Revolutionary War Archives - The Virginia Star

Commentary: Thanksgiving According to the Founding Fathers

November 28, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Although the Pilgrims came in 1620 and held the First Thanksgiving shortly thereafter, the national holiday which we celebrate didn’t come into existence until 1863. But America was not without Thanksgiving celebrations in the intervening years. As the quotes below demonstrate, days of prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving became a frequent part of American life, particularly during the Revolutionary War.

This Thanksgiving, perhaps we would do well to go beyond our surface gratitude for things like “turkey,” “pie,” and “not having to wash the dishes,” and instead consider many of the benefits they included in their Thanksgiving lists.

Commentary: Remembering the Courage of Christopher Columbus

October 14, 2024 Admin

Today we remember the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who in October 1492 landed in the Bahamas and became the first Western European to discover what the Europeans would call the New World.

Commentary: Remembering the Courage of Christopher Columbus

October 9, 2023 Admin

Today we remember the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who in October 1492 landed in the Bahamas and became the first Western European to discover what the Europeans would call the New World.

Commentary: Veterans Day Is a Chance to Thank Those Who Selflessly Served America

November 11, 2022November 10, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Friday is Veterans Day. We celebrate Veterans Day on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, the day the guns fell silent in Europe following the armistice that ended World War I. For some, it’s a day off from school or work, but for the majority of Americans, it means so much more.

Commentary: Veterans Day Is a Chance to Thank Those Who Selflessly Served America

November 11, 2021 Admin

Thursday is Veterans Day. We celebrate Veterans Day on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, the day the guns fell silent in Europe following the armistice that ended World War I. For some, it’s a day off from school or work, but for the majority of Americans, it means so much more.

Commentary: Remembering the Courage of Christopher Columbus

October 11, 2021October 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Today we remember the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who in October 1492 landed in the Bahamas and became the first Western European to discover what the Europeans would call the New World.

When Columbus and his crew of approximately 200 sailors left Spain in three crowded ships – the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria – they set their sails toward an unknown horizon. They expected to discover a trade route to India. (Most Europeans at the time knew the earth was round – but they were unaware of the North and South American continents.) Instead of finding a route to Southeast Asia, Columbus and his crew landed on a continent of new opportunities. Columbus’s accidental discovery opened a permanent passage across the Atlantic and redrew the known map of the world.

Commentary: America’s Revolutionary Beginnings

July 25, 2021July 24, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Warren climbed the wide steps from Marlborough Street to the door of the Province House, the old mansion with its Tudor-style chimney stacks and ornate gables built a century ago by a wealthy Boston merchant. But for generations now it had been the residence of the royal governors of Massachusetts. For a moment he studied the large royal seal affixed over the door, a reminder of the awesome empire that the governor represented, then looked above it to the eight-sided cupola crowning the mansion, noting the weathervane at the very top shifting in the breeze.