, she is currently the Baruch Presidential Professor of History, City University of New York (en.wikipedia.org). Dr. Berkin has also consulted on several PBS and History Channel documentaries and is board members of the National Council for History Education and The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (www.Amazon.com).

Her published work includes:

Clio in the Classroom: Teaching Women’s History (ed. with Margaret Crocco and Barbara Winslow) pub. 2009.02.02

Civil War Wives pub 2010.11.15

Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for American Independence pub 2005.02.01

Looking Forward/Looking Back: a Women’s Studies Reader (ed. with Carole Appel and Judith Pinch) pub 2005.05.27

A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution pub 2002.09.13

Women’s Voices/Women’s Lives: Documents in Early American Women’s History pub 1998.05.07

First Generations: Women In Colonial America pub 1997.07.01

Making America: A History of the U.S. (with Christopher Miller, Robert Cherny, and James Gormly)  pub 2011.07.27

Women, War and Revolution (ed. With Clara Lovett and Holmes Meier) pub 1980.01.01

Women of America: A History (ed. With Mary Beth Norton) pub 1979.01.01

Jonathan Sewall: Odyssey of an American Loyalist pub. 2000.01.01

Wondrous Beauty: Betsy Bonaparte, the Belle of Baltimore who Married Napoleon’s Brother pub 2014.11.04

America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

Released 2016.03.01     | Finished 2024.05.19    | Own

Praised by critics as an historical novel that catches the elusive history of Thomas Jefferson and his daughter Martha ‘Patsy’ Jefferson Randolph. The widowed Jefferson was left with two daughters to raise. The older was already a favorite companion of the revolutionary who as a young teen must guide her father through his madness and grief at the loss of her mother in a world that holds many enemies of her father. She was thrust into a world of diplomats and political enemies at an early age which only proved to be a training ground for the needs of her father when he was elected President of the United States.

Through the years and in political situations, Patsy was helped by future first ladies, Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison. Their sisterhood that looked beyond the entanglements of their spouses and father. The future of the United States depended on the ability of these women to hold the society of diplomacy together. They might not be the ones signing the treaties or passing laws, but they were the ones to control the hubris of their men in public and to advise them in private.

The novel is 580 pages long. At times that seemed quite long to someone who does not tither at a new history or historical novel. There were pages that seemed familiar, but such is the case when reading historical novels that have stories that overlap with other historical novels, biographies, and history texts. The reader expects to have these moments of déjà vu. The book was informative especially once the reader connects with the authors’ notes to explain historical situations vs. hypothetical/fictional situations. I read this for a book club – unless it had contained information that I need for a current historical project, I most likely would not have read it. However, because of the obligation to the club, I did finish it rather than escape to more modern fiction. That will not be the case for a reader that enjoys biography or historical fiction. There was something to be learned about Patsy Jefferson Randolph and this book provided a means to do so.

The Authors

Stephanie Dray (aka Stephanie Draven) is an American writer of historical and fantasy fiction known for her research and accuracy. According to the Elisabeth Storrs website, Stephanie is a frequent panelist and presenter at nation writing conventions, a former lawyer, game designer, and teacher.

Laura (A. Croghan) Kamoie (b. August 27, 1970, in Hagerstown, Maryland) is an historian (Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy) and author. She graduated cum laude from Dickinson College in 1992 and later earned her MA and PhD in American History from the College of William and Mary. She writes historical fiction and non-fiction as Kamoie and romantic fiction as Luara Kaye. Under her combined names, she has 44 titles.

Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan

Released 2021.08.24   |Finished 2023.09.21   |Purchased for book club

Nineteen-year-old French orphan buys his way into the American Revolution. Gaining the attention and respect of General Washington, he apprentices while carrying the rank. As he worked in the shadow of Washington, he learns how to lead and gains the respect of the men around him.

Washington treated several around him as sons in his intimate circle. Around him were John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton – they and Lafayette became known as the three Musketeers. These relationships are intertwined with the war and gaining the independence of the colonies.

One re-entering France, Lafayette worked to bring liberty and freedom to his homeland. The part of the book dealing with Lafayette in France is essential to those studying the man, the nation, and Europe as a whole when looking at the politics and other men involved. For those of us isolated readers who have not been as exposed to French history, there is a need to know and understand that Lafayette was part of the aristocracy and must deal with the royal family in France. With some he was educated with, with some there were fears of the ideas he championed.

