Franklin County: "Resolutions," by Unknown, September 3, 1915
Summary: In 1915, Kauffman's Progressive reprinted this article--originally printed in 1862--which contains a resolution from the teachers of Greencastle calling, essentially, for educating the children to believe in the Union cause and spread the teachers' belief in the evil nature of the secession of the South.
At a meeting of the Teachers District Institute of the township of Antrim and Borough of Greencastle the President appointed a committee to draft and report a series of resolutions on the state and condition of the country. The committee at the next regular meeting submitted the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
Whereas, our beloved and once happy country has hitherto been to us all a kind and nourishing parent, under whose liberal and beneficient hand we have enjoyed all the immunities and privileges that a country could bestow upon its people:
And whereas, That conntry is now struggling with one of the most unholy, inhuman, and unrighteous civil wars that ever cursed our earth, threatening to overthrow the great and good institutions which were purchased with the hearts-blood of our illustrious ancestors, and threatening also to blot from the world the last ray of hope to the suffering subject of tyranny and oppression in all quarters of the globe:
And whereas, the nation is now bleeding at every pore and struggling with its mighty foe for its very existence; therefore.
Resolved, That setting aside all feeling of prejudice that may have sprung out of party sentiments, that we show ourselves worthy (at least in fidelity to our country) of the responsible positions that we occupy as moulders of the minds of the rising generation, upon whose shoulders will some day rest the responsibilities of the nation.
Resolved, That all the feeling of our hearts are enlisted in sympathy with our beloved country, in its trying hour of peril and danger, and that we scorn from us, with utter disdain and contempt, any who would consciously do or say anything that is calculated to dishonor or impair the dignity of its fair fame.
Resolved, That the doctrine of State's Rights over the sovereignty of the United States, is a doctrine fraught with innumerable dangers to the prosperity and success of the institutions of our country, and therefore should be frowned down by every true lover of the Union.
Resolved, That we believe the rebellion to be an uncalled for and unprovoked one having for its object none of the interests of the masses, but being intended to overthrow the temple of liberty and construct upon its ruins the fabric of aristocracy and monarchy.
Resolved, That as the blessings of a free and undivided country have been bequeathed to us by our immortal sires, we are bound by every consideration of honor to transmit them unimpared to our posterity.
Resolved that we recognized in Abraham Lincoln the lawful executive of the land, and deeply sympathize with him in his efforts to crush this unholy and fiendish rebellion and restore peace and prosperity to our once happy but now distracted country.
Resolved, That our most devout sympathies are with the thousands of our fellow-citizens who are enduring the privations and incurring the dangers of war in the fields of battle, and for their families who are bereaved and disconsolate on account of their absence and danger.
Resolved, That we are opposed to any terms of peace, except such as are, honorable, just and fair, and will restore the country to one un-dividing whole, without a single star being erased from its ensign of unity.
Resolved, That we, as teachers of the youth of our country, unite in endeavoring to instill into their minds that love of country that will render them true patriots, and worthy of the trust that will in the future be confided to them.
Resolved, That a suitable text book upon the Constitution of the United States should be introduced as a branch of study for the larger pupils of our public schools.
Resolved, That though the circumstance of the times are arduous, yet the interest of education, of morality and of our country demand that public education should continue as heretofore.
Resolved, That a copy of the for-going be given to the respective Boards of Directors in whose employ we are, and that they be published in the Greencastle Pilot, the Chambersburg Spirit & Times, the Repository & Transcript, and School Journal of the State.
Reporter.
Bibliographic Information: Source copy consulted: "Resolutions," Kauffman's Progressive, September 3, 1915; originally published in the "Greencastle Pilot" Volume 3, No. 43, Nov. 13, 1862; edited by James W. M'Crory
