Left to Right: Ferdinand Magellan, Sir Walter Raleigh, Christopher Columbus
Americana Theme Park
Heritage
Remove not the ancient landmarks
which thy fathers have set.
Proverbs 22:28
"Our forefathers built a rich heritage for us. We benefit from their legacy of love, industry, and high courage. We show our gratefulness to those forefathers by honoring this heritage and by passing it on, strengthened and reinforced, to those who shall come after us."
Walter MacPeek
"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.
I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past."
Patrick Henry
Americana Theme Park
Prologue to Consitiutional Liberty:
Great Moments and Historical Figures
of Western Civilization
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
II. BEFORE CHRIST:
| 1950 BC:
| Abraham -- The great Hebrew patriarch teaches there is but one God in the universe (Jehovah) to whom we owe allegiance.
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| 1480 BC:
| Moses -- The prophet/lawgiver receives the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.
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| 1100 BC:
| Phoenicians -- Seafaring merchant traders teach their alphabet to the Greeks.
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| 850 BC:
| Homer -- The epic storyteller of The Iliad and The Odyssey.
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| 495-429 BC:
| Pericles -- The man who gave Athens its Golden Age, sponsored the arts and championed democracy.
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| 485 BC:
| Cincinnatus -- Roman hero of the early legendary days of the republic. He was the quintessential citizen-soldier who led the army to defeat Rome's enemies and then returned to his farm refusing to become a dictator.
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| 460-377 BC:
| Hippocrates -- He and the school he founded mark the beginning of medical science.
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| 469-399 BC:
| Socrates -- Greek philosopher who taught that knowledge is virtue.
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| 427-347 BC:
| Plato -- The works of Plato (including The Republic) remain one of the greatest contributions to the realm of thought.
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| 384-322 BC:
| Aristotle -- One of the greatest thinkers of all time and the first man to apply a systematic approach to man and his world in its entirety. The philosopher/teacher summarized Greek knowledge including physics, biology, astronomy, art and literature.
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| 287-212 BC:
| Archimedes -- Greek mathematician, physicist and inventor who developed principles of lever, screw and specific gravity.
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| 106-43 BC:
| Cicero -- The greatest orator and man of letters produced by ancient Rome. He has gained the respect of all ages because of his humanity, uprightness and adherence to duty.
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| 70-19 BC:
| Virgil -- Roman propagandist and author of the epic poetic tale, The Aeneid.
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III. MERIDIAN OF TIME:
IV. AFTER DEATH AND RESURRECTION:
| 42-120 AD:
| Plutarch -- Greek moralist and world's most renowned biographer of antiquity.
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| 354-430 AD:
| Saint Augustine -- No early theologian made a deeper impression on the mind of Christendom. Among his voluminous writings is the City of God.
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| 742-814 AD:
| Charlemagne -- King of the Franks who gave medieval Europe unity and progress while promoting Christianity and education.
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| 1215 AD:
| King John -- The English monarch signs the Magna Charta establishing the basis of general human rights which were to become the fundamentals of democracy.
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| 1225-1274 AD:
| Saint Thomas Aquinas -- Italian philosopher/theologian whose prodigious works culminated in his Summa Theologia. In it he left man a view of life and history in which progress and purpose have real meaning.
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| 1254-1323 AD:
| Marco Polo -- He was a forerunner of the age of exploration and a good-will ambassador between West and East. He was also a great writer and his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, has become one of the classics of world literature.
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| 1265-1321 AD:
| Dante Alighieri -- Italian poet whose Divine Comedy ranks as one of the world's great literary works. In all his works, Dante was first concerned with helping men to attain knowledge and inspire them toward righteousness. His allegorical Divine Comedy has been hailed as the first Christian poem.
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| 1340-1400 AD:
| Geoffrey Chaucer -- English poet whose literary genius was displayed in his famous narrative poem, The Canterbury Tales, is the embodiment of the Elizabethan epoch.
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| 1446-1506 AD:
| Christopher Columbus -- The greatest of all discoverers was a deeply religious man who sought a new passage to India and instead found a whole unknown hemisphere.
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| 1450 AD:
| Johann Gutenberg -- Father of Printing invents movable type for the printing press and helps usher in the modern era. This one invention, perhaps more than any other, had the most profound affect on the enlightenment and progress of man.
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| 1452-1519 AD:
| Leonardo DaVinci -- Italian painter, natural scientist and inventor was the dominant creative figure of the Renaissance and one of the greatest geniuses of all time.
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| 1475-1564 AD:
| Michelangelo -- Italian painter, sculptor, architect and poet, created the world's greatest masterpiece--the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in frescos portraying the story of Genesis. He is the most highly regarded artist of all time.
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| 1500-1648 AD:
| Martin Luther and John Calvin -- The Reformation ushers in age of religious freedom.
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| 1515 AD:
| Nicolas Copernicus -- A Polish astronomer/mathematician, he developed a heliocentric theory of the solar system which revolutionized cosmography. All the great astronomers that followed (Kepler, Galileo, Newton) used his work as the foundation upon which they built.
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| 1521 AD:
| Ferdinand Magellan -- Portuguese explorer was first to circumnavigate the globe.
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| 1547-1616 AD:
| Miguel De Cervantes -- Spanish novelist, poet, and dramatist achieved immortality for his literary masterpiece Don Quixote, which has been universally recognized as one of the world's greatest novels.
