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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The American Philhellenes Society was established
3 in 1810 and was in existence until 1840; American Philhellenes
4 were the brave men who left the safety of America to travel to
5 Greece and assist in the Greek War for Independence against the
6 Ottoman Empire; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Petros Mavromichalis, on behalf of the Messinian
8 Congress, sent a letter to Secretary of State John Adams,
9 urging moral support from the newly formed United States;
10 President Monroe noted that, due to the language of the Monroe
11 Doctrine, that the United States could not get involved in a
12 European dispute; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, General Sam Houston,
14 and Edward Everett all spoke on behalf of aiding