American Minute with Bill Federer How did January 1st become New Year’s Day? and How is it connected to Leap Day?

Published January 1, 2026 | By Hal Shurtleff
 Camp Constitution wishes all a Happy and Blessed New Year.

Why is January 1st New Year’s Day on our calendar.

It is a simple question, but one has to go on a journey to find the answer.

First, we must look at the origins of our calendar … continue reading …

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MIRACULOUS MILESTONES in Science, Medicine & Innovation – And the Faith of Those Who Achieved Them

Prior to the invention of clocks, watches and digital devices, ancient peoples used calendars based on the moon, whose lunar cycles incrementally shifted through the seasons every 19 years, serving as an enormous generational clock.
Countries had their own calendars, usually connected to agricultural growing seasons:

Sumerian, Egyptian, Assyrian, Elamite (ancient Persia), Zoroastrian, Greek, and Hebrew.

These calendars had different numbers of days in a week and different number of weeks in a month, often with an extra “catch-all” month in the winter of varying lengths.

The ancient Babylonian calendar began with the first new moon after the Spring Equinox, March 21.

The Egyptian calendar was tied to the annual flooding of the Nile River.

The word “calends” is the Latin name of the first day of each month in the Roman calendar.

As the Roman Empire conquered other countries, it found it difficult to sync all the different calendars.

To fix this, in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar borrowed from Egypt and instituted a single solar calendar based on the sun.

It was called the Julian Calendar, with 365 days, the amount of time it takes for the Earth to rotate around the Sun.
There was a problem. Each year was six hours short, so to keep it accurate, ever four years the Julian Calendar added an extra day – a “leap” day, on February 29.

The Julian Calendar also officially recognized that the Romans moved the beginning of the year from March to January first.

January was named after Janus, the Roman god in charge of doors, from where we get the word “janitor.”

March was named after Mars, the Roman god of war.

Remnants of March being the old first month is still in our calendar, with the names: September, October, November, and December.

“Sept” is Latin for seven, but now September is the ninth month.

“Oct” is Latin for eight, as in octagon – an eight- sided figure, but now October is the tenth month.

“Nov” is Latin for nine, but now it is the eleventh month, and

“Dec” is Latin for ten, as in decimal, divisible by ten, but now it is the twelfth month.

Rome’s old fifth month, Quintilis, was renamed after Julius Caesar, being called “July.”

Since it only had 30 days, Julius Caesar took a day from the old end of the year, February, and added it to July, giving the month 31 days.

The next emperor, Augustus Caesar, renamed the old sixth month, Sextilis, after himself, calling it “August.”

He also took a day from the old end of the year, February, and added it to August, giving that month 31 days, and leaving February with only 28 days.

Augustus Caesar also had his version of global surveillance to track everyone. It was called a census or tax enrollment.

Luke 21:1-3 “In those days … there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.”

Romans persecuted Christians for three centuries in ten major persecutions until Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., legalizing Christianity.

Just as Julius Caesar unified the Roman Empire with the Julian Calendar, Constantine wanted to unify the Christian Roman Empire by having everyone use the same date to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, the most important event in the Christian calendar.

The Apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians 15:20

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

At the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., Constantine insisted that Easter be on a Sunday.

This was a defining moment. It separated Jewish Christians — as Jesus and his disciples were Jewish – from the emerging Gentile Church.

Prior to Constantine, Christians would ask Jewish rabbis when Passover would be celebrated each year, which was the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan.

The Latin word for “fourteenthers” is Quarto-deciman.

Since Constantine wanted Easter on Sunday, and the Jewish day related to Passover could occur on any day of the week, it turned into the Quarto-decimanism controversy.

Constantine ended the controversy by creating a non-Jewish formula to determine the date of Easter on a Sunday.

It would be the first Sunday after the first paschal full moon falling on or after the Spring Equinox.

“Equinox” is a solar calendar term:

“equi” means “equal”

and

“nox” means “night.”

Thus “equinox” is a day when there is an equal amount of daylight and nighttime.

It occurs in the Spring around March 20-21 and in Autumn around September 22-23.

In the year 325 A.D., Constantine’s new date for Easter was March 21. Those not complying with his new formula were persecuted.

A liturgical table of church dates was compiled with all the future dates of Easter.

Not everyone was happy with Constantine’s formula, in fact it was a big sticking point between Celtic Christian tradition in the British Isles and Roman Catholic tradition.

The Celtic date of Easter was very meaningful as that was the day Saint Patrick confronted the Druid chieftain King Loigaire – “King Leary,” circa 433 A.D., resulting in a large number of Irish converting to Christianity.

Nevertheless, at the Synod of Whitby Abbey in 664 AD, King Oswy of Northumbria agreed to have the Celtic Church come under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and adopt its liturgical table of church dates.

In 526 A.D., during the reign of Christian Emperor Justinian, the scholarly monk Dionysius Exigus thought it inappropriate that dates were still being recorded in relation to the reign of anti-Christian Emperor Diolcetian – “anno Diocletiani.”

