American Minute with Bill Federer Constitution Signer Hugh Williamson, and Pastors in Politics

Published April 3, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

American Minute with Bill Federer

Constitution Signer Hugh Williamson, and Pastors in Politic
 

“The most important thing is to bring people to Christ, –and the second most important thing is to preserve the freedom to do the most important thing!”–William J. Federer

This was the attitude of pastors and seminary-trained founders who served in government in early America … continue reading …

Download as PDF …

Who is the King in America? And Who are the Counselors to the King? An Overview of 6,000 Years of History & Why America is Unique

Rev. John Witherspoon (1723-1794) was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and President of Princeton who was a delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence.

Rev. John Peter Muhlenberg (1746-1807) was a Lutheran pastor in Virginia who became a major general during the Revolutionary War, a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator.

Rev. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg (1750-1801) was a Lutheran pastor in New York who was elected a U.S. Congressman and was the First Speaker of the House, signing the Bill of Rights.

Rev. Abiel Foster (1735-1806) served as pastor in Canterbury, New Hampshire, a delegate to the Continental Congress, the New Hampshire Legislature and a U.S. Congressman.

Rev. Benjamin Contee (1755-1815) was an Episcopal pastor in Maryland who served as an officer in the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and a U.S. Congressman.

Rev. Abraham Baldwin (1754-1807) served as a minister at Yale, a chaplain in the Revolutionary War, a delegate from Georgia to the Continental Congress, a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator. He was the founding president of the University of Georgia.

Rev. Paine Wingate (1739-1838) was a pastor in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator.

Rev. Joseph Montgomery (1733-1794) was a Presbyterian pastor in New Castle, Delaware, married to the sister of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration. He served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War with Colonel Smallwood’s Maryland Regiment.

Rev. Montgomery was elected a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress, a judge, and a representative in the State Assembly.

Rev. James Manning (1738-1791) was a Baptist pastor in Rhode Island who was the first President of Brown University where, during the Revolutionary War, he allowed General Rochambeau’s French troops to camp on the campus grounds. He was elected a delegate to Congress.

Rev. John Joachim Zubly (1724-1781) was a Presbyterian pastor in Georgia who was a delegate to the Continental Congress.

Silence Equals Consent – the sin of omission: Speak Now or Forever Lose Your Freedom

Evangelist George Whitefield helped spread the Great Awakening Revival throughout the colonies. He was the first to preach to mixed race audiences. In 1739,

Whitefield inspired citizens in Philadelphia to have a charity school for blacks and poor orphan children, as Whitefield, himself, had gone to a charity school in England when he was a boy. In 1740, his followers began building a church and charity school in the city.

The Charity School was formed, teaching writing, arithmetic, and the general principles of Christianity.

Unfortunately it was short-lived. By 1746, popular evangelism declined and funding for the school dried up.

In 1749, Ben Franklin convinced the board of trustees of the newly founded Academy of Philadelphia to purchase the school.

The trustees maintained the school’s vision, and expanded it to include a secondary school for boys in 1751 and a school for girls in 1753.

In 1754, the school expanded again, adding the College of Philadelphia, with Rev. William Smith as its president.

A student who enrolled in the College’s first class was Hugh Williamson. Born December 5, 1735, he was in the first graduating class, May 17, 1757.

Five days later, his father died.

Williamson taught at the Academy of Philadelphia, tutoring students in English and Latin.

Hugh Williamson was one of 21 members of the Continental Congress who graduated from the College of Philadelphia.

Nine of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were either trustees or alumni from there.

The College of Philadelphia was renamed in 1779 to the University of Pennsylvania.

Due to his role in the founding of the University, a statue of Evangelist George Whitefield was erected in Dormitory Quadrangle in 1919.

Engraved on the base of the statue was:

“The Reverend George Whitefield, Bachelor of Arts 1736, Pembroke College Oxford — Humble Disciple of Jesus Christ, Eloquent Preacher of the Gospel.”

Who is the King in America? And Who are the Counselors to the King? An Overview of 6,000 Years of History & Why America is Unique

Another person who taught at the Academy of Philadelphia was Charles Thomson, who became the Secretary of Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence.

Thomson helped design the Great Seal of the United States, and signed Congress’ authorization for Robert Aitken to print the first English Language Bible in America.

Upon retiring from Congress, Charles Thomson spent 19 years compiling the “Thomson Bible” (printed in 1808), which contained the first American translation of the Greek Septuagint.

Hugh Williamson had an amazing career, which included becoming a licensed Presbyterian pastor, a doctor, and a signer of the U.S. Constitution.

He studied theology with Rev. Samuel Finley, who later became President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton).

At age 24, Williamson decided to go into the ministry as a Presbyterian preacher.

John Neal recorded of Hugh Williamson in the Trinity College Historical Society Papers (NY: AMS Press, 1915):

“In 1759, Williamson went to Connecticut, where he pursued his theological studies and was licensed to preach.

After returning from Connecticut, he was admitted to membership in the Presbytery of Philadelphia (the oldest in America) … (and there) preached nearly two years.”

Williamson visited and prayed for the sick, and gave sermons, until a chronic chest weakness convinced him he had to pursue a career that did not involve public speaking.

He was also disaffected by the theological debates that grew out of the Great Awakening Revival — between the “Old Lights” and the “New Lights.”

“Old Lights” were older church leaders who were rigid in orthodox teachings, emphasizing the letter of the law; while “New Lights” were zealous younger church leaders who emphasized evangelism and the Holy Spirit.

In 1760, Williamson joined the faculty at his alma mater, the College of Philadelphia, where he was professor of mathematics.

After four years, Williamson traveled to Europe to study medicine. He received his medical degree from the prestigious University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

After graduation, Dr. Hugh Williamson practiced medicine in Philadelphia.

Williamson took it upon himself to raise money to start the Newark Academy, the seventh-oldest private school in the nation, founded by Rev. Alexander MacWhorter, an advisor to George Washington.

To raise funds for the academy, Williamson sailed to England, but not before stopping off in Boston, where he witnessed the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773.

When he reached London, the Privy Council — the formal advisors to the King — summoned him to testify on the rebellious actions in America.

When the Privy Council began to discuss how to punish Boston for the Tea Party, Dr. Hugh Williamson warned them that continuing their high taxes would provoke the colonies into rebellion.

He argued further that Americans should be entitled to full rights as Englishmen.

At that time, there was an American statesman in London who heard Williamson’s patriotic answers to the Privy Council. It was Ben Franklin, a founder of the school that Williamson had graduated from and taught at.

