History in Verse
By Larry Porter
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About this ebook
History in Verse is a collection of four epic poems that look, in detail, at four periods of United States history. The Experiment is a complete history of the nation from 1775 to 2012. It begins with the preparation for a revolution, bringing forth the Declaration of Independence. When the Constitution is signed, and a government formed, it uses each presidential term to look at what that president brought to the country, through his cabinet and bills congress passed. It also looks at each Supreme Court that made impactful decisions that held up through the years.
The Quest for the West starts with the first thirteen colonies becoming states. The poem continues telling the story of how each state was formed as the government acquired territories across a newly forming country. As the states and territories came to the nation, the population moved westward, opening new settlements. Subjects covered include, the War of 1812, trails used to travel across the west all the way to the Pacific, the Pony Express, railroads, outlaws and lawmen, mountain men, gold and silver rushes, and Indian wars.
The Reconstruction of a Nation includes the twenty years that led up to the War, those organizations, politics and cultures that concluded with this tragedy. It tells the story of the events that led to the Southern states succeeding. Then it gives the details of the major battles, the civilian population on each side, the undercurrent of politics on both sides, and the women involved in the war effort from both sides. Finally, it describes the Northern politicians' reasons for their method of imposing reconstruction and those consequences on the South.
America in the Sixties: A Most Interesting Decade is all about the decade of the nineteen sixties in the U.S. This was the only decade in U.S. history that saw four prominent leaders of the country assassinated. It was a decade that began with the country nearly creating a nuclear holocaust. Then, the country was forced into a war nearly everyone now agrees should never have happened. While the Vietnam War raged, another war was taking place in the streets of all of our big cities. The civil rights war raged as inner cities burned, blacks trying to bring their injustices to the general public. But the Vietnam War so overshadowed it, it was nearly forgotten. The poem tells of the many good things as well. The country began the flight to the moon and saw men land there before the decade closed. Hippies gave the nation a smile and a cry, as the people enjoyed their antics but also were frightful of the drug scene that brought such pathos. Music changed and it changed the nation. So many genres came forth, giving many the claim that much of this music will live long after most are gone. This was a decade that brought influential, impactful, divisive scenes to the nation that have lasted to this day.
Larry Porter
Larry Porter has been writing since 1976, when he had his second project, a children’s play, Treehouse, produced in Atlanta, Ga. He has written fourteen full-length plays. Another, The Gospel According to Jesus, was produced in Asheville, NC. He has written numerous short stories, eight novels including Chance Mountain, Ivan the Backward Man, True Globalization, The Carousel, The Blue Barrel, The Visitor, and After America: Rebuilding. He has a memoir, Self-Storage Business and a collection of short stories titled Heaven? dealing with the afterlife. He has written four screenplays. His latest project is writing history in verse. A compilation of four epic poems titled History in Verse includes The Experiment, a history of the US, The Reconstruction of a Nation, a history of the Civil War, The Quest for the West, a history of the settling of the US west, and The Sixties, a history of the decade of the 1960s in the US. Look for a new series of totalitarians of the twentieth century coning soon. He lives in the North Carolina Mountains where he continues to write.
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History in Verse - Larry Porter
History in Verse
by Larry Porter
Copyright 2018 Larry Porter
Smashwords edition
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to
Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
The Experiment - An epic poem of the complete history of the U.S.
Quest for the West - An epic poem of the opening and settling of the U.S. West
The Reconstruction of a Nation - An epic poem of the histroy of the American Civil War
America in the Sixties - A poem of America's 1960s decade, a most interesting decade
THE EXPERIMENT
by Larry Porter
Copyright 2013 Larry Porter
Smashwords edition
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to
Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Preparation
The frost in the air comes not from weather.
The frost in the air comes from the fool crown’s tether.
Those who would dare to bring up a scare
Will bring the disgusted together.
They march to the tune of a different songbird,
The crown didn’t listen and got the wrong words.
These souls understood there’s a much greater Good,
And that’s what the strong should prefer.
They gathered together to forge a new plan,
A country whose power was bestowed on man.
In the heat of the day and with so much to weigh,
One said, I don’t know if we can.
Undaunted, three souls chose to work even harder.
Together they formed a triumvirate of ardor.
The first brought the form, the second transformed
Ideas aged kept in their larder.