He began making notations marking down dates in relation to the birth of Jesus – “anno Domini,” which in Latin means “in the year of the Lord’s reign.”

Gradually, this method of recording became the dating system used throughout the world, with all dates being either B.C. “Before Christ” or A.D. “Anno Domini.”

In the late 19th century, secular academia popularized the use of BCE – “Before Common Era” and CE “Common Era.”

The futility of this is displayed with the question, when did time change from Before Common Era to Common Era?

The answer is the birth of Christ. In their attempt to ignore Christ, they nonetheless acknowledge Him.

In 567 A.D., the Council of Tours considered January first a pagan date since it was associated with Rome, so it moved the beginning of the year to Christmas Day.

The Council of Tours also made the twelve days between Christmas, December 25 and Epiphany, January 6, when the wise men visited, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

The days were called “holy days,” which later came to be pronounced “holidays.”

During the Middle Ages, France celebrated New Year’s Day on Easter.

Henry the Eighth’s Tudor England celebrated the New Year’s Day on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.

The Julian Calendar, upon which the liturgical church tables were based, had one slight discrepancy – it was off each year by 11 minutes and 14 seconds.

Because of this, the date of Easter incrementally moved ten days ahead of the liturgical church table of dates based on Constantine’s formula tied to the Spring Equinox.

In 1582, Pope Gregory the Thirteenth decided to revise the calendar by eliminating ten days.

He kept the leap day every 4th year but added a minor adjustment.

There would be NO leap year in years divisible by 100 unless they are also divisible by 400.

For instance, there IS a leap day in the years 1600, 2000, 2400, but there is NO leap day in the years 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100.

 

It sounds complicated, but it is so accurate the Gregorian Calendar is used internationally today.

Pope Gregory’s “Gregorian Calendar” also reversed the Council of Tours and moved the beginning of the New Year BACK to Julius Caesar’s January 1st date.

Catholic countries quickly adopted the Gregorian Calendar, but Protestant countries continued to use the Julian Calendar for nearly two more centuries.

England was an Anglican Protestant country and therefore reluctant to adopt the more accurate Catholic Gregorian Calendar.

This gave rise to some interesting record keeping.

For example: ships would leave Catholic Europe on one date in the Gregorian Calendar, called “New Style,” and arrive in Protestant England at an earlier date on the Julian Calendar, called “Old Style.”

Another example is that England’s William Shakespeare and Spain’s Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote of La Mancha, died on the same date, April 23, 1616.

But when the differences between England’s Julian Calendar and Spain’s Gregorian Calendar are taken into consideration, Cervantes actually died ten days BEFORE Shakespeare.

The Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts on November 11, 1620, in the Old Style Julian Calendar, which equates to November 21, 1620, in the New Style Gregorian Calendar.

In 1752, England and its colonies finally adopted the Gregorian Calendar, but by that time there was an 11-day discrepancy between the “Old Style” – OS and the “New Style” – NS.

When America finally adjusted its calendar, the day after September 2, 1752, Old Style, became September 14, 1752, New Style. There were reportedly accounts of confusion and even rioting.

As countries of Western Europe, particularly Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch and English, began to trade and establish colonies around the world, the Gregorian Calendar came into international use.

Eventually, it was used to date all events globally, and with it, the first day of January became recognized as New Year’s Day.
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The Betrayal of China: “Again May God Forgive Us”

Published December 31, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

 Again, May God Forgive Us is an updated version of Robert Welch’s May God Forgive Us- a book which exposes the people in the United States that helped betray the Chinese people into the hands of the communists.

 

ON July 14, 1951 an American business man sat down to write a letter to a friend. It was a letter that took some thirty days, and ran to thirty-seven typewritten pages. In these pages, Robert H. W. Welch, Jr., set forth brilliantly and convincingly a straightforward clarification of some important recent history in Asia. At the same time he poured into paragraph after paragraph his indignation at the stupidity and suspicions of treason revealed by this history, and his alarm at the continuing course of events. This book is his letter, now published only after his friends had distributed several thousand mimeographed copies.

Robert H. W. Welch, Jr., gives here the historical background of events which culminated in the dismissal of General MacArthur. Using on the public information available to him, he goes back twenty-five years to the first Communist uprising in China, Step by step he traces the blunders, betrayals, and deceptions which formed the United States foreign policy, the policy which led to sweeping Communist victories in China. As a concise, thorough summary of these events this book is invaluable.
The final part of the book is a short biographical sketch of Chiang Kai-Shek (1887-1975), leader of the Republic of China between 1928-1975, first in mainland China until 1949 and then in Taiwan until his death.

“Your treatise is just the kind of concise exposition of a whole picture which, as a publisher, I was constantly seeking and so seldom found. It presents for the first time in brief compass, with convincing honesty, crucial and appalling facts of a foreign policy that has led from one Communist victory to another; a foreign policy that, in spite of all revelations of stupidities and betrayals, has not been corrected and is still heading in the same direction. If your small book is read widely enough it can have far-reaching results.”—W. T. COUCH, Former Director, University of Chicago Press

We have paperback copies of the book available for $15. shipping included.