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| 1552-1618 AD:
| Sir Walter Raleigh -- English courtier who fought for the Huguenot cause in France, and later explored the seaboard from Florida to Newfoundland and sent expeditions to Virginia. He devoted his energies to crippling the power of Spain. He was a poet, philosopher, and historian who was the embodiment of the Elizabethan age.
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| 1561-1626 AD:
| Francis Bacon -- English philosopher, politician and writer. Although he had some personal flaws, he was one of the world's great thinkers. His Essays stand as one of the monuments of English literature.
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| 1564-1616 AD:
| William Shakespeare -- English poet, playwright and actor, he was perhaps the greatest dramatist of all time. The Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies of Mr. William Shakespeare is considered the most important single volume of English literature. The language of his plays are of unsurpassed beauty, reflect real life issues, and hence, are timeless.
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| 1571-1630 AD:
| Johann Kepler -- German astronomer/mathematician developed the laws of planetary motion and his work was the basis of Newton's law of Universal Gravitation.
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| 1578-1657 AD:
| William Harvey -- English physician/surgeon who discovered the circulation of the blood. His discovery did for physiology, biology and medicine what Copernicus had done for astronomy and physics a century earlier.
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| 1595-1617 AD:
| Pocahontas -- Indian princess whose charm and intellect built a bridge of understanding between the old and new world.
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| 1596-1650 AD:
| Rene Descartes -- French philosopher and scientist, he was regarded as the father of modern philosophy. He also made contributions that were supremely important to mathematics and significant to other sciences.
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| 1606-1669 AD:
| Rembrandt -- A Dutch painter, he was one of the greatest artists who ever lived, although he was never successful during his own time. He had deep religious faith and chose to paint and etch many biblical subjects. Despite his many personal difficulties, he never lost his faith in God nor his own dignity.
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| 1607 AD:
| Jamestown -- The Virginia Company expedition arrives and establishes the first permanent English colony in North America.
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| 1609 AD:
| Galileo Galilei -- Italian astronomer/physicist demonstrates his telescope in Venice.
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| 1611 AD:
| King James -- Sponsors the English translation of the Holy Bible.
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| 1620 AD:
| Pilgrims -- Colonists and religious reformers arrive at Plymouth and sign the Mayflower Compact establishing self-government by agreement.
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| 1636 AD:
| Roger Williams -- British colonist and Puritan founds Rhode Island as America's first example of religious freedom, welcoming settlers of all faiths.
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| 1644-1718 AD:
| William Penn -- English Quaker and founder of the Colony of Pennsylvania was famous for his fairness and fidelity in dealing with the Indians.
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| 1666 AD:
| Isaac Newton -- English astronomer/scientist postulates the Law of Gravity.
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| 1667 AD:
| John Milton -- Author of Paradise Lost, the greatest epic poem in the English language.
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| 1685-1750 AD:
| Johann Sebastian Bach -- German composer who established in his compositions the foundation for all modern music.
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| 1705-1791 AD:
| John Wesley -- Founder of Methodism was a tireless missionary promoting faith in Christ and stressing education.
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| 1720-1769 AD:
| Pontiac -- The chief of the Ottawa Indians was a courageous leader who had uncommon skill as an organizer and diplomat among many tribes, whom he effectively led in resisting English expansion into native lands.
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| 1724-1804 AD:
| Immanuel Kant -- A German philosopher and teacher, his philosophy contained in his Critique of Pure Reason became universally acclaimed. It was of such influence on the scientific, religious, and philosophical thinking of Europe that historians rank it as one of the most important cultural factors of the nineteenth century.
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| 1749-1832 AD:
| Johann W. V. Goethe -- German poet/novelist who authored the philosophic poem Faust, he is considered one of the great figures of literature.
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| 1756-1791 AD:
| Mozart -- The world's greatest musical prodigy.
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| 1770-1827 AD:
| Ludvig Van Beethoven - A hero of the human spirit who overcame many obstacles to compose symphonies that opened a new era in music.
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V. PHILOSOPHERS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT
VI. THE FOUNDING FATHERS
| 1732-1799 AD:
| George Washington -- The Father of his Country was a man of unsurpassed character. After being commander of the Continental Army that defeated the British, he was then chosen as presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention. He was the overwhelming choice as the first president of the new nation.
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| 1706-1790 AD:
| Benjamin Franklin -- An American statesman, scientist, inventor, writer, publisher and philosopher who made historic contribution in many fields, he was a towering genius and probably one of the most diversely talented individuals in history.
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| 1735-1826 AD:
| John Adams -- American statesman, vice president under Washington and second president of the United States was a firm proponent of faith, virtue and character as necessary elements to preserve the republic.
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| 1743-1826 AD:
| Thomas Jefferson -- The author of the Declaration of Independence, he was the third president of the United States and a renaissance man. He was also credited with being the father of architecture in America and was a musician, philosopher and inventor.
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| 1751-1836:
| James Madison -- Father of the United States Constitution and statesman of the highest order, he was the fourth president of the United States. It was his great oration that overcame the opposition to the ratification of the Constitution.
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| 1757-1804 AD:
| Alexander Hamilton -- One of the greatest American statesmen, he co-authored the Federalist Papers along with Madison and Jay and laid the cornerstone of American finance.
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| 1737-1809 AD:
| Thomas Paine -- As the leading American political writer and author of Common Sense, he was the most influential author for turning the scales of public opinion in favor of independence.
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| 1757-1834 AD:
| Marquis De Lafayette -- French soldier and statesman, he was one of the great heros of the Revolutionary war. He showed exceptional bravery and ability as an officer and was publicly thanked by Washington for his services after the War.
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VII. CONCLUSION: