All things considered, America's history is unique from the rest of the world. What other country is started from a few scrawny colonies that didn't have anything to start with? And what other country survived the voyage that was considered the death wish of the century?
While there are many critical points that never need to happen again, some historical events happened that were never brought into the light. Maybe if these historical events were considered in place of the more customary events, America might learn from its mistakes.
Take Stephen Decatur for example. Decatur was born on January 5, 1779, in Sinepuxent, Maryland. As a young adult, he studied at the Episcopal Academy then later at the University of Pennsylvania.
During the Naval War with France, (1798-1800) Stephen accepted a midshipman commission. As a result, he was quickly elevated to the position of Lieutenant in May of 1799, then Captain in the year of 1804. Also in 1808, he was promoted to the Commander of the Southeastern Naval Force. Decatur was actually the youngest man to become a captain (or commander, for that matter) in naval history. …show more content…
In 1803, during the First Barbary War, when the U.S.S. Philadelphia was captured by Tripolitan pirates, 25-year-old Decatur knew exactly what to do. He and his crew disguised themselves as Maltese sailors, having only swords and pikes as their selected weapons.
Ironically, the ship was never recovered. Decatur and his crew managed to overtake the entire Tripolitan pirate crew without any casualties on their behalf. Decatur soon realized that the U.S.S. Philadelphia was too immense to take back to America and that the rest of the escaping crew would return to recapture the vessel. Therefore, he decided to set the ship ablaze to prevent any of the Tripolitan pirates from coming back and reclaiming
While there are many critical points that never need to happen again, some historical events happened that were never brought into the light. Maybe if these historical events were considered in place of the more customary events, America might learn from its mistakes.
Take Stephen Decatur for example. Decatur was born on January 5, 1779, in Sinepuxent, Maryland. As a young adult, he studied at the Episcopal Academy then later at the University of Pennsylvania.
During the Naval War with France, (1798-1800) Stephen accepted a midshipman commission. As a result, he was quickly elevated to the position of Lieutenant in May of 1799, then Captain in the year of 1804. Also in 1808, he was promoted to the Commander of the Southeastern Naval Force. Decatur was actually the youngest man to become a captain (or commander, for that matter) in naval history. …show more content…
In 1803, during the First Barbary War, when the U.S.S. Philadelphia was captured by Tripolitan pirates, 25-year-old Decatur knew exactly what to do. He and his crew disguised themselves as Maltese sailors, having only swords and pikes as their selected weapons.
Ironically, the ship was never recovered. Decatur and his crew managed to overtake the entire Tripolitan pirate crew without any casualties on their behalf. Decatur soon realized that the U.S.S. Philadelphia was too immense to take back to America and that the rest of the escaping crew would return to recapture the vessel. Therefore, he decided to set the ship ablaze to prevent any of the Tripolitan pirates from coming back and reclaiming