For a free PDF version of the book, please E-mail me at campconstitutiion1@gmail.com

 

Vietnam: Background to Betrayal

Published December 31, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

The best book I have ever read on the subject of the Vietnam War is Background to Betrayal by Hilaire du Berrier.  It was published by Western Islands in 1965.   The author was a friend of the Emperor of Vietnam and his family.  In the early 1990s, I was invited to a private meeting with the author but had a prior engagement.

 From the foreword by Robert Welch:

At the time this book is being published, the heated words of dispute over what is really happening in Vietnam have soared into a conflagration. Everybody from Suzanne Labin and Senator Dodd to Henry Cabot Lodge and Maxwell Taylor has versions to give you of who is doing what to whom, and why and for what purpose. And in some of these versions, anyway, any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.

This book, however, is not concerned primarily with the present tragedy in Vietnam. Its subtitle is “the tragedy of Vietnam,” which indicates a far longer perspective. The carefully stage-managed horror now being acted out in that unhappy country is of great interest because of the undisclosed purposes for which this fraud is being perpetrated and prolonged. But this volume is history, not conjecture. It was the destruction and demoralization of anti-Communist groups and leaders in South Vietnam, already carried out by the end of the Eisenhower Administration through the regime it had imposed on the Vietnamese people, to which the current confusion is but an epilogue. And regardless of whatever whole new tragedy this confusion may be intended to serve in turn as a prologue, the author of this book is simply attempting to make clear the background to the total betrayal.

It is apparent, to anybody who will study all of the antics on this stage with prerequisite knowledge and objective vision, that Communist influences are pulling strings and determining actions on both sides, exactly as we now know to have been the case in the Korean War. And it is entirely possible that a repetition of that sham, on a far more extensive scale and with far more serious aspects and results, might be in the making.

A war between ourselves and the Chinese Communists, in and supposedly over Vietnam, exactly as took place in Korea, would enable leftwing influences in the present Administration, and their Soviet allies, to make even more effective use, than has been achieved so far, of the highly publicized but wholly fictitious feud between Red Russia and Red China. As in World War II, the Soviets would again become our “noble allies.” The rapprochement between our government and the Soviet government could be made visibly far greater, and in detailed practical effect far more extensive, than it is today. And the regimentation that could be imposed on the American people, by an Administration which has already shown itself to be hell-bent for tyranny, with this war against Red China as the excuse, would make the government controls of World War II look like a study in free enterprise and personal liberty.

When Communist-led students and Communist front groups parade and picket against our remaining in Vietnam, right while the actual results of our staying there continue to be so damaging to any residue of real anti-Communist strength in that country, you can be sure that the plotters activating these poor misguided puppets are seeking to support the belief, of the even more misguided American people, that we really are trying to save Vietnam from Communism – and are willing to use force to do so. This psychological buildup of a willingness on the part of the American people to accept a state of war against the Red Chinese is just one of a great many straws in the wind, indicating that such a phonily controlled, play-acting, but horribly cruel, war may be blowing towards us.

Readers who would like a free PDF version of the book, may E-mail me at campconstitution1@gmail.com 

 

 

 

 

 

THEY DIDN’T LOSE THE MONEY. THEY STOLE IT. (Explained by a Former Prosecutor) by Kevin Hayslett