As a non-reader of French history, there were many names to keep straight and to learn something about. For that reason, I would recommend this book for those trying to grasp the activities involving France during the life of the Marquis de Lafayette.

The Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Released 2017.04.18 /(movie 2023.10.20) | 2^nd reading 2023.07.15          | own

*****

Heartbreaking

Grann explores the history of the Osage in Oklahoma in the early 20^th century. Once it was discovered that the Osage Reservation was sitting on an oil field worth hundreds of millions of dollars, apparently every occupation’s worst actors showed up to take advantage. Because the government did not think that the Native Americans were educated enough to handle their new-found wealth, each individual who received oil money had to have a professional guardian who could and did charge outrageous rates to control the individual’s oil rights’ money. If that was not enough, the Osage were being killed ‘herding’ the money toward a few individual Osage with the intent of then taking possession of the wealth with those deaths.

Sadly, most of the perpetrators were white guys with very low scruples and a willingness to cause the death of others. It appeared to be open hunting season. Osage were afraid to be out on their own or with someone that had not gained their trust. Unfortunately for many, some of those ‘white guys’ were very close by marriage. Another unfortunate happenstance was that those who were elected to defend and protect had also left the straight and narrow.

Eventually, with the assistance of a senator from another state, the federal government stepped in. Investigation into the numerous murders was slow because the evidence had disappeared. Investigations had to start at the beginning; witnesses were no longer alive. The agency called upon to do the investigation was also under investigation and had a new person at the helm, J. Edgar Hoover. The agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was in the position of building from the ground up and developing rules that would be in place for years to come.

Author David Grann is/was a staff writer for the New Yorker [current Amazon bio does not mention this] and author of a number of books: The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (2009); The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession (2010); The White Darkness (2018); and the new release The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (2023) as well as Killers of the Flower Moon (2017).

George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

Very compelling read

Released 2013.11.05                 | Finished 2023.07.26                | Own

*****

Kilmeade is part of the Fox News team, “Fox & Friends” as well as author of books about Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Yaeger is a key-note speaker and business coach with nine NYT bestsellers to his credit. Their combined effort keeps the reader engaged in the efforts of the six who chose to collect information for General George Washington during the war for independence.

Two groups of people who oppose the philosophy and politics of each other to distraction and coming to blows, such was the situation on Manhattan Island.

The Loyalists were in control of the island after having defeated Washington’s troops and sending all those who could escape to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut in August 1776. However, this real estate was of the most important to the Colonials. Washington always had his eye on taking it back.

In the British takeover, private property was considered there for their use and needs. Patriots were few and tried to just hold on to their property while the officers from the lowest to the highest took possession of property, destroyed some, and in general, had a grand time.

Those of the Colonials who remained on the island tried to fit in and some to be in the center of the things, the Loyalists. Among those who continued to do business were a couple of wolves in sheep clothing. While trying to look the part, they used their jobs to collect and document the movement of the British and then get the information to Washington. Some acted independently while one group of six combined efforts and experience to form the Culper Ring. One member was a farmer, one took a second job as a journalist, a tavern keeper, a smuggler, the mysterious lady known only as Agent 355 and an acquaintance of Tallmadge and several miscellaneous couriers, aka the Culper Ring, ‘handled’ by Washington’s spymaster, Benjamin Tallmadge (the only one known by Gen. Washington). Their names remained a shadow in history until their activities and identities were uncovered by a modern-day sleuth, Morton Pennypacker. In 1929, he uncovered the pieces of the historic puzzle to identify all but Agent 355.

It was noted that as long as a major part of the British military was stationed on Manhattan Island, the group was able to discover information. Others participated in the act of careful listening to the conversations held in public or semi-public settings– a colonial tailor to the British military, a trading company, a printer that had a complete copy of the codebook of the British Navy. However, when a large contingency headed south to assist in the Carolinas, a lot of the information left with the men. That did not mean that all the information was then gone, just more stale until some regiments returned.

Kilmeade and Yaeger introduce readers to a group that had intended to have their identities forever hidden. The identities remained anonymous to General Washington but thanks to the work of Pennypacker in 1929.  The exception was Lady Agent 355 who has several theories about her identity including that she died as a prisoner on one of the prison ships in the harbor.