Returning to America in 1777, Dr. Hugh Williamson distinguished himself during the Revolutionary War as a Surgeon General caring for wounded North Carolina troops.

In 1780, Dr. Williamson was attached to the command of Brigadier General Isaac Gregory.

General Isaac Gregory adopted the tactics of South Carolina’s Francis Marion, nicknamed “Swamp Fox” — who would launch surprise attacks on British forces then quickly retreat into inhospitable terrain.

General Gregory stationed his troops in the Great Dismal Swamp — over 100,000 acres of dangerous wetlands between southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina.

Dr. Williamson’s insistence on sanitation, diet and preventive medicine kept the troops virtually disease free during their six months there.

After the War, in 1782, North Carolina elected Dr. Williamson as a representative to Congress.

North Carolina’s 1776 Constitution, that was in effect at the time, stated in ARTICLE 32:

“That no person, who shall deny the being of God or the truth of t he Protestant religion, or the Divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State.”

(“Protestant” was changed to “Christian” in 1835, then changed in 1868 to simply a belief in “Almighty God.”)

While in Congress, Dr. Williamson helped write the Northwest Territory laws.

He was part of the committee that proposed a clause, (though it was later omitted), for:

“… reserving the central section of every township for the maintenance of public schools and the section immediately to the northward for the support of religion.”

The final version of the Northwest Ordinance, July 13, 1787, included:

“Sec. 13. And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected …”

“Art. 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory …”

“Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent …”

“Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory.”

From May 25 to September 17, 1787, Dr. Hugh Williamson was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia where he helped write the U.S. Constitution, lodging at the same residence as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

Williamson signed the Constitution, then helped convinced North Carolina to ratify it. Jefferson related of Dr. Williamson’s reputation at the Constitutional Convention:

“He was a useful member, of an acute mind, attentive to business, and of an high degree of erudition.”

Dr. Hugh Williamson later became wealthy through investments and land speculations, and wrote extensively for medical and literary societies, winning international acclaim.

He participated with Ben Franklin in conducting electrical experiments.

In 1811, Dr. Hugh Williamson wrote a respected book, Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America, in which he refuted “higher criticism” of Scripture and gave scientific explanation for the credibility of stories in the Bible, such as Noah’s flood and the events of Moses’ exodus.

Williamson served as one of the original trustees of the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Hugh Williamson died May 22, 1819, and is buried at Trinity Church, in New York City.

“The most important thing is to bring people to Christ, — and the second most important thing is to preserve the freedom to do the most important thing!”

Pastors and church leaders not involved in preserving the freedom to preach the Gospel are effectively admitting they really do not believe preaching the Gospel is that important.

In law, the rule of tacit admission is that “silence equals consent.”

The Law of Moses explains in the Book of Numbers, chapter 30.

“If a daughter binds herself while in her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears her vow … and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand … but if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows … shall stand; and the Lord will release her.”

Pastors utilize this in weddings ceremonies, saying:

“If anyone present objects to this wedding, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

If church members hold their peace and are silent, they are giving consent to the wedding. With this understanding, if church members are silent regarding sins in a community, they are, in essence, giving consent to the sins.

And if they give consent to the sins, they share in the guilt of the sin, and they will also share in the judgment!

Leviticus 19:17 warns:

“Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.” (NLT)

If church members know about unborn or new born babies being killed and they do nothing to stop it, they will be judged as if they had committed the sin, as explained in Proverbs 24:11-12:

“Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it.

For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds.” (TLB)

In Matthew 19:4, Jesus said:

“He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female.’”

If church members are aware their local school is indoctrinating innocent children with sexual views different than what Jesus taught, and they are silent giving their consent, Jesus warned in Mark 9:43 of the judgment they will share in:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

It will be a rude awakening for church members who think they are being super-spiritual by not getting involved, when they discover their silence is actually inviting the judgment of God upon their heads!

Poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote:

“To sin by silence, when we should protest, makes cowards out of men.”

Baptist Pastor Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated:

“The church must be reminded that it is … the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state … If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”

Joseph Story, the First Chief Justice of Supreme Court, wrote to Jedediah Morse, January 1, 1813:

“It is the right and duty of OUR PASTORS to press the observance of all moral and religious duties.”

President Woodrow Wilson gave an address, April 16, 1917:

“This is the time for … patriotism … I hope that the clergymen will not think the theme of it an unworthy or inappropriate subject of comment and homily from their pulpits.”

Rev. Billy Graham stated: “Bad politicians are elected by good people who don’t vote.”

President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed at the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, July 5, 1926:

“The principles … which went into the Declaration of Independence … are found in … the sermons … of the early colonial clergy who were earnestly undertaking to instruct their congregations in the great mystery of how to live.

They preached equality because they believed in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. They justified freedom by the text that we are all created in the divine image …

Placing every man on a plane where he acknowledged no superiors, where no one possessed any right to rule over him, he must inevitably choose his own rulers through a system of self-government …”

Coolidge concluded:

“In order that they might have freedom to express these thoughts and opportunity to put them into action, whole congregations WITH THEIR PASTORS migrated to the Colonies.”

Resources for engaging and supporting pastors include:

Lucas Miles,TPUSA Faith

Paul Blair, Liberty Pastors

Chad Connolly, Faith Wins

The American Renewal Project

Dran Reese, Salt & Light Council

Dave Welch, U.S. Pastors Council

Bunni Pounds, Christians Engaged

Rick Scarborough, Recover America

Richard Harris, Truth and Liberty Coalition

Rick Green, Biblical Citizenship – Patriot Academy
—

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Read as American Minute post

Silence Equals Consent – the sin of omission: Speak Now or Forever Lose Your Freedom

American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.

www.AmericanMinute.com

314-502-8924 wjfederer@gmail.com

Liberal New Hampshire State Rep Speaks Out Against Males in Women’s Sports. Democrats Walk Out on Him

Published April 3, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

Jonah Wheeler, a 22-year-old State Rep from Peterboro , NH recently gave a speech speaking out against men competing in women’s sports.  His Democrat colleagues walk out on him.  A Bernie Sanders supporter, Jonah was called a Nazi by fellow Democrats, Mr. Wheeler said that many of his fellow liberals agree with him but are afraid to speak up.

 

Reexamining the Obama Era Endangerment Finding Reversing this faulty EPA finding will curtail climate alarmism and green energy grifting

Published March 31, 2025 | By Paul Driessen

 

The supposed climate cataclysm consensus is disintegrating under growing pressure from reality. Green energy subsidies, regulations and mandates are crumbling. Greenpeace has been hit with a $667-million judgment for conspiracy, defamation, trespass, and fostering arson and property destruction.