Published December 30, 2025 | By campconstitution
This photo is what “successful programs”
An empty cafeteria.
A metal tray.
No food.
No children.
 Minnesota is asking the question.
The rest of the country is watching in disbelief.
Why is nobody in handcuffs?
I spent years as a prosecutor. Here’s the truth about accountability that press conferences will never admit.
Large government fraud doesn’t survive because of secrecy.
It survives because of routine.
No single signature looks criminal.
No single approval feels reckless.
Each step is small. Defensible. Boring.
 Fraud at this scale doesn’t look like a crime — it looks like a process that never gets stopped.
But make no mistake: this wasn’t an accounting error.
It was a looting.
 They didn’t just fudge numbers on a spreadsheet.
They invented ghost children.
They used the names of real kids to steal real money.
Right up until the money was gone.
That’s how nine figures disappear.
Not with villains in alleys.
But with meetings in conference rooms.
 And while they were writing checks to fraudsters for meals that never existed, you were scanning coupons for diapers.
 While they were laughing in those conference rooms, you were putting items back on the grocery shelf because the total was too high.
Every parent knows what it means to choose less for yourself so a child can have enough.
 Fraud doesn’t kick down doors in government.
It walks right through them.
With a badge.
And a calendar invite.
People think exposure equals justice.
It doesn’t.
 Exposure is just the moment the public finally notices what insiders already normalized.
And that’s exactly what happened here.
 Minnesotans didn’t suddenly wake up.
They knew something was wrong for a long time.
What they didn’t have was leverage.
This exposure didn’t begin inside government.
It began outside it.
 Independent reporting forced details into public view that formal oversight had left buried. Only after that external scrutiny did official explanations follow.
 That sequence matters.
Because accountability that begins after exposure isn’t prevention.
It’s damage control.
 Real accountability is the moment someone says,
“This stops with me.”
 In my experience, that moment almost never comes from inside the building.
Because government doesn’t prosecute itself by instinct.
It does it reluctantly.
Late.
 And only when silence becomes more dangerous than speaking up.
Look at the incentives.
Inspectors report up the same chain they’re supposed to challenge.
Oversight offices answer to the people whose decisions they’re reviewing.
 Everyone is “monitoring.”
Which means no one is responsible.
That’s not incompetence.
That’s insulation.
People think outrage moves cases forward.
It doesn’t.
Outrage fades.
Pensions don’t.
Delay is the ultimate defense.
Silence is safer than truth.
Time doesn’t heal scandals — it buries them in paperwork.
 That’s why investigations stall.
Not because nothing went wrong.
But because proving who knew what, when they knew it, and why they signed anyway is slow, dangerous, and professionally radioactive.
 The paper trail survives.
Responsibility evaporates.
And no — this isn’t just Minnesota.
Any system that moves billions through layered approvals without real-time verification isn’t “vulnerable.”
 It is designed to look away.
When approving contracts gets you promoted, but asking questions gets you labeled “difficult,” the system trains compliance — not protection of the public.
 This doesn’t require a hero.
It requires jurisdiction that isn’t conflicted.
In my experience, justice only moves when the people with the handcuffs don’t answer to the people with the checkbook.
And that brings us to the Governor.
 Tim Walz is currently seeking a third term. During the vice-presidential debate, he publicly praised these programs as a success.
If a CEO lost hundreds of millions of dollars and called it a “success,” they wouldn’t be asking for a contract renewal.
They’d be under investigation.
And if nothing happens now —
after the facts are public,
after the numbers are known,
after the damage is undeniable —
then this wasn’t a failure of oversight.
It was a choice.
 In Minnesota, apparently looting — politely, legally, and right in the open — is what passes for governance.
They are banking on you being too tired to care.
Prove them wrong.
If accountability matters to you, share this.
Kevin Hayslett   Grateful Husband | Proud Dad of three sons
Furman • USNA • USMA grads
Faith • Family • Freedom 🇺🇸
Patriot | Lawyer | Tarpon Jumper

The Green Mafia At It Again

Published December 30, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

It has been my observation that the two times that the Green Mafia raises the crescendo of its fright peddling is when we are experiencing unusually warm weather or unusually cold weather.  This month, of course is the latter especially in the Northeast.  Over the past few days, fake news outlets have been reporting that 2025 was the warmest in history, etc, etc.

Back in 2019, I had the opportunity to interview weather historian Tony Heller who offers a sound perspective on the subject of heart waves and the world is coming to an end.

 

American Minute with Bill Federer 1777 Freezing Valley Forge & Starving Ships “If those few thousand men endured that long winter of suffering … what right have we to be of little faith?”

Published December 29, 2025 | By campconstitution
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Washington lost the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, and was force to retreat toward Philadelphia … continue reading …

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GIFT EDITION – Miracles in American History-50 Amazing Stories of Answered Prayers

Near the same time, British General Burgoyne’s troops marched south from Canada toward Albany, New York, expecting British reinforcements from Brigadier-General Barry St. Leger’s troops marching east through the Mohawk River Valley, and General William Howe’s troop marching north from New York City up the Hudson River Valley.
Reinforcements never arrived.

 

St. Leger’s troops were halted by a torrential thunderstorm following the bloody Battle of Oriskany near the American Fort Stanwix.
General Howe, instead of helping Burgoyne, decided to set sail from New York City to capture Philadelphia — America’s largest city and busiest port.

Howe’s inexplicable action was considered to be, at least in part, motivated by professional rivalry between British Generals.

Howe’s lack of support for Burgoyne’s plan contributed to the British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga. Nearly 6,000 British troops surrendered.

The American victory at Saratoga persuaded France to enter the war, transforming it from simply Britain suppressing rebellious colonies into a full global conflict between the world’s two largest military powers.

Britain’s military resources now had to be stretched across the world.

In his rogue plan, British General William Howe landed and marched his troops toward Philadelphia, which was effectively the capitol of the United States.

In European warfare, if a general captured an enemy’s capitol, the war was considered over.
Rather than surrender, America’s Continental Congress quickly evacuated Philadelphia.

They even took the down the Liberty Bell and carried it with them so the British could not melt it into musket balls.
Congress had written an order, December 12, 1776, effectively leaving the entire cause of independence to rest upon Washington’s shoulders :

“… until Congress shall otherwise order, General Washington shall be possessed of full power to order and direct all things relative to … the operations of the war.”

Washington attempted to fight the British, but at the Battle of the Clouds, torrential rains drenched the gunpowder of both sides, rendering all firearms useless.

Washington then led his 11,000 American soldiers on a forced retreat to a place 25 miles distant from Philadelphia — Valley Forge, on December 19, 1777.

