Show aca out AM ont aa 0 JA T wo 1 41 I 1 ur ff 11 1111 mr I 1 ln 73 40 jj fi I 1 11 L 1 J ah I 1 N dayi OR 1616 1 V f 1 P 2 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HAT has been the most important month in american history gebru ary because the two greatest amer leans washington and lincoln mere ere born in that month july because july 4 gave gaie us the declarant arat on of independence october because it brought to tl e shores of america a sailor named christopher columbus november vember because the world war came to an end on november 11 II all of these months and the events which took place in tl em are important of course but if one were to single out any one month when the greatest number of momentous events in american I 1 astory took tool place that month would have te tg be april for one thing five of the six major wars in which we e have fought began in april and one of them ended in april four of our presidents jefferson monroe Bu bud clanan anan and grant and one of our greatest statesmen who just missed the presidency henry clay were vere bom boin in april two of our presidents william henry harrison and abraham lincoln died in april george washing ton our first president was inaugurated in april 1789 and the united states flag as finally adopted was first raised in april 1818 but the fact that every one of our important wars except the war of 1812 began in april would be enough if there were nothing else to justify calling this the most momentous month in american history the first of these was to come in 1775 just before daybreak on the morn ing of april 19 a british tion sent by gen eral gage to seize the cannon and military stores collected at concord by the massachusetts pa appeared in lexington and there found a party of sixty or seventy minute men commanded by capt john parker then fol followed loRed major pit calm cairns s historic disperse ye rebels the refusal of the minute men too few to resist foo 00 oo brave to fly to obey the fatal order of fire I 1 from pit cairn s lips and the fall of seven patriots then on to concord the british went and at that rude bridge which arched the flood was mas fired the shot heard round the world the american rev dualon had begun on an april morning the next april episode in history came in a war which was an american war and yet was not an american war in 1830 1836 american settlers in texas were fighting to v off the yoke of ico just as their f fitl ers I 1 ad fought to throw off the yoke of england in march a little less than 70 bears eara after a sin lar document had bad been pro claimed in philadelphia the texans issued their own declaration of independence and tl ti e wash ington who was called to make that declaration good by fighting for it was another virginian gen sam houston on april 21 IM he made it good by defeating the mexican army under santa anna at the battle of jacinto so the republic of texas came into existence to have a troubled career for the next eight years and then to be annexed by the united states in 1845 and to enter the union as a state in december of that finhen hen texas came into the union she brought trouble with her ber not only another element in the slaver problem which was already beginning to divide the nation but also trouble in the form of a boundary dispute with nith mexico a d wl ich fell the united states immediately anber ted texas eald said that her western boundary was the rio grande mexico said it was the left bank of the nueces nieces river when james I 1 polk became pres ident he lie ordered gen zachary taylor to cross the deuces and take hs h s post at corpus christ christi within the d spited territory in january 1846 taylor was ordered to continue to the rio grande which the general did and on its banks built fort brown opposite matamoras thereupon general ampudia the Alex mexican ican corn com mander informed taylor tint thit he considered his advance an act of war and demanded that he retreat beyond tl e nueces nieces taylor tailor refused to move general arista ampudia Ampudi as s successor then crossed the aher and on april 24 1846 surprised and captured a small party of american troops hilling killing and wounding s steen although the cial declaration of war d d not come until toy may 11 that bloodshed on april 24 started the mexican war which resulted in add ng to american terri tory the vast stretches of the great southwest but the acquisition of this territory also in fied tle tl e dispute over slavery which I 1 led ed at last to the secession of eleven states and the for nation mation of the confederate states of america the war clouds were inere catherin ga therin fast when abdal am lincoln was inaugurated president but the storm did not break until apr 1 1801 1861 at daybreak on the morning of apr 1 12 the confederate batteries opened fire on fort sumter in the harbor of charleston S C and the first shell which went screaming across the water nater was the herald of the greatest civil war var in history it lasted four years and aga n april the april of ISM 1805 was a momentous month in american h story B g events began happen ng the very first day general sheridan captured five forks and took nearly dearly 6 prisoners tle tl e capture of that town cut off the line of supply for general lee the confederate commander in chief at peters burg he ile must give up petersburg and to do that meant the fall of richmond mond on april 2 general grant ordered a final assault on petersburg it was gallantly