Last year’s “Buy a Tesla – save the planet” placards have been exchanged for “mostly peaceful” protests based on “Torch a Tesla – save our democracy” and infernos of toxic pollution and “carbon” emissions.

Even higher anxiety is battering climate activists from the Lee Zeldin Environmental Protection Agency’s review of EPA’s 2009 “Endangerment Finding” (EF) – the foundation and justification for restrictive Obama and Biden Era standards and regulations on permissible electricity generation, automobiles, furnaces, home appliances and much more.

Humans and animals exhale carbon dioxide when they breathe, combustion processes also emit CO2, and during photosynthesis plants absorb CO2 and emit oxygen. More atmospheric CO2 helps plants grow better, faster and with less water. Nearly all life on Earth depends on this process. It’s basic science.

That’s why the Clean Air Act doesn’t include carbon dioxide in its list of dangerous pollutants, along with carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone, particulates and sulfur dioxide.

But fossil-fuel-hating activists blame CO2 for the alleged “climate crisis” – and in Massachusetts v. EPA the US Supreme Court said EPA could regulate CO2 emissions if the agency found that they “cause or contribute” to “air pollution” that may be “reasonably anticipated” to “endanger public health or welfare.”

The Obama EPA quickly determined that they did and issued an Endangerment Finding that gave the agency effective control over America’s energy, transportation, industries, furnaces and stoves– indeed, over almost every facet of our lives and living standards – to help “fundamentally transform” the nation.

In formulating its decision, EPA did no research of its own, relied heavily on GIGO computer models and outdated technical studies, dismissed the clear benefits of rising atmospheric CO2 levels, and ignored studies that didn’t support its decision. EPA even told one of its own experts (who had offered evidence and analyses contradicting official claims) that “the administration has decided to move forward [on implementing the EF] and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision.”

That alone is a compelling reason for reversing the Endangerment Finding. But other realities also argue convincingly that EPA’s 2009 action should be nullified.

First, Massachusetts v. EPA has been sidelined, rendered irrelevant or effectively reversed.

West Virginia v. EPA (2022) ruled that federal agencies may not violate the “major questions doctrine,” which holds that, in the absence of clear congressional direction or authorization, agencies may not make decisions or issue regulations “of vast economic and political significance.”

The Obama EPA had no clear congressional language or authorization to declare that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that would likely “endanger public health or welfare.” The Supreme Court’s minimal guidance in Massachusetts underscores the absence of congressional intent or direction. The process EPA used in rendering its predetermined finding demonstrates how little actual science played a role. And the enormous significance and impact of the EF decision and subsequent regulations can hardly be disputed.

Similarly, the SCOTUS 2024 ruling in Loper Bright v. Raimondo overturned the court’s 1984 decision in Chevron v. NRDC and ended judicial deference to government agencies (the “Chevron doctrine”). Bureaucrats may no longer devise “reasonable interpretations” of unclear statutory language if those interpretations would significantly expand regulatory powers or inflate private sector costs.

These two decisions mean EPA had no authority to convert plant-fertilizing, life-giving carbon dioxide into a dangerous, health-threatening pollutant.

Second, reams of post-2009 studies and analyses show that CO2 is hugely beneficial to forests, grasslands and croplands – and that CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) have not replaced the powerful, complex, interconnected natural forces that have always driven global warming, climate change, ice ages, Little Ice Ages, and extreme weather events. EPA ignored this in 2009.

Others demonstrate that there is no climate crisis, nothing unprecedented in today’s climate and weather, and nothing modern industrialized societies cannot cope with far more easily than our ancestors did.

(See Climate Change Reconsidered II, CO2 Coalition studies, NOAA hurricane history, US tornado records, and studies the Trump EPA will undoubtedly consult during its EF reconsideration.)

Third, our energy, jobs, living standards, health, welfare, national security and much more depend on fossil fuels – for energy and for pharmaceuticals, plastics and thousands of other essential products that are manufactured using petrochemical feedstocks.

Fourth, China, India and other rapidly developing nations also depend on fossil fuels – and in fact are increasing their coal and petroleum use every year – to build their industries and economies and improve their people’s health and living standards. They are not about stop doing so to appease those who insist the world faces a climate crisis. That means even eliminating coal, oil, gas and petrochemical use in the United States would have no effect on global GHG emissions.

Finally, the primary threats to human and planetary health and welfare come not from using fossil fuels – but from eliminating them, trying to switch to “clean, green, renewable” energy, and no longer having vital petrochemical products.

As Britain and Germany have shown, switching to intermittent, weather-dependent wind and solar energy with backup power raises electricity prices to 3-4 times what average Americans currently pay. Industries cannot compete internationally, millions lose their jobs, living expenses soar, and families cannot afford to heat their homes in winter or cool them in summertime.

Thousands die unnecessarily every year from heatstroke, hypothermia, and diseases they would survive if they weren’t so hot, cold or malnourished.

In poor countries, millions die annually from indoor pollution from wood and dung fires, from spoiled food due to lack of refrigeration, from contaminated drinking water due to the absence of sanitation and treated water, and from diseases that would be cured in modern healthcare systems.

The common factor in all these deaths is the absence of reliable, affordable energy, largely imposed by climate-focused bureaucrats who finance only wind and solar projects in poor nations.

Wind and solar power, electric vehicle and grid-backup batteries, and associated transmission lines require metals and minerals mining and processing on unprecedented scales, power-generation facilities blanketing millions of acres of croplands and wildlife habitats, and the disposal of gigantic equipment that breaks or wears out quickly and cannot be recycled.

Reliance on wind, solar and battery power also means blackouts amid heatwaves and cold spells, cars stalled in snowstorms and hurricane evacuations – and thus still more deaths.

A slightly warmer planet with more atmospheric CO2 would be greatly beneficial for plants, wildlife and humanity. A colder planet with less carbon dioxide would significantly reduce arable croplands, growing seasons, wildlife habitats and our ability to feed humanity.

EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding ignored virtually all these realities. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s reexamination of that decision must not repeat that mistake.

Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of books and articles on energy, climate change, economic development and human rights.

Pastor David Whitney Returning to Camp Constitution’s Annual Week-Long Family Camp

Published March 30, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

For the sixth year in a row, Pastor David Whitney of the Institute on the Constitution will return to our annual family camp.