Meanwhile, another 11,000 Americans were dying on British starving ships Scorpion, Hope, Falmouth, Stromboli, Hunter, and Jersey.

Yale President Ezra Stiles recounted May 8, 1783:

“‘O that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears,’ that I might weep the thousands of our brethren that have perished in prison ships–

… in one of which, the Jersey, then lying at New York, perished above eleven thousand the last three years — while others have been barbarously exiled to the East Indies for life.”
The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument stands in Fort Greene Park, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
Soldiers at Valley Forge were from every State in the new union, some as young as 12 and others as old as 60.
Though most were of European descent, some were African American and American Indian.

Among them were:

  • Marquis de Lafayette,
  • Colonel “Mad Anthony” Wayne,
  • future Chief Justice John Marshall,
  • Lutheran pastor turned Major-General John Peter Muhlenberg, and

 

  • George Washington’s Jewish physician, Dr. Philip Moses Russell.
Lacking food and supplies, soldiers died at the rate of twelve per day.

Over 2,500 froze to death in bitter cold, or perished from hunger, typhoid, jaundice, dysentery, and pneumonia.

In addition, hundreds of horses perished in the freezing weather.

A Committee from Congress reported on the soldiers:

“Feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessary to amputate them.”
Wives and children followed the army, mending clothes, doing laundry, scavenging for food, and caring for the sick.

An estimated 500 women died at Valley Forge.
President Calvin Coolidge told the Daughters of the American Revolution, April 19, 1926:

“We have been told of the unselfish devotion of the women who gave their own warm garments to fashion clothing for the suffering Continental Army during that bitter winter at Valley Forge.

The burdens of the war were not all borne by the men.”
A surgeon from Connecticut, Dr. Albigence Waldo, wrote in his diary:

“December 25th — Christmas. We are still in tents, when ought to be in huts — the poor sick, suffer much in tents this cold weather.

But we now treat them differently from what they used to be at home, under the inspection of old women and Doct. Bolus Linctus.

We give them mutton and grogg — and a captial medicine once in a while — to start the disease from its foundation at once.
… We avoid piddling pills, powders, Babus’s Linctus’s cordials (cough lozenges) — and all such insignificant matters whose powers are only rendered important by causing the patient to vomit up his money instead of his disease.”
Two days before Christmas, George Washington wrote:

“We have this day no less than 2,873 men in camp UNFIT FOR DUTY because they are barefooted and otherwise naked …”
Washington added:

“… that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place … this Army must inevitably … starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can.”
The Continental Congress talked of replacing General George Washington with General Horatio Gates of Battle of Saratoga fame.

Called the “Conway Cabal,” it was orchestrated by Thomas Conway, who Washington had passed over for promotion.
When an anonymous letter was sent to Virginia Governor Patrick Henry, attempting to enlist him in the plot, Henry immediately sent the letter to George Washington to warn him of the insidious scheme.

Maryland delegate Charles Carroll, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration, was instrumental in persuading Congress to keep Washington as Commander-in-Chief.

USB – Miracles in American History: Vol. ONE (40 video episodes-contents of all 4 DVDs)
Hessian Major Carl Leopold Baurmeister noted the only thing that kept the American army from disintegrating was their “spirit of liberty.”

A farmer reportedly observed General Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow.
President Ronald Reagan stated in a Radio Address, December 24, 1983:

“The image of George Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow is one of the most famous in American history.”
The Boy Scout Handbook, 5th edition (1948), in the section ‘Duty to God’:

“You worship God regularly with your family in your church or synagogue … faithful to Almighty God’s Commandments. Most great men in history have been men of deep religious faith. Washington knelt in the snow to pray at Valley Forge.”
President Dwight Eisenhower broadcast from the White House for the American Legion’s Back-to-God Program, February 7, 1954:

“We remember the picture of the Father of our Country, on his knees at Valley Forge seeking divine guidance in the cold gloom of a bitter winter.

Thus Washington gained strength to lead to independence a nation dedicated to the belief that each of us is divinely endowed with indestructible rights.”
On April 21, 1778, General Washington wrote to Lt. Col. John Banister:

“No history … can furnish an instance of an army’s suffering such uncommon hardships as ours has done, and bearing them with the same patience and fortitude —
… To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without shoes, by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet, and almost as often without provisions …

marching through frost and snow, and at Christmas taking up their winter quarters within a day’s march of the enemy, without a house or hut to cover them

… and submitting to it without a murmur, is a mark of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled.”

George Washington sent a desperate plea for help to Virginia Governor Patrick Henry:

“For several days past we have experienced little less than a famine in the camp and have had much cause to dread a general mutiny and dispersion.

From every appearance, there has been heretofore so astonishing and deficiency in providing that unless the most vigorous and effectual measures are at once everywhere adopted … we shall not be able to make another campaign.”

Outraged, Henry wrote to the Continental Congress:

“I am really shocked at the management of Congress.”
Spurred to look into the situation, it was discovered that there was mismanagement by the Continental Army’s Quartermaster, General Thomas Mifflin, who had been caught up in the Conway Cabal.