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

Published 2011.07            | Finished 2022.02.08      |Purchased

So much information about so much of the history of South and Central America found in the writings and calendars of the civilizations has been coordinated with old and new archaeological discoveries and is available in this book.  This is a book that I wish I had many years ago. Mann is able to point out the developing cultures and show that they were advanced in many ways beyond their European cousins.

Mann discussed the agricultural advances of both North and South America in growing and controlling food for the population. Plants were domesticated and genetically altered, i.e. maze. Domesticated animals were limited and none were able to pull a cart or wagon so the wheel was not developed beyond the stage of a toy. Metal work was limited to work with gold and silver, art work or adornment. And yet, great stone structures south of our border were built by moving and stacking stones that weighted tons apiece (and though not mentioned, the cliff-dwelling Anasazi of our four-corners region who hewed-out dwellings in the sides of cliffs).

This is a very readable book though I really wanted a topographical map with layers of plastic-overlays to keep track of who was doing what when and how that correlated with events elsewhere.  As a result of reading the book, I have continued to keep articles on anthropological and archaeological news and connect with areas in Mann’s book.

Too old to be anything other than another armchair scientist, but as long as the mind can assimilate the information, never too old to learn additional information.

This is the book I mentioned in the review of Dunbar-Ortiz.  Think I read them backward and had I read Mann first could accept her discussions or at lease appreciate them more. Mann’s book is more acceptable to the mind of teens, that is if you can get them to look at history and realize that history is about their family, too.

The Bill of Rights: 225 Years Young

 

Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III: No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI:  In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII:  In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Unless you are someone specifically working with the Bill of Rights, it may have been a while since you have read them, i.e. government class in high school. The first two amendments have been in the news for the last fifty or so years because of challenges to the meaning intended by our forefathers.  The last was probably in contention during the Civil War. The Fifth and Sixth Amendments may be recognized for the Miranda Rights/Warning written following the 1966 Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Court decision

For the states to have a responsibility to a united country, the Articles of Confederation that had united the former colonial states into a country had no teeth was secretly revised in Philadelphia during May 1787. The largest question to face the group was how to base representation, especially since the south had so many men in the form of slaves. This document was a Federalist document with centralized government. Instead of taking the document to state governments, the document was pitched to specially called ratifying conventions; however, only six of the nine needed could be persuaded to ratify the document. Many leaned toward the Anti-Federalist ideas that the states had just left a centralized nation and had no desire to build a similar government. Ratification was achieved only after the compromise to ‘vote now amend later’ in Massachusetts was accepted. By the 15^th of September the wording of the document was finalized and by the 17^th it was transcribed.  On the 17^th of September 1788, the 38 delegates present signed a finished product + George Reed signed for John Dickinson making a total of 39 signatures. Three delegates present refused to sign, George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph. Two delegates were not at this September meeting because they were on European diplomatic missions, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

Because some states and some statesmen were not happy with the guarantees of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was promised to fill in the gaps of peoples’ rights.  James Madison was responsible for writing these first Ten Amendments when his ‘corrections to the Constitution’ were turned down as Madison did not have the authority under the law to make the changes. Madison used George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights and English historical documents Magna Carta, Petition of right, English Bill of Rights, and Massachusetts Body of Liberties.  While the Federalist party thought that the Constitution spoke for itself, the Anti-Federalists insisted that individual and states’ rights had no guarantee and the national government had no limitations under the Constitution as it was written. Many states wanted to have the right to govern and hold their identity and not dissolve or disappear within the framework of the United States, and many individuals wanted to continue to have the rights they had just fought for in the Revolutionary War against the rules imposed by the British on the Colonies. The promise of these Bill of Rights helped get the Constitution ratified, without the promise some of the states refused their ratification. The final version of the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution were ratified by three-fourths of the states on December 15, 1789.

 

Bill of Rights Institute. “Bill of Rights of the United States of America (1791).” Online. https://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/bill-of-rights/   2016. Accessed 25 November 2016. Web.

History.com “Bill of Rights.” Online. http://www.history.com/topics/bill-of-rights   2016. A&E Television Networks LLC. Accessed 25 November 2016. Web.