Pastor David Whitney graduated from Rutgers University as a Henry Rutgers Honors Scholar with Honors in History. He received his Masters Degree from Denver Seminary. He has pastored churches in New Jersey, Colorado, Florida and Maryland for more than 40 years. He is currently the Pastor of Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church of Bowie, Maryland.  In addition for more than 21 years he has been teaching the Christian heritage and history of our country with the Institute on the Constitution where he serves as Senior Instructor. He is Author of numerous Courses as well Radio show host. His show can be heard on www.1180WFYL.com Fri 8am live or anytime on podcast. He speaks on Constitutional issues around the country, to civic and church groups. He conducts classes on the US Constitution, the Duty of the Jury, the History of America’s founding, the Sheriff and Citizen, Fundamental Principles of Freedom and the Maryland Constitution

 

A class taught by Pastor Whitney as last year’s camp:

Our camp runs from Sunday July 13 to Friday July 18 and will be held at Singing Hills Christian Camp in Plainfield, NH.  To sign up or learn more, please visit our website https://www.campconstitution.net

The Weekly Sam: How to Increase Your Vocabulary By Samuel L. Blumenfeld

Published March 29, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

Evolutionists love to remind us how close our DNA is to that of the chimpanzee or
gorilla. But there is one very sharp distinction between human beings and every other
species, including the various kinds of monkeys. God gave us the faculty of language,
the faculty of speech.

Why did God so endow the human being with this remarkable ability? If you read the
Bible you will find the answer. We read in Genesis 1:27: “And God created man in his
own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
We were created to be like God, to have certain attributes of God, but not be God. The
next passage makes that clear: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and of every living thing that moveth upon
the earth.”

And in order to do all of that God gave man a brain properly endowed with extraordinary
intelligence in order to carry out these huge tasks. The Bible further states in Genesis
2:19: “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every
fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and
whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”

In other words, God made Adam into a lexicographer–an inventor of names, a creator of
vocabulary. Indeed, God gave man the power of language in order to serve four
different functions: The first, to know God and be able to communicate with Him. We
do that every day through prayer. We’ve done that by writing the Bible, the history of
man’s relations with God. Second, we use language to know one’s mate with the ability
to communicate at the deepest intimate level. Third, we use language to be able to know
other human beings and thereby create society. And Fourth, we use language to know
oneself.

We are constantly speaking inwardly to ourselves in order to understand who
and what we are, and in order to transform our dreams and ideas into reality.
So why should we want to expand our vocabularies? Because knowledge is power, and
every new word represents new knowledge. And how does one increase one’s
vocabulary? A good place to start is by reading Shakespeare’s plays, all 36 of them
which were published in the First Folio in 1623. It is said that Shakespeare invented
more new words than any other writer in English literature. New words are needed
when it is necessary to convey the meaning of something for which no word exists.

Another good way to expand one’s vocabulary is to read 19th century literature, including
Dickens, Carlyle, James Fenimore Cooper, Thackerary, Washington Irving, and other
great masters of the written word, who had extensive, rich vocabularies. Also read the
most literate writers you can find who are not afraid to show off their use of vocabulary.
However, whenever reading such works, keep a blank notebook at your side in which you
can jot down all of the new words you’ve encountered. Then read their definitions in your
dictionary and write your own sentences using these new words. Remember, the more
words you know, the more knowledge you have, for each new word represents new
knowledge.

As we said, new words are needed to express new ideas or actions for which no words
exist. This is particularly true in our hi-tech culture where advances in computer and
internet technology require us to invent new words. Words like “geek” and “nerd” were
invented by students to describe those with a passion for computers and technological
inventions. Such new words are being invented every day.

The fact that God commanded Adam to name every living creature meant that an
important part of being a human was the need to make good use of greatest gift God gave
us, the faculty of language.
.
In other words, man was exalted in a way that no other species was by his Creator.
Thus, increasing and expanding one’s vocabulary is not only necessary for the
advancement of man’s purpose on earth, but also needed to carry out God’s
commandments. Besides having been given the faculty of speech we were also endowed
with a voice-box that could express thoughts and ideas by sounds. An extraordinary
physical phenomenon.

Language, in fact, is the link to the spiritual dimension in our lives. Man is a spiritual as
well as a physical being. We are made of matter by God who is not matter. Indeed, if
you become a physicist, you will find that the deeper you explore the nature of matter,
you will reach virtually no matter at all.

Remember, language is sounds made by the voice box. It has no substance but what it
signals in our heads. But written language has permitted us to make a permanent record
of what is said. That is why we have science, history, and life stories to tell.
It is the exploration of that microcosmic realm that has made it possible for man to
develop computer science in which a million transistors can be put on a microscopic
silicon chip.

So scientists increase our vocabulary every day by making discoveries that have to be
named. Whenever we invent something new, we have to invent words to describe it.
By the way, God put our language faculty in the left hemisphere of our brains. It is our
most valuable piece of brain matter. Without it we would not be human beings. The
right hemisphere deals with space, dimension, art, and perspective. In American schools
teachers force students to use the right brain to perform the functions of the left brain.
The result is dyslexia.

Learning to read must be taught phonetically through intensive phonics so that it
conforms with the functions of the language faculty and expands its power. In fact our
alphabetic reading and writing system is the most successful reading system ever
invented because it conforms with the left brain’s faculty, thus making it easy for anyone
to learn to read.

And so, increase your vocabulary in order to increase the power of your brain and the
power of your mind. Our brains emit dreams, images, and ideas that are not matter, but
are the basis of human power. The more words you know, the more power you will
have to create, grow, and prosper. Indeed, learning the vocabulary of the stock market
may lead you to become a millionaire.

The Blumenfeld Archives

(The above article is from the Sam Blumenfeld Archives:  http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/main.htm

Why the Federal Government Should Get Out of Education By Samuel L. Blumenfeld

Published March 24, 2025 | By campconstitution

The real issue is Limited Government versus Unlimited Government
Most Americans want less government, smaller government and lower taxes. The only
way to accomplish this is by abolishing federal departments and bureaucracies. As far
back as the Reagan administration, Republicans promised to abolish the Department of
Education. They couldn’t do it then because they lacked a majority in Congress. But
whatever happened to the plan to abolish the Department of Education when Republicans
became the majority? Not only did they forget their promise, but in September 1996
they passed the single largest increase in federal education funding: $3.5 billion. Who
were the Republicans trying to impress? The National Education Association?

The basic question is: Can good education be provided in the U.S. without the help or
intrusion of the federal government? The answer is clearly yes. In fact, there is ample
evidence indicating that the present decline in educational quality is a direct result of
federal funding which has been used by the educators to fund more and more expensive
educational malpractice.