A controversy arose as to whether he exhibited incompetence, or, as some allege, was waylaying supplies bound for Valley Forge into his own warehouses to be sold to the highest bidder.

When Mifflin was confronted, he resigned.
Washington chose as the new Quartermaster General, Nathanial Greene, and within days Valley Forge had clothing, food, and other supplies.

A Christmas carol that would have lifted the country’s spirits at this time was “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” first published in 1760 on a broadsheet in London as a “New Christmas carol.”

It was “the most common and generally popular of all carol tunes”:

“God rest ye merry, gentlemen,

Let nothing you dismay.

For Jesus Christ our Savior,

Was born on Christmas Day;

To save us all from Satan’s power,

When we were gone astray.

(Chorus)

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.”
Overcoming the freezing conditions, soldiers prepared to fight.

In February, 1778, there arrived in the camp Prussian drill master Baron Friedrich von Steuben, who had been a member of the elite General Staff of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.

Baron von Steuben, who was sent with the recommendation of Ben Franklin, drilled the soldiers daily, transforming them from volunteers into a disciplined army.

Lutheran Pastor Henry Muhlenberg, whose sons Peter and Frederick served in the First U.S. Congress, wrote in The Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman:

“I heard a fine example today, namely that His Excellency General Washington rode around among his army yesterday and admonished each to fear God, to put away wickedness … and to practice Christian virtues …”
Muhlenberg continued:

“From all appearances General Washington does not belong to the so-called world of society, for he respects God’s Word, believes in the atonement through Christ, and bears himself in humility and gentleness.

Therefore, the Lord God has also singularly, yea, marvelously preserved him from harm in the midst of countless perils, ambuscades, fatigues, etc., and has hitherto graciously held him in his hand as a chosen vessel.”
Washington successfully kept the army intact through the devastating winter, and gave the order at Valley Forge, April 12, 1778:

“The Honorable Congress having thought proper to recommend to the United States of America to set apart Wednesday, the 22nd inst., to be observed as a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,

that at one time, and with one voice, the righteous dispensations of Providence may be acknowledged, and His goodness and mercy towards our arms supplicated and implored:

The General directs that the day shall be most religiously observed in the Army; that no work shall be done thereon, and that the several chaplains do prepare discourses.”

On May 2, 1778, Washington ordered:

“The Commander-in-Chief directs that Divine service be performed every Sunday …

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion.

To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian.”
President Dwight Eisenhower stated December 24, 1953, lighting the National Christmas Tree:

“George Washington long ago rejected exclusive dependence upon mere materialistic values. In the bitter and critical winter at Valley Forge, when the cause of liberty was so near defeat, his recourse was sincere and earnest prayer …

As religious faith is the foundation of free government, so is prayer an indispensable part of that faith.”
On May 1, 1778, a messenger arrived at Valley Forge with a letter from Benjamin Franklin in Paris, announcing that the French government had signed two treaties to help the Americans: a Treaty of Amity and Commerce; and a Treaty of Alliance, pledging military aid.

Washington declared a day of celebration, beginning with religious services.
Speaking at Valley Forge during the crisis of the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover admonished May 30, 1931:

“If, by the grace of God, we stand steadfast in our great traditions through this time of stress, we shall insure that we and our sons and daughters shall see these fruits increased many fold …

If those few thousand men endured that long winter of privation and suffering … held their countrymen to the faith, and by that holding held fast the freedom of America, what right have we to be of little faith?”

—

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Miricle of the Birth by Keith Davis

Published December 25, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6, from 600 years before.
(Isaiah 53 tells of Jesus’ last days in great detail)

It’s not just about the family going there and Jesus being born in a humble manger.
That’s often the extent of discussion of the birth of Jesus.
The Hand of God was at work in many ways, not always discussed.

First, Joseph and Mary, expecting the birth, could have stayed in their home or town, Nazareth, in the
comfort of their family, friends and those who could help with the birth.
But the Governor, under orders from Caesar Augustus, decreed for the very first time that a census be
taken and people had to travel to the town from where they were born and be registered in that’s
town’s census.

The family traveled there, and being so close to the time of birth, probably knew the burden that might
impose. But to Bethlehem they went.

Upon arriving, they went to ‘the Inn,’ indicating there was probably only 1 inn in the town, and possibly
because of the decree or holiday, many people might have traveled there, so no rooms were available.
It might have been suggested that one of many mangers might be available as a place for them to stay.
We sometimes envision a manger and a small building in a large field. (The shepherds traveled into
Bethlehem as told by the Angels) But, the family was in town and looked for a manger in the area. In
those days, the homes were on crowded, narrow streets. And it was common to have a 2 story house
where people lived, often on the second floor. Because space was limited, the second floor often
overhung the street a bit to give the second floor a little more room.

In some cases, the family owned animals, possibly a donkey, a sheep or goat, and the first floor was used
as a crib for the animals. This served to supply the warmth of the animal to help keep the second floor
warm on cold nights.
Those who had these cribs (or mangers) might have commonly let people stay in the manger, letting
people stay for free or for a fee. It was a humble setting, for sure. So Joseph and Mary probably found a
place available somewhere in the town. Jesus was then born in a manger.

Now, to put everything in perspective and looking at the bigger picture:
Jesus had to be born in a manger. A manger was the birthplace of lambs and goats where one of
perfection would be selected and used as a sacrifice for atonement of sins. That was critical, because
He was to be the perfect Lamb of sacrifice.

If the Holy Spirit had not moved upon Caesar and if the Governor had not decreed the census requiring
people to return to their home towns, Joseph and Mary would not have gone, and, if the Inn had a
room, then the family would not have looked for other arrangements, that of being offered the manger.
And Jesus wouldn’t have been born in a manger as would the perfect sacrificial lamb.
And. Bethlehem – what does that mean? Town of Bread! The very object Jesus tells us to partake of in
remembrance of His suffering and offer of salvation
Blessing to all, Keith

The Real Meaning of Christmas

Published December 24, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

I have mostly pleasant memories of CHRISTmas past- though some are in “baby fog”. It is special to me though it may be hard for some to which I am compassionate.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

The true meaning of Christmas is this: God took on the form of a human to die in our place, paying for our sins, so that humans who receive Him might be forgiven and be with Him forever.

 You are free to reject that message and the One who delivered it, but what you are not free to do is to redefine or change the message into something that fits your own beliefs and choices.

 As the carol says, “Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.”
The world today is a sad place, and those who love freedom sometimes feel we are shoveling against the tide. But for just a moment, at this time of year, we should pause and remember an event that occurred about 2,000 years ago in the Middle East.

 The world then was a far worse place, yet a light seared through the darkness. A baby was born in a cave. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The baby came into the world so that we might have life and live it abundantly. The baby came into the world so that we would be set free from our own sins, free from the temptations of the world and free from the governments that seek to control us.

 The baby was the Son of God and the Prince of Peace and the Savior of the world. This week we celebrate His birthday.
Merry CHRISTmas.

(This article was originally published in 2015 and written by our late friend and mentor Pastor Garrett Lear, “The Patriot Pastor who would often say “We have no king by King Jesus” and ended his presentations with “Someone has stolen my country and I want her back now.”

Camp Constitution wishes all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Speaker Patriot Garrett Lear

Garrett Lear “The Patriot Pastor” 1948-2021

‘You missed the point’: Inspired governor smacks down anti-God folks demanding Christ-less Christmas

Published December 23, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff
The following article is reposted with permission from World Net Daily.  Note that the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed an “amicus brief” against Camp Constitution’s “Shurtleff v Boston” case back in 2021.

“Though you may enter this season with bitterness, know that Christ is with you, that He loves you, and that He died for your sins just the same as He did for mine and everyone else’s’

By Bob Unruh

Christmas lights are illuminated beneath a full moon at Peddler's Village in Lahaska, Pennsylvania, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Photo by Joe Kovacs)
Christmas lights are illuminated beneath a full moon at Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, Pennsylvania, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Photo by Joe Kovacs)

The governor of Arkansas, former Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has publicly rebuked a group of “foundation” folks who wrote to her after she announced state offices would be closed for Christmas to demand she make the holiday Christ-less.

It was the leftist Freedom from Religion Foundation, whose leaders routinely object loudly to any acknowledgement of Christianity, the Bible or even faith in a multitude of venues, that told Sanders to promote what they called an “end-of-the-year holiday” that has “broadly observed secular cultural aspects.”

Baloney, she responded, only more politely than that.

“I issued a proclamation closing state offices on Friday, December, 26, to celebrate Christmas and offer state employees more time with their families. I am in receipt of a letter from your organization calling on me to rescind that proclamation because it ‘gives a detailed theological narrative presenting core Christian doctrines, including the divinity of Jesus Christ, his crucifixion for the sins of mankind, his resurrection, and his anticipated return ‘in glory,'” she wrote.

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Not happening, she confirmed.

“You say that my communications as governor must be neutral on matters of religion. I say that, even if I wanted to do that, it would be impossible. Christmas is not simply an ‘end-of-the-year holiday’ with ‘broadly observed secular cultural aspects,’ as your letter states. It’s not gifts, trees, and stockings that make this holiday special. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and if we are to honor Him properly, we should tell His miraculous, world-changing story property, too.”

President Donald Trump and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a town-hall event in Flint, Michigan, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 (Video screenshot)
President Donald Trump and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a town-hall event in Flint, Michigan, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024

She continued, “Ironically, I received your letter claiming I was alienating my non-Christian constituents as I was leaving a Menorah lighting celebration with people from all across Arkansas. I doubt they would say that my administration alienates non-Christians. In fact, many would say the opposite: that only by voicing our own faith and celebrating other faiths can we make our state’s diverse religious communities feel seen and heard.