MirandaRights.org. “Become Aware of Your Rights.” Online. http://www.mirandarights.org  2016. Accessed 25 November 2016.

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. “America’s Founding Documents.” Online. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs  Accessed 25 November 2016. Web.

National Parks Est. 25 August 1916, One Hundred Years and Still Going

The National Park Service Organic Act established the National Park Service (NPS) under the US Department of the Interior (DOI) on August 25 1916 which was signed by President Woodrow Wilson and was sponsored by Progressive Rep. of California William Kent and Republican Senator of Utah Reed Smoot.  Stephen Mather was made the first NPS Director to oversee areas designated as National Parks. These areas included specific parks, battle fields, monuments, and historic places. Setting the NPS in charge of these areas was originally opposed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as an encroachment on the public lands set aside for timber trade and conservation. The American Civic Association (who emphasized improving the living conditions of communities), General Federation of Women’s Clubs, Sierra Club, and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. supported the move to establish a park service. Stephen Mather, a well-known industrialist of the time, backed the movement and kept the movement on course.

However, the Organic Act was not the genesis of areas set aside to be saved for the American public. The first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 with other areas joining from time to time. The Antiquities Act signed on June 6, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt gave the president the authority to designate national monuments from public lands for the area’s protection, including prehistoric Native American ruins and debris, geological features of scientific interest, and historic landmarks; these areas can be under the protection of the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, or the War Department. This allowed the president much latitude in designating areas and allowed some circumvention of Congress, i.e. Jackson Hole National Monument with Grand Teton National Park when they were offered to the country by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and accepted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943. This was not the only clash over such designations.

Currently, fifty-nine areas are designated as national parks. In some articles American Samoa National Park is not included which would make the count fifty-eight.  Pinnacles National Park, California was the last so designated; eleven parks were designated national parks before the Organic Act passed – Yellowstone 3-1-1872; Sequoia 9-25-1890; Yosemite 10-1-1890; Mount Rainier 3-2-1899; Crater Lake 5-22-1902; Wind Cave 1-9-1903; Mesa Verde 6-29-1906; Glacier 5-11-1910; Rocky Mountain 1-26-1915; Haleakala 8-1-1916; and Hawaii Volcanoes 8-1-1916. Eight of the parks are located in Alaska; nine parks are located in California; five parks are located in Utah; none of the national parks are located in Illinois or Indiana but one each is located in Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan, our neighboring states.

The National Park System will be 100 years old during the month of August. Celebrate! Visit a park in person or visit them online.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org and www.nps.gov sites were used for the information in this essay.

Migratory Bird Treaty – August 16, 1916

The Migratory Bird Treaty will celebrate its centennial birthday on August 16. Signed between the US and the United Kingdom, for Canada, this document and agreement was environmental in nature. This treaty and others like it with Mexico, Japan, and Russia protects migratory birds making it unlawful to ‘pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell’ protected birds, i.e. dead or alive, bird parts including feathers, eggs, and nests. As a result of these agreements, Federal Migratory Bird Sanctuaries were created.

Approximately one-fifth of the world’s birds are long-distance migrants.  Migrations may be as short as one section of a mountain to another during specific times of the year, i.e. the Andes and Himalayas, or as long as the migration of the Arctic tern which breeds in the Arctic and then flies south to Antarctic when not breeding. Migrations are defined in several ways: irregular (irruptions, nomadism, or invasions), directional dispersal (separation of the young from their birth area), or regular (movement because of weather, food, or shelter). This nature of bird watching or the watching the habits of bird travel has been recorded by many notables:  Ancient Greeks – Hesiod, Homer, Herodotus, and Aristotle; Jeremiah in the Book of Job; and Pliny the Elder.

In an attempt to protect migratory birds, four flyways have been recognized in North America: Pacific, Central, Mississippi, and Atlantic. Indiana is part of the Mississippi Flyway along with Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin along with Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario provinces of Canada. Within the Mississippi flyway, as in other flyways, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with different groups through initiatives to monitor, research, plan, and organize activities that are beneficial for the birds. Some of these initiatives are Partners in Flight (songbirds) North American Waterbird Conservation Plan (catch-all for those not included in other groups, i.e. Seabirds, terns, herons, and the like), U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan (migratory shorebirds),  and Focal Species (selected species needing a return to sustainable levels).

