PRESIDENT HARDING SPEAKS AT 140TH COMMEMORATION OF BRITISH SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN
Yorktown, Virginia (JFK+50) On October 19, 1921, President Warren G. Harding pronounced "a doctrine of enduring friendship between the United States and Great Britain...at a ceremony commemorating the final surrender of the British" in the American Revolutionary War.
The President and First Lady were in attendance at the celebration marking the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown and surrender of Lord Charles Cornwallis to General George Washington.
President Harding, speaking at the foot of the Yorktown Victory Monument* said...
"In the trusteeship of preserving civilization we were naturally arrayed together, and the conviction of a civilization worthy of that costly preservation will exalt peace and warn against conflict for all time to come."
*Yorktown Victory Monument overlooks the York River & memorializes the end of the American Revolution. It celebrates the ultimate peace between Great Britain & USA. The Continental Congress commissioned the monument but the cornerstone was not laid until Oct 18 1881.
It is constructed of marble from Maine & contains 13 female figures representing the 13 original colonies with joined hands symbolic of unity. The phrase "One Country, One Constitution, One Destiny" appears below. Lady Liberty sits atop the monument wearing a lightning rod. The monument suffered lightning strike damage in 1942 & 1990.
SOURCES
"All About the Yorktown Victory Monument," The Hornsby House Inn, www.hornsbyhouseinn.org/
"President Urges U.S. Participation In World Affairs," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., October 19, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