A little historical background will help us understand why the federal role in education in
America is more of an aberration than a natural development. There is no mention of
education in the U.S. Constitution. However, in 1785 and 1787, while the United States
were still under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress passed the
Northwest Ordinance Acts which provided for the orderly settlement of the Northwest
Territory and encouraged the establishment of schools in the territory by stating:
“Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be encouraged.” The
new states were required to set aside the 16th section of each township to be used for
educational purposes. But there was no requirement that the schools be government
owned and operated.

Seventy-five years later, in 1862, Congress passed and President Lincoln signed the
Morrill Land Grant Act providing each loyal state with 30,000 acres of land for each
Senator and Representative, the land to be used for agricultural and mechanical schools
under a measure proposed by Senator Justin S. Morrill of Vermont. Five years later, in
1867, a federal Office of Education was established. Its purpose was:

“To collect such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the
several States and Territories, and to diffuse such information respecting the organization and
management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching as shall aid the People of
the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise
promote the cause of education throughout the country.”

It should be noted that the National Education Association had been founded ten years
earlier in 1857 and that its members called for the establishment of a federal department
of education at the founding convention. And it is obvious that in that statement of
purpose was an expansionist view of the government’s future role in education.
After World War I, the NEA began a long range campaign to get federal aid for public
education. From 1867 to 1940–a period of 73 years–the Congress passed about 11
minor pieces of legislation related to education. The fear of federal control of schools
kept most legislators from voting for federal aid to public education. But resistance was
gradually broken down by such acts as the National School Lunch Act of 1946, the
School Milk Program Act of 1954.

But it was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 passed during the
Johnson administration which opened the floodgates of the U.S. Treasury for the benefit
of the education establishment. From 1965 to 1983–18 years–there were 43 education
acts passed by the Congress, including the establishment in 1979 of a U.S. Department of
Education with cabinet status. In the year 1994 alone, there were about 180 educational
restructuring bills before Congress! The three most important bills enacted were the
Goals 2000 Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, and the Improving America’s
Schools Act, a reauthorization of the ESEA of 1965. All of this legislation was passed
with much Republican help. In short, the Congress launched an avalanche of bills
which virtually amounted to a cultural revolution.

It seemed as if all restraints had been removed on government expansion and intrusion
into education, and the Republican Congress did nothing to reverse the trend. That is
why the federal government has become a government of unlimited power.
We must return to the principle of limited government if we wish to reduce the cost of
government and its unwarranted intrusion in the education of our children. A limited
federal government does only those things that cannot be done by the states or the private
sector. The purpose of taxes is to pay for government not change society.

There is no doubt that the federal intrusion in education has harmed education and
produced the dumbing down effect. Test scores attest to this bizarre phenomenon.
Since 1962, SAT verbal scores have declined despite billions of federal dollars pumped
into public education. In September 1993, the U.S. Department of Education revealed
that some 90 million adult Americans have grossly inadequate reading and writing skills,
despite compulsory school attendance. The more federal money Congress pumps into
education the worse it gets. Why? Because educational malpractice is very expensive,
and without federal funding we’d have much less of it.

The simple truth is that federal education programs cost the taxpayers billions of dollars,
yet not one of these programs has actually improved education. Claims have been made
that Headstart is a successful program. But research indicates that whatever gains
children make in Headstart are lost by the third grade.

Federal education grants subsidize a liberal academic elite with its secular humanist,
socialist agenda, thus violating the Constitutional prohibition against establishing a state
religion: Humanism. The Data Collection System of the National Center for Education Statistics threatens
family privacy and freedom. Children are not a “national resource” to be monitored and
controlled for use by the state or industry. They are individuals whose lives belong to
themselves, not to “the economy.”

The federal government has institutionalized educational malpractice by supporting
unsound educational theories and practices which have found their way into the public
schools via the federally funded National Diffusion Network. Federal aid to public
education simply reinforces a socialist, government owned and operated education
system which distorts market values and encourages monopoly union practices.
Meanwhile, the education establishment continues to grow and prosper. In 1982, the
average public school teacher’s salary was $19,274. In 1995 it was up to $37,643., and
in 2008 it us up to $47,602. In 1982, per pupil expenditure was $2,726. In 1995-96 the
national average was up to $6,213, and in 2009 it was up to $9,963. In 1984, total
expenditure for public education was $134.5 billion. In 2002 it had risen to $420 billion.
In short, never has public education been more generously supported by the taxpayer and
never have our schools seen more violence, academic disarray, and parental
dissatisfaction than the present. What is even more shocking is that over four million
students must be drugged daily with Ritalin in order to be able to attend class.

Today, well-connected change agents like Mark Tucker are busy imposing on America
the new Human Resources Development System, exuberantly described by Tucker in an
18-page letter to Hillary Clinton when her husband was elected President. Tucker
described his system as “a seamless web of opportunities to develop one’s skills that
literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone–young and
old, poor and rich, worker and full-time student.”
And so, in place of academic excellence, we have Outcome Based Education, Whole
Language, Multiculturalism, Skinnerian Mastery Learning, National Teaching Standards
and Certification, School-Based Clinics, Attitude Assessments, Global Citizenship, and
Socialized Medicine for every student.

What is actually taking place is a cultural revolution engineered by behavioral
psychologists, humanist educators, and socialist change agents using a whole galaxy of
education programs to implement their agenda, financed by the federal government.
And much of this has taken place when Republicans were in control of Congress. And
that accounts for the extreme frustration of conservatives who vote Republican but get
liberal results. When will this change?

The takeover of the White House and the federal government by radical leftists has
finally awakened the American people to what has happened to this country since we
started allowing the federal government to exceed all limits placed on it by the
Constitution. But in order to succeed in restoring the principles of government held by
our founding fathers, we must return to limited government. This can only be done if
the American people realize the potential for tyranny inherent in a government education
system.

The most important institution in a socialist state is a government owned and controlled
school system wherein children can be indoctrinated to accept a socialist way of life.
And the best way to prevent this from occurring is to return to the concept of educational
freedom in which the federal government has no role in education.

Local public schools can easily become private institutions governed by local trustees and
supported by tuition fees. This would greatly reduce the tax burden on home owners and
provide more than enough resources to pay for the tuitions of poor families. The costs of
education would decrease dramatically since education would once more become reality
based wherein the fundamental academic subjects would be taught without the added
costs of educational malpractice. Individual intelligence would be enhanced, while
collectivist group-think would be discarded.

Can this be done? Only if America’s conservative leaders demand that it should be
done. The home-school movement has already proven that parents can actually teach
better than our high-priced professionals, that children progress better academically
when taught at home, and that the cost of educating a child at home is less than $1,000 a
year.