The third of the members interpreted well
The meanings of phrases so none could dispel
The message that wrought the authors’ true thoughts.
They now had a story to tell.
The assemblage was gathered and asked to please ponder
If they’d willingly risk their lives, wealth, and honor.
Fifty-six men agreed that they had to secede
From the crown that ruled from a’ yonder.
The menace marched westward in a wave of bright red,
And nearing its goal the patriots said,
"Come on boys, take our toys
And then we’ll cut off all your heads."
When they met the menace, they did the unheard,
They hid behind trees and true to their word,
They took off it’s head, and left it for dead,
And a new nation thus had been spurred.
The wise men assembled in secret that year
Named a man who had fought in the country’s frontier.
Made a name for himself, as a warrior with wealth,
And his best trait was he was austere.
This great man’s poor army was nearly consumed
And the new country’s fate seemed for sure to be doomed,
The wise men had guessed they’d given their best.
But the chosen one never presumed.
On a cold Christmas eve, camped next to the river,
He ordered his men to advance to deliver,
A destructive blow in the wind and the snow,
And to show them what’s left in our quiver.
So they walked across water with cloths wrapped ‘round feet,
Through the snow and ice with no thoughts of defeat.
Leaving crimson on white, to look back was a fright,
So they marched forward, Hessians to greet.
The success of that day made the country propitious
That the crown may be gone, though some still were suspicious.
They slugged through ten years, give and take, fears and tears,
Would the signers be hung as seditious?
After ten years of fighting, the war was now won
Because of the grit of George Washington.
Then they began to draw up the plan
On how this new government should run.
Alas came an end to the fighting and dying.
Patriots victorious, the red menace left crying,
They had their new nation but with their creation,
They found its survival defying.
Jefferson, Madison, Adams, those three
Drew the document that sent the world on a spree
It declared every right was bestowed outright,
Not from government but instead deity.
The talk from the men who performed for thirteen.
Haggled and screamed and like roosters some preened.
But eventually enough signed off on the stuff,
That made for a brand new machine.
They needed a head for this brand new estate.
Unanimously they agreed only one had the trait,
That could lead a new nation, so in the summation,
They chose Washington, their new head of state.
The Experiment Begins
The world stood watching with great anticipation
To see if she stumbled on her own expectations.
Could she hold on to this promising dawn,
Or would she collapse from translation?
The idea was new that a people could rule,
That their rights were derived from their very own pool.
Would they grasp the real meaning, without intervening
Or would they rely on old school.
Freedom of speech? Who heard of such things?
And the right to assemble, no, not from their kings.
Religion and arms. No one taking their farms?
And none of these freedoms had strings?
Who’d believe all the things this document told,
Of freedoms and rights more precious than gold.
Could it stand on it’s own, ignoring the crown,
Or would it fade into history, untold?
George Washington proved the wise leaders' decision
He led the new nation with startling precision.
Here's the thing, he could have been king.
Instead he gave life to the vision.
He took to his heart what the document said,
Vowing by actions to eliminate dread.
Never bowing to those who would bring to a close
The message that it would spread.
His cabinet was wrought with two men who fought
With different ideas of constitutional thought.
They’d go for weeks never to speak.
But he needed what each of them brought.
One sat on his right the other his left
At making their case, both were quite deft,
Every time one would sneeze, he was tempted to squeeze
From that man his very last breath.
He was blessed with the talent to discard their petty
Disagreements in principle and keep them both ready
To steer the ship forward, for they were the stewards.
As the world watched to see it stay steady.
He was true to his word as his two terms expired.
He insisted to all he was done, and retired.
What he left in his wake for the next man to take,
Was a new nation duly inspired.
His second was one of the first architects.
At times Adams felt he was just a reject,
He had little to do, watching senators brew,
Their concoctions. He got no respect.
The second was voted to become the next first.
He finally felt he was shown his real worth.
The rules he’d helped write, were about to ignite
A battle to shake the whole Earth.
The Amendments were written for all to peruse
The rights of the people could not be abused.
Being able to speak one’s mind was unique
And its writing could not be confused.
But now one author was leading the state,
Through executive power he began to dictate
With his signature placed on one bill he embraced,
He hobbled the whole fourth estate.