“I will end by saying that you missed the point of my proclamation. It was not to browbeat readers with Christian doctrine, but rather to point to the humility of Christ’s birth and to the amazing fact that the King of Kings was born not in a palace or temple, but in a humble manger attended only by poor shepherds. It is in that spirit of humility that I am reminded that Christ did not dine with wise Pharisees or rich men but rather with fishermen and outcasts.

“Though you may enter this season with bitterness, know that Christ is with you, that He loves you, and that He died for your sins just the same as He did for mine and everyone else’s.”

 

 

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Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is currently a news editor for the WND News Center, and also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh’s articles here.

First Circuit: Nashua Violated First Amendment by Censoring Citizens’ Flag Requests

Published December 23, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

Camp Constitution wishes to congratulate our friends Beth and Steve Scaer for their victory against the anti-Christian bigot Mayor of Nashau.

Federal appeals court finds city unconstitutionally censored citizens’ requests for use of “Citizen Flag Pole” under guise of “government speech”

December 22, 2025   •  By IFS Staff   •  

Stephen and Beth Scaer / Photo by: Visuals by Mugsy

Boston, MA — Can a city invite residents to fly flags on a “Citizen Flag Pole,” then censor the messages it doesn’t like by claiming those flags represent government speech?

The First Circuit has answered that question with a clear “no.”

In a major victory for free speech, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit unanimously reversed a lower court decision earlier today, holding that the City of Nashua, New Hampshire violated the First Amendment when it engaged in viewpoint discrimination by denying Bethany and Stephen Scaer’s requests to fly flags on the city’s Citizen Flag Pole. Attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech and local counsel Roy S. McCandless represent the Scaers in the litigation.

In a decision authored by Judge Sandra Lynch, the First Circuit panel rejected Nashua’s attempt to characterize its censorship as “government speech.” The court found that, between 2017 and 2024, Nashua’s Citizen Flag Pole operated as a forum for private speech, not government expression—making the city’s viewpoint-based denials unconstitutional.

“As the First Circuit recognized, governments cannot get away with censorship by labeling that censorship ‘government speech,’” said Institute for Free Speech Attorney Nathan Ristuccia, who argued the case before the First Circuit. “We are delighted that the First Circuit intervened to prevent Nashua from doing exactly that.”

“After years of being told our flags weren’t ‘in harmony’ with the city’s views, it’s vindicating to have the First Circuit confirm that was unconstitutional,” said Beth Scaer. “No one should have to face government censorship for expressing their beliefs. We’re thrilled with this victory for free speech rights throughout New England.”

The Scaers had multiple flag requests denied by Nashua, most recently a request to fly the historic Pine Tree Flag that commemorates the Battle of Bunker Hill. The city provided no explanation beyond stating that the Scaers’ flags were “not in harmony” with the city’s message.

The court’s analysis revealed the fundamental flaw in Nashua’s position: From 2017 to 2020, the city approved every single flag application without exercising meaningful control over content. Private citizens supplied their own flags, raised them themselves using a borrowed tool, organized ceremonies typically without any city officials present, and retained ownership of their flags throughout. The city even required applicants to indemnify it for damages—hardly the hallmark of government speech.

Only after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Shurtleff v. City of Boston protected speech in such forums did Nashua hastily adopt a new policy claiming the flagpole constituted “government speech”—while continuing to invite and accept citizen applications.

The First Circuit correctly assessed the purpose of this maneuver. As the court noted, Nashua initially approved Bethany Scaer’s “Save Women’s Sports” flag in 2020, then revoked permission just one day later—not because of any change in government policy or perspective, but, rather, after receiving complaints. The court observed that this sequence resembled “a classic heckler’s veto”—the government silencing speech because others found it offensive.

The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of Nashua’s policy, arguing that the city imposed viewpoint-based restrictions on speech, created an unconstitutional prior restraint, and enforced impermissibly vague standards.

“Nashua’s flag policy gives city officials unbridled discretion to censor speech they dislike,” Ristuccia explained when the Institute for Free Speech originally filed the suit. “The First Amendment doesn’t permit the government to turn a longstanding public forum into a personal billboard for city officials’ preferred views.”

The court’s decision sends an important message about free speech to municipalities throughout the First Circuit, which includes Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.

While Nashua has since closed the Citizen Flag Pole to all private expression—a choice the city remains free to make—today’s ruling prevents cities from creating forums that invite citizen participation, only to discriminate based on viewpoint under a pretense of “government speech.”

The court remanded the case with instructions for the district court to enter declaratory relief in the Scaers’ favor, formally declaring that Nashua’s actions violated the First Amendment. This declaratory judgment should prevent Nashua and cities throughout the First Circuit from adopting or reinstating similar citizen flag poles that discriminate on the basis of viewpoint and violate citizens’ free speech rights.

To read the First Circuit’s decision in Scaer, et al. v. City of Nashua, et al., click here. To visit our case page, which includes all filings and other case resources, including client photos, click here.

About the Institute for Free Speech

The Institute for Free Speech promotes and defends the political speech rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Designed by Eric Conover.