According to the National Audubon Society (NAS), this act was one of the organization’s first victories and the tool that helped save millions/billions of birds from human predators. The bill saved birds that were hunted for sport or body parts (feathers) that were nearly extinct. However, human progress is now a major enemy of these and other birds. Birds are killed in the millions per year: power lines = 175 million birds; communication towers = 50 million birds; uncovered oil waste pits = 500 thousand to 1 million birds, and wind turbines = 300 thousand birds.  That is in excess of 226 million birds a year from indirect human contact.  NAS Success stories: Great Egret and Bald Eagle.  NAS New project: Puffin’s winter home in the Atlantic.

In 2014, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the service would look into and devise means to hold industries more accountable for the deaths mentioned above. Prior to this announcement, enforcement was sporadic according to an article by Jesse Greenspan. One of those sporadic moments occurred in Wyoming during 2013-2014 when two wind farm operators were charged for killing Golden Eagles.  One was charged  $1M and the second $2.5M.  As with any treaty or agreement, amendments are made to enforce the intent by looking for and closing loopholes and to revise for unforeseeable.

 

https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/birds-of-conservation-concern.php Accessed 10 July 2016. Web.

Greenspan, Jesse. “The Evolution of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.” Audubon Online. May 22, 2015. http://www.audubon.org/news/the-evolution-migratory-bird-treaty-act  Accessed 10 July 2016. Web.

Harbison, Martha. “The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Explained.” Audubon Online. May 22, 2015.  http://www.audubon.org/news/the-migratory-bird-treaty-act-explained   Accessed 10 July 2016. Web.

 

Badge of Merit (8-7-1782) to the Purple Heart (2-2-1932)

The Purple Heart is the oldest and most recognized of medals bestowed on military personnel. General George Washington introduced it and its purpose in his instructions given August 7, 1782 at Newburg, New York:

“The General ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every spies of Military merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding.  Not only instances of unusual gallantry, but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due reward.  Before this favor can be conferred on any man, the particular fact, or facts, on which it is to be grounded must be set forth to the commander in chief accompanied with certificates from the Commanding officers of the regiment and brigade of which the candidate for reward belonged, or other incontestable proofs, and upon granting it, the name and regiment of the person with the action so certified are to be enrolled in the book of merit which will be kept at the orderly office.  Men who have mended this last distinction to be suffered to pass all guards and sentinels which officers are permitted to do.

The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all. This order is also to have retrospect to the earliest stages of the war, and to be considered as a permanent one.”

General Washington had been forbidden to promote or grant commissions to individuals who he considered should be rewarded for commendable duty to country and fellow soldiers.  This Purple Heart Badge of Military Merit was his response.

Only three known medals were awarded during the Revolutionary War before falling in disuse. However, there could have been more but the Book of Merit which contained all who had been awarded the Purple Heart had been lost. The three known recipients were: Sgt. Elijah Churchill (for raids conducted against British fortifications on Long Island), 2^nd Continental Dragoons; Sgt. William Brown (gallantry in the Battle at Yorktown in October 1781), 5^th Connecticut; and Sgt. Daniel Bissel (for spying on the British troops in New York City and returning with important intelligence), 2^nd Connecticut Continental Line Infantry.

An award for merit was suggested in 1918 by General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing after he and his fellow American officers became aware of numerous military awards given by the French and British during WWI. There were awards given for extreme heroism and service, i.e. Army’s Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, and Distinguished Service for Army and Navy, but it was an exclusive group. The Purple Heart was eventually revived on February 22, 1932, George Washington’s 200^th birth anniversary by General Order No 3 of the War Department (now the Department of Defense):

“By order of the President of the United States, the Purple Heart established by General George Washington at Newburg, August 7, 1782, during the War of the Revolution, is hereby revived out of respect to his memory and military achievements. – By Order of the Secretary War, Douglas MacArthur, General Chief of Staff.”

This resurrection of the medal did not happen overnight or on a whim.  General Charles Summerall summited the ideal to Congress in October 1927. In January 1928, the Army’s Office of The Adjutant General was instructed to submit materials, including a design for the ‘military merit’ medal. General Douglas MacArthur, who succeed Summerall, continued the effort to resurrect the military medal. Elizabeth Will, Office of the Quartermaster General – Army heraldic specialist, was given the task of designing the medal. A sculpture by John Sinnock, Philadelphia Mint, was selected in May 1931.