Washington was crushed by some newspapermen
Who vilified him with their sharp poison pens.
It didn’t bother the Founding Father,
But to Adams, it wasn't his ken.
When Adams became the number one man,
He agreed with his former colleagues’ game plan.
They'd punish the men who used poison pens
By forbidding free speech with a ban.
The plan was to pass the A and S Acts.
Which they all pretended was against foreign pacts.
The reality however was to stifle forever
Critics and to cover their backs.
And so the first chink in the ambitious design
Appeared oh so quickly and gave us a sign
That men of good will can be led down the hill.
Human nature is often supine.
And now came John Marshall who carried the law.
He and five cohorts decided for all
What the document said as it was read,
Their word would be the last straw.
Since brilliant John Adams was there from the start
You'd think he would know the direction by heart.
Instead he took actions that brought grave reactions
Pushed executive power athwart.
Marshall proclaimed Adams misused his power
When the USS Boston made the Flying Fish cower.
With Little v Barreme , the Court called Supreme
Gave Congress back its power.
Washington again proved his worth to the nation.
Before he left office a wise revelation,
He gave to the masses, "Before a day passes,
With parties you’ll have a cessation."
"Your country will die before it can start.
If you chose different camps, you’ll soon grow apart.
Parties divide, throw the people aside,
Their own needs dictate their heart."
But the two from his cabinet who could not agree,
Ignored all his wisdom, each became a trustee
Of his party of choice, proclaiming his voice
Was that of the true bourgeoisie.
When Adams was through, Thomas Jefferson ran
For the highest office in this new land.
His life’s enemy ran at him, you see,
And the country’s division began.
Once again a designer of the U.S. blueprint
Became the third man to leave his imprint.
He looked to the West, for the countries next quest
So he sent a group out for a glint.
What he did next, he knew wasn’t right
According to rules that he helped to write.
His thinking, the end justified the offend.
He went forth and purchased it outright.
He paid fifteen mil which then doubled the lay
Most people were happy, as they got underway
To settle new land, where ‘til now had blue hands,
But would soon be called US of A.
We the people, didn’t mind being scammed,
They didn’t complain with whatever was rammed,
As long as they got everything that they sought,
They said the Constitution be damned.
Next came a Founder a kind of small guy.
Only five feet four, but he wasn’t shy.
He had a spouse who shared his white house
And helped with his chores on the fly.
Number four was the man who started it all,
Brought the quill, the ink, the paper and all.
By using his brains, he wrote down the strains
That began to roll the ball.
But even before his duties began
Marshall again, with the court made a stand.
Fletcher v Peck, put a foot on the neck
Of the Natives, said, You don’t own land.
As author of what we call the Constitution,
He was a man who had resolution.
He followed the rules, executed with tools
That caused no further dilution.
He did, however, have to go to war
With the Brits, they said they wanted more.
But Andy Jack, he sent ‘em back.
Ne're again to darken our shore.
The Doctrine was what gave the fifth his fame.
After serving the fourth voters said, Remain.
He gained the top, became the cop
Who kept the West maintained.
His Doctrine helped keep our hemisphere
Free from all nations we had feared.
"You all may come for trade and fun
But as for war, not here!"
James was involved right from the start,
At Trenton got shot very near his heart.
So he knew well, what they must quell
What his country would impart.
He stayed true to the word, what great men had written,
Especially did he, after the battle with Britain.
He executed laws with no more cause
Than to follow what was written.
The Marshall group reinforced their findings
As to the Natives, they still had their bindings
Could not sell their land to the common man.
The government took all assignings.
The sovereignty lay with only those men
Who came from afar, pushed again and again.
Natives were not in these men’s thoughts,
Considered God’s creatures, amen.
SC once again before five took his leave.
Gave the Antelope's cargo official reprieve.
Slaves were to be, simply property.
Many years would pass with a yawn.
Like father like son, as the saying goes
The apple falls near to the tree, so they crow.
With Adams at two, the sages were true.
He learned well what to sow.
For John Q. was his father’s son.
He watched his father as he’d run.
When his turn came, he did the same
And nearly always won.
When he became our number six
His enemies cried, Oh, dirty tricks.
The twelfth Amendment, caused resentment,
While his office dodged the bricks.
John Adams knew the country’s law,
He watched his father help to