Why do we need a national
nonprofit membership society for American history?
“Save America’s Treasures” has been totally eliminated—the largest Federal program supporting preservation of such treasures as the original Star Spangled Banner and George Washington’s tent.
65% of Americans don’t know what happened at the Constitutional Convention, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
The “Teaching American History” grants—the largest Federal program supporting history education—have been completely eliminated.
Visits to the Top 20 Civil War battlefields have dropped in half from 1970 to 2009 according to official National Park Service statistics.
40% of Americans can’t identify whom we fought in World War II, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
A quarter of Americans believe Congress shares power over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations, according to a recent Annenberg survey.
“There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country,” John F. Kennedy wrote in American Heritage.
The “We the People Program,” which touched some 30 million students and 90,000 teachers over 25 years, has been completely eliminated.
Two-thirds of Americans could not correctly name Yorktown as the last major military action of the American Revolution, according to a recent national Gallup survey.
The National Heritage Areas and Scenic Byways program, the only major Federal program encouraging visits to historic places, has been completely eliminated in Congressional committee.
Dr. C. Lewett used this U.S. Army regulation surgeon's case. He served with the 16th Massachusetts Infantry from 1861 - 1864. The U.S. government supplied surgical instruments to each medical officer. They were contained in different types of cases depending upon whether their use was for a major or minor operation.
The safety lamp was used in the powder room of the Cairo to light the magazine. It was placed inside of a box that was part of the magazine bulkhead. It was lined with soldered sheets of copper, and when in use had a few drops of water in it. To throw as much light as possible into the magazine room, the bulkhead opening was covered by two panes of glasses. The glass closest to the magazine was framed and easily removed. A small dome or reversed funnel of copper was placed above the lamp and fitted with a pipe to redirect the smoke.
Description (physical):
Copper, wood, L 6, Tube Dia 6, L 29.5, W 25.2, Th 2.4 cm
These Ketcham grenades were discovered aboard Cairo. The grenade has an open hole in one end. The plunger shaft fitted in this hole. They were used in siege operations at Port Hudson, Vicksburg and Petersburg. During the Civil War, hand-grenades were still in the early phases of development. However, they were unreliable because their fuses often made them more dangerous for the thrower than for those receiving the grenade.
This firing mechanism or gun lock is from a 32 PDR (Pounder) Cannon. The navy locks recovered from the Cairo are the type patented by E. Hidden. The gun lock was designed to ignite the charge by the blow of a piece of metal known as the hammer.
Miraculously, wooden toothbrushes survived, albeit without their bristles, even after having rested on the bottom of the Yazoo River for over 100 years.