The reinstated Army medal was for “singularly meritorious act of extraordinary fidelity service” and “a wound which necessitates treatment by a medical officer and which is received in action with an enemy, may, in the judgment of the commander authorized to make the award, be construed as resulting from a singularly meritorious act of essential service.” Following the reinstatement of the medal, 137 WWI veterans met at Temple Hill, New Windsor, NY (the site of the 1782-1783 winter encampment of the Continental Army) where they were conferred the Purple Heart.

This Army medal was authorized as an award to all military by Executive Order 9277, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in December 1942 but retroactive to December 7, 1941 with a rewording of the criteria for the award to: “are wounded in action against an enemy of the United States, or as a result of an act of such enemy, provided such would necessitate treatment by a medical officer.” The medal could, henceforth, be awarded by the Navy to sailors, marines, and coast guard (the Air Force was part of the Army), and it could be awarded to the awardee posthumously for such actions, on or after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Once the Legion of Merit was instituted in 1942, the awarding of the Purple Heart evolved; it is awarded to U.S. Armed Services members who have been wounded, killed, or died after being wounded.

President Harry S. Truman extended the date from Pearl Harbor’s attack to April 5, 1917 in an Executive Order 10409 in November 1952. Consequently, Purple Hearts were authorized as posthumous awards to Navy, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps personnel killed in the line of duty back to the 1917 date (November 12, 1952).

President John F. Kennedy’s Executive Order 11016 redefined the medal in April 1962 to “any civilian national of the United States, who while serving under competent authority in any capacity with an armed force…, has been, or may hereafter be, wounded [killed]” may be awarded the medal posthumously. Kin could make an application for the award for civilians killed under competent military authority from April 5, 1917 (April 25, 1962).

President Ronald Reagan’s Executive Order 12464 authorized awarding the medal “as a result of terrorist attacks or while serving as part of a peacekeeping force’ after March 28, 1973 (February 23, 1984).

US Code 10 section 1129, per LP 1103-160 allowed Purple Hearts to be awarded for wounds or death resulting from friendly fire unless said ‘friendly fire’ was from willful misconduct (November 30, 1993).

PL 104-106 Section 521 expanded Purple Heart eligibility to POWs wounded during capture or during captivity prior to April 25, 1962. POWs wounded post that date are considered on a case to case basis (February 10, 1996).

Civilians were removed from possible recipients by the 1998 National Defense Authorization Act, so once again the Purple Heart is a military medal only (May 19, 1996).

Per a memo from the Department of Defense to the secretaries of the military departments dated October 1, 2008, the Purple Heart was authorized for POWs after December 7, 1941 who died in captivity.

On April 28, 2011, the Department of Defense standardized evaluation of ‘non-penetrating wound’ for consideration of awarding a Purple Heart. Injuries of this type include mild traumatic brain injuries and concussions.

That those killed or wounded in domestic terrorist activities could be considered for a Purple Heart was announced by the Department of Defense on February 6, 2015.

How many have been awarded? Not even the military knows. The 1973 fire at National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis destroyed 20,000,000 military records dating from 1912 thru 1961. Some records were lost when the British fired Washington, D.C. in 1815 though the books and records were saved, letters and recommendations of appointments for the Army and communications for the previous seven years was lost. And, of course as earlier mentioned, the Book of Merit which listed any and all of the medals awarded during the Revolutionary War has never been recovered.

 

Sources:
Borch, Fred L. “A Heart of Purple. Prologue. Online. https://www.archives.gov/publications /prologue/2012/winter/purple-heart.pdf Winter 2012.  Accessed 10 July 2016.

https://www.google.com/search?q=purple+heart&biw=822&bih=750&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj8xqizl-nNAhVL5yYKHW0SDOQQ7AkIkQE#tbm=isch&q=purple+heart+ revolutionary+war&imgrc=12uLKPHqAQ-tpM%3A   Accessed 10 July 2016.

http://www.homeofheroes.com/verify/  Doug Sterner, HOH Webmaster. Accessed 10 July 2016.

http://www.thepurpleheart.com/history/  Accessed 10 July 2016.

http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/purple-heart.pdf  Accessed 10 July 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington  Accessed 10 July 2016.