defended but the defense was hopeless the end came six days lays later at appomattox Appa mattox court house when I 1 ee surrendered to grant on april 14 asci a great tragedy befell tl e amer lean people both north oreb and south abraham tin I 1 in coin coln was slot sl ot down by jol n wilkes booth and died tl e following morning april 15 thirty three years later the war drums were aga n sound ng doi down n in cuba tl ere was a re bellion against spanish rule which had been in pro progress gregs for three years tl TI e un ted states gov eminent had repeatedly protested to spain against the cruelties with wh vh ch eh its generals were trying to suppress the rebell on and against the losses to american investors in cuba as a result of the insurrection then came the destruction of the battless batt lesh p maine in havana harbor on the n of february 15 1808 to set c sentiment in the united states aflame during tl e next month the ni war ar cla lianor nor grew louder and pres dent me ale kinley linley was nias forced nearer and nearer to war on april 11 McI mckinley inley sent a special message to congress in which he be declared that in the name of humanity in tl e name of civili vat on in behalf of bendan endangered ered american interests wl ich tell give us the right and duty to speak and act the war in cuba must stop on april 19 congress passed a joint resolution which stated that tl e people of cuba are and of right ought to be free and independent it deman demanded led that spain should at once wit draw from front C cuba aba spain rejected this ultimatum and on april 2 congress formally declared war mar upon stat tt at european country the result was our cear with nith its brilliant caval naval vittor es which put the united stites in the front bark of the naval nand powers of tte tle world and the aes acles 0 of territory tern terii tory in the far bist list which us la into international rol ties tics b A it was these same international politics which led eventually to another april vi war ar episode when woodrow wilson became president the war torn republic of mexico was under the rule of vie toriano huerta whom the american pres dent refused to recognize as the rightful mexican pres ident although many americans bel bet eved ened it was time to go in and clean up mexico the dent decided that a policy of watchful waiting ft as the best pol cy A crisis came in april 1914 19 4 when some sailors from an american battleship landed at tl e wrong place in tampico to buy some basol ne and were arrested by the mexican authorities tl TI ey were soon released but the american admiral demanded that the mexicans apology ze by saluting our flag huerta refu refused ed 1 this amand and by command of pres dent wil wit son our naval forces seized the city of vera cruz after a fight in which both mexicans and ameri amerl cans were killed although this was mias an act of war president wilson decided that it was not war and tl rough the mediation of the A B C powers argentina brazil and chile a settle ment of the difficulty was effected soon after wards huerta fled the country an carranza became president pres dent wilson immediately iced car ranza and this recognition infuriated another agoti er mexican leader pabelo villa nilla who retaliated by raids across the border culm dating in tl it e famous raid on columbus N at on march 9 1918 1916 tl TI is resulted in the punitive tion led by cen john J pershing so april 1910 1916 seventy years after general taylor entered mexico american troops were vere aga n on mexican soil with hostile intent although ng penetrated some miles into mexico he be never neer succeeded in catching up with the elusive poncho pincho who slipped around his flank and made anoil er quick dash across the border by january 1917 pershing s force had withdrawn from mexico but by this time there was a greater crisis at hand unrestricted submarine warfare had brought the un ted states and germany to the verge of a break ambassador gerard had been recalled from germany and the german dor count von bernstorff was handed his pass ports suspension of intercourse between the two nations made war all but inevitable finally on april 2 1917 the next great april episode in american history took place president wilson appeared before congress and read a message urging it to recognize the fact that a state of war with germany already existed tt NN e fight he said for the rights of nations great and small and the privilege of men every enery where to choose their way of I 1 fe and of obeal ence tl TI e world must be made safe for democracy we have hane no ends to serve we desire no conquest no dom n on we are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind IN e u be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and freedom of nations can make them to such a task we can bedl cate our I 1 ves yes and our fortunes everything that we are and evelyth ng that we ne have with the pride of those who nho know that the day has come when america Is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave gane her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured and so on another april day america embarked upon the greatest war in which she had ever fought on april 6 1917 1017 congress by a joint resolution declared that the issue of war forced on the country by germany was accepted and to the successful conduct of that war all the re sources of the united states of america were pledged a by western newspaper union VIP I 1 |