If Americans want to once more experience what it means to be free, they must burst out
of the high-priced straitjacket imposed on them by the socialist education tyrants. If they
want better education at lower cost, then the prescription for success is simple: get the
government out of education.

(This article was written fifteen years ago and things have only gotten worse.  Trump was right to defund the Department of Education.)

 

Long Before the City of Boston Became A Haven for Illegal Alien Criminals, the City Encouraged Assimilation

Published March 21, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

The once great City of Boston is run by far-left, America hating Democrats.  It is a so-called “sanctuary city” for violent illegal alien criminals and its mayor and police chief refuse to work with I.C.E. officials when it comes to the most violent of the illegal aliens.  But it wasn’t always that way.  While we have to go back a long way to the 1920s, the City actually had a “Committee for Americanism” and published a book for legal aliens wanting to become U.S. citizens called A Little Book for Immigrants in Boston.  

A link to the book:  https://s3.amazonaws.com/campconstitutionbooks/A+Little+Book+For+Immigrants+In++Boston.pdf

 

The Weekly Sam: Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order to Return Power Over Education to States and Local Communities

Published March 21, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

While I am not sure if those in Heaven are aware of what is happening here on Earth, but if they are, I am certain that our late friend and mentor Sam Blumenfeld is rejoicing over President Trump’s recent executive order defunding, with the goal of abolishing, the U.S. Department of Education.  I used to joke with Sam suggesting that if he became Secretary of the Department of Education, his first duty would be to obtain an auctioneer’s mallet. He then would sell the property owned by the unconstitutional department to the highest bidder, fire all of the employees, and resign.  Here is the news released issued by, we hope, the soon defunct department:

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon released the following statement following President Trump’s Executive Order to return education to the states:

“Today’s Executive Order is a history-making action by President Trump to free future generations of American students and forge opportunities for their success. We are sending education back to the states where it so rightly belongs.

“Education is fundamentally a state responsibility. Instead of filtering resources through layers of federal red tape, we will empower states to take charge and advocate for and implement what is best for students, families, and educators in their communities.

“Closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them—we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs. We’re going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working through Congress to ensure a lawful and orderly transition.

“With today’s action, we take a significant step forward to give parents and states control over their children’s education. Teachers will be unshackled from burdensome regulations and paperwork, empowering them to get back to teaching basic subjects. Taxpayers will no longer be burdened with tens of billions of dollars of waste on progressive social experiments and obsolete programs. K-12 and college students will be relieved of the drudgery caused by administrative burdens—and positioned to achieve success in a future career they love.”

This is a long time coming.  Ronald Reagan campaigned on abolishing the department only to see it grow under his administration.  The Department of Education is an unconstitutional entity that should never have been created.  I think that our late friend and mentor helped to make

 

I Testify: My Years as an F.B.I. Undercover Agent

Published March 20, 2025 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

Julia Brown spent nine years as an undercover agent for the F.B.I reporting on communist activity in the Greater Cleveland area.    In 1966, her book I Testify: My Years as an F.B.I. Undercover Agent was published.  She wrote that the Communist Party U.S.A. gave its members an order to support Martin Luther King, and that the party does not support anyone that it does not control.  Her book is out-of-print and listed on Amazon for $2,847.12. While I doubt few if anyone would pay that much, the book is an important expose on the late slain civil rights leader.  We have a PDF version of the book that we offer free-donations accepted.  For a copy, E-mail me at campconstitution1@gmail.com   Donations may be made via our PayPal account accessed from our website’s homepage  https://www.campconstitution.net

In 1976, a federal judge ordered the F.B.I’s file (not to be confused with the F.B.I.’s assassination file) on King sealed for 50 years. King’s supporters wanted the file destroyed.   It is scheduled to be released next year.  If the file is still intact, it will prove King’s communist activities, and his moral depravity.

 

American Minute with Bill Federer Who are the Houthis?

Published March 18, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

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Houthis of Yemen have been in the news for attacking ships in the Red Sea.

A little history and geography is helpful  … continue reading …

Download as PDF …

A little geography is helpful.

 

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run across Iraq and empty into the Persian Gulf, where also oil pipelines end.

Oil is the number one commodity traded globally.

Oil from Iraq, Kuwait and Iran is put on tankers and shipped south past Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and through the Strait of Hormuz, into the Gulf of Oman in the Indian Ocean.

 

Turning west, the oil tankers sail around the south side of the Arabian Peninsula along the coast of Oman into the Gulf of Aden, then along the coast of southern Yemen, an area controlled by anti-Houthi forces.

 

Then tankers turn the corner of the Horn of Africa, past Somalia and near Djibouti, passing through the dangerous, narrow 14-mile-wide Bab-el-Mandeb Strait continuing north into the Red Sea.

This is where the ships sail with the African coast on the west, passing Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt, but on the east passing the Houthi controlled coast of northern Yemen.

 

If the ships get past this point, they continue up the Red Sea till they get to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, where they go through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, where they deliver their oil to Europe or continue their route to America.

 

Fifteen percent of the world’s maritime traffic travels this route, but as the Yemen Houthis attack oil tankers, the only alternative route is to sail around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, taking weeks longer and adding thousands of additional miles to the trip.

This consumes much more fuel and drastically increases the costs of products shipped.

 

According to Open Door’s World Watch List, the counties passed around the Arabian Peninsula are listed as some of the most dangerous places for Christians in the world:

Somalia ranks number two,

Eritrea number four,

Yemen number five,

Sudan number eight,

Iran number nine, and

Oman number 31.

In recent years, large numbers of immigrants from these anti-Christian countries have immigrated to the United States.

 

But this hostile environment in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa was not always the case.

 

Yemen has a long history. It was originally called Sheba.

 

According to the Bible’s Table of Nations in Genesis, chapter 10, Noah’s son Shem had a great-grandson named Eber, an ancestor of both Israelites and Arabs.

Eber’s son Joktan migrated into Southern Arabia. The children of Joktan were called Joktanites or Qahtanites.

Joktan’s son Ya’rub is possibly the origin of the name “Arab.”

 

Additionally, everyone knows Abraham and Sarah had their son Isaac.

Abraham also had Ishmael by the Egyptian slave woman Hagar.

After Sarah died, Abraham had another wife named Keturah, whose name means incense.

 

Abraham and Keturah’s son were Midian, Medan, Ishbak, Shuah, Zimran, and Jokshan.

The sons of Jokshan were Dedan and Sheba.

Sheba migrated into the Arabian Peninsula, to the furthest west corner, to the area known today as Yemen.

Sheba is the oldest and most important of the South Arabian Kingdoms.

The people of Sheba were called “Sabaeans.” They considered themselves the original Arabs and viewed Ishmaelites as northern Arabs.

 

The Book of Job, 1:15, stated:

“And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

 

Job 6 mentioned: “The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.”

 

Around the year 1750 B.C., during era of Abraham, the Sabaeans began building near their capital city of Marib an enormous dam to collect rainwater from the periodic monsoons.

 

The dam, built with the same precision as the pyramids, was 50-feet high and nearly 2,000-feet long.

It was located where several mountain valleys joined together at Wadi Saba. A wadi is an area of dry creek beds that fill up with water during heavy rains.

 

The Marib Dam was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Canals from it channeled water to irrigate 50 square miles, creating a garden oasis. It was repaired several times and functioned successfully for over a thousand years.

 

Sheba was renowned for aromatic resins, frankincense and myrrh which was their most profitable trade.

Sheba was on the caravan trade routes from Egypt south through Sudan to the Horn of Africa, across the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, to Sheba, then by ships over to India.

 

The histories of Sheba and Ethiopia are intertwined, being just a short 14-mile distance across the Red Sea from each other. For centuries, both Sheba and Ethiopia were ruled by the same kingdom.

 

Josephus wrote in Antiquities of the Jews that Moses gained fame as a prince in Egypt for conquering Saba, which was possibly Ethiopia on the African side of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait from Sheba.

 

Some believe Moses and the Israelites wandered 40 years, not in the tiny Sinai Peninsula, which is the size of West Virginia, but instead in the Arabian Peninsula, which is nearly five times the size of Texas.

 

Archeologist Dr. Doug Petrovitch proposed that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses in the Paleo-Hebrew script, and that in their wanderings the Israelites may have influenced the Sabaic script of Ancient Southern Arabia, as both have phonetic consonants, no vowels and are read right to left.

 

The Sabaic script possibly influenced the development of the Ge’ez language used in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

 

Psalm 72:10, 15 “The kings of Sheba and Saba shall offer gifts … And to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba.”

 

Around 970 B.C., according to First Kings 10:

“And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones …

There came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.”

 

Isaiah 60:6 “The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephor; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.”

 

Isaiah 45:14 “Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans … shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine … and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee.”

 

Jeremiah 6:22 “To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba.”

 

Ezekiel 27:22 “The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and gold.”

 

Joel 3:8 “O Tyre and Zidon … and all the coast of Palestine … because ye have taken … the children also of Judah and … sold (them) unto the Grecians …

Behold … I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall send them to the Sabeans, to a people far off.”

 

Sheba was called Arabia Felix, or Arabia fertile, by the Greeks and Romans. It was considered like Paris – a prosperous, cultural center of the ancient world.

 

Beginning in 400 B.C., Ethiopia was ruled by the Askumite Kingdom.

 

According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the New Testament account was that an Ethiopian Jew, the eunuch treasurer of Queen Candace, was baptized as a follower of Christ by the disciple Philip.

 

In the highlands of Sheba, later called Yemen, a Himyarite Kingdom began in 110 B.C., and invaded Sheba, also called Saba, in 25 B.C.

 

Then, around 200 A.D., the Ethiopia’s Askumite Kingdom crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and captured northern Yemen.

The Askumites were dirven out by a Sabaean-Himyarite alliance, but then the Himyarites proceeded to conquer the Sabaeans, taking full control of Sheba in 280 A.D.

 

A Himyarite king at this time was named Shammar Yahri’sh, from whose name Yemen is thought to have been derived.

 

A large group of Sabaeans, called Ghassanids, fled from the Himyarites conquest of Yemen and migrated to Syria in 220 A.D.

There, they converted to Christianity and had a significant kingdom between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persian Empire which lasted for over four centuries, until it was conquered by Muslims of the Rashidun Caliphate in 638 A.D.

 

In 354 A.D., the Christian Roman Emperor Constantius the Second sent missionary Theophilus the Indian to request permission of the Himyarite King to build a church.

 

On the African side of the Red Sea, Ethiopia’s Askumite Empire grew to control the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea.

Eritrea is the Greek name for Red Sea.

 

In 316 A.D., Askumite King Ezana had a Christian slave named Frumentius, who share the Gospel with him.

Ezana converted to Christianity. Frumentius was appointed the first Bishop of Axum, and called the Apostle to Ethiopia, translating the New Testament into the Ge’ez language.

 

Gold coins with King Ezana’s inscription have been discovered, some before his conversion with a pagan motif and some after his conversion with a Christian motif.

Askumite coins were found as far away as Israel and India.

 

In the third century, the Persian prophet Mani considered the Askumite Empire as one of the four world powers, next to Persia, Rome, and China.

 

In Yemen, around the year 380 A.D., the King of Saba and Himyar was named Abu Karib. He was a polytheist.

 

Abu Karib led a military expedition a thousand miles north where he took control of Yatrib, also called Medina.

He left his son as governor and continued further north, but when he received word that the inhabitants of Yatrib had killed his son, Abu Karib returned and wreaked havoc on the city.

 

During the siege, Abu Karib fell ill. Jewish scholars used their knowledge of medicine to heal him and then begged him to stop his siege.

 

Abu Karib agreed and soon after converted to religion of Moses.

He proceeded to Mecca where he almost destroyed the Kaaba but hesitated. His nephew converted to Judaism and was left in charge of both Mecca and Yatrib – Medina.

 

His Himyarite Kingdom adopted Judaism as its state religion in 384 A.D., thereby eliminating Byzantine influence.

It is hard for people to think that for nearly a century and a half Yemen was a Jewish Kingdom.

 

In 514 A.D, the Jewish Himyarite Kingdom was persecuting the Christian minority.

When news reached Byzantine Emperor Justin the First, he asked the Christian Askumite King Kaleb to invade the Himyarite Kingdom of Yemen to rescue them.

 

Askumite King Kaleb proceeded to conquer Yemen around 525 A.D.

It is hard for people to think that for half a century Yemen was a Christian Kingdom.

 

In 570 A.D., the Persian Sasanian Empire sent an army which invaded Yemen and drove the Askumites out.

Then Yemen was a ruled by a Persian Kingdom which had the Zoroastrian religion, mixed with Manichaeism, a belief which included elements of other religions.

 

That same year, 570 A.D., possibly due to neglect during the wars, Yemen’s Marib Dam broke, releasing a torrential flood that devastated the country.

This crippled Yemen’s economy to the point it never recovered. An estimated 50,000 people migrated away to other countries.

 

Persia’s presence in the Red Sea also caused the Askumite Empire to decline.

 

In 615 A.D., the Askumite Empire allowed Muslim refugees to shelter there, but then in 630 A.D., Mohamed sent a naval expedition, led by Umar, to attack it.

 

Following Mohammed’s death, the Rashidun Caliphate conquered Yemen. The Askumite Kingdom in Africa continued to rule Ethiopia till 960 A.D.

 

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire exerted control over the Red Sea coastline.

 

European powers attempted colonies.

 

In 1837, the British landed in southern Yemen and made it into the British Aden Colony, which was an important port to stop piracy between British controlled India, and the Suez Canal.

 

The French built the Suez Canal in 1869, and the British took control of it in 1882.

 

From 1884 to 1967, the French controlled an area near Ethiopia called Somaliland.

 

In 1889, the Russian Nikolav Ivanovitch Achinov attempted to establish a settlement near Somaliland but was thwarted by the French.

 

From 1885 to 1918, Germany had an East African colony near Tanzania.

 

In 1892, Italy control Somali, which included Mogadishu, till after World War Two.

 

Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1895, resulting in 10,000 killed. Italians invaded Ethiopia again in 1935 and ruled it till 1941, when after World War Two they were forced to relinquish control.

 

Eritrea was administered by the British from World War Two till 1952 when the United Nations designated it as part of Ethiopia.

Islamists, with help from Egypt, formed the Eritrean Liberation Front which won Eritrean independence in 1991.

 

Northern Yemen was controlled by Zaydi Shites from the 9th century on.

They fought nearly everyone, including the Umayyad Muslims, the Wahhabis and the Ottoman Turks.

 

With the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Zaydis formed the Mutawakkilite Kingdom in northern Yemen, ruled by a monarchy.

 

Yemen borders Saudi Arabia. In the 1930s, there was a border war and Yemen lost territory to the Saudis.

 

When President Harry Truman sent the first American diplomat to the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of northern Yemen, he reported that there were no roads, no legal system, and no medical facilities.

 

The Zaydis monarch let no foreigners into the country unless they were doctors to treat him.

 

Truman arranged for Yemen to be admitted into the United Nations in 1947.

 

In 1962, Egypt, backed by the Soviet Union, overthrew the Zaydis, who were backed by Saudi Arabia and Israel.

 

In 1967, after Egypt lost the Six Day War against with Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia reconciled and were no longer interested in Yemen’s civil war.

 

In 1978, Zaydi general Saleh came to power in northern Yemen and ruled for 33 years.

 

Britain relinquished control of its Southern Yemen Aden Colony in 1968, resulting in a communist government coming to power in Southern Yemen, the “People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen.”

 

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter abandoned the pro-U.S. Shah of Iran, allowing the Islamist Ayatollah to take over Iran, who formed the Islamist Hezbollah organization in Lebanon.

 

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, so did southern Yemen’s communist government. Northern Yemen’s Zaydi leader, Saleh, quickly united northern and southern Yemen.

 

In 1992, when the U.S. led Kuwait-Iraq War began, Saleh favored Sadam Hussien.

 

In retaliation, President George H.W. Bush supported Saudi Arabia in its expelling of over a million Yemen workers and cut off aid to Yemen.

 

In 1994, Saleh survived a Saudi-backed civil war.

 

In 2000, when al-Qaeda attacked the U.S.S. Cole, Saleh suddenly switched sides to align with Saudi Arabia and the U.S. against al-Qaeda.

 

Hussein al Houthi criticized Saleh for now siding with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and organized Houthi opposition.

 

In 2001, President George W. Bush met with Saleh.

 

When Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, the Houthis radicalized in their anti-American hatred, calling themselves “Ansar Allah” – Supporters of Allah – with the slogan “Allah is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.”

 

Though the Houthi in Yemen were a different version of Shiite than the Shite Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed by Iran, nevertheless, Hezbollah began helping the Houthis as the both hated Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and Israel.

 

International investigations revealed the Houthis raped, tortured and prostituted women.

 

In 2004, Saleh, with the help of the Saudis launched a military campaign which killed Hussein al Houthi.

 

The Houthis, with the help of Hezbollah and Iran, suddenly won some battles against Saleh and the Saudi Arabian army.

 

In 2011, the Arab Spring resulted in an uprising against Saleh.

 

Saudi Arabia decided the answer was to pressure Saleh to resign and replace him with his vice president Hadi, a Sunni Muslim from southern Yemen who had been trained in Russia.

 

In a strange twist, in 2014, the ousted Saleh switched sides and colluded with the Houthi to oppose Hadi. They took control of northern Yemen in 2015, the same year that Salman became the new king of Saudi Arabia.

 

Houthis opened direct air travel between northern Yemen and Iran, in exchange for Iranian oil.

 

Houthis captured the main Yemen port at Hodeidah, then marched toward the southern Yemen capital of Aden, the largest port on the Indian Ocean.

 

The Saudis and the U.S., under both Obama and Trump, backed Hadi against Saleh and the Houthis, implementing an air and naval blockade.

 

Joining in attacks against the Houthis were Saudi allies Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan. Over one hundred bridges and a third of the Yemen’s roads were destroyed.

 

This created a humanitarian crisis. All sides were accused of war crimes.

 

When Saleh signaled that he would consider switching sides again to Saudi Arabia, he was assassinated in 2017.

 

The Houthis claim to have 100,000 followers and started working closer with Hezbollah and Iran against what they consider to be a Saudi-U.S.-Israeli conspiracy.

 

In 2021, the U.S. designated the Houthis a terrorist organization, but President Joe Biden reversed this.

 

In 2022, Iran-back Houthis fired missiles at Saudi allies, including Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Southern Yemen’s leader Hadi relinquished power to Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council led by Rashad al-Alimi.

 

In 2023, following the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, the Houthis began firing missiles into Israel and attack ships traveling up the Red Sea off the coast of northern Yemen.

 

In January of 2024, the Houthis were again designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. The U.S. and the U.K. conducted a few airstrikes against Houthi targets with little results.

 

Yemen, or Sheba, is included the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 38, in what many Bible scholars consider an end times prophesy, where Russia, Iran, Turkey, together with other nations, including those around the Red Sea, will invade Israel.

 

“In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate.

They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land …

 

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold?’”

 

Though the political situation in Yemen is confusing, the conflict there holds the ominous possibility of sparking an international crisis.

 

Before being assassinated, Saleh, the Yemen leader for 33 years, described ruling Yemen akin to dancing on the heads of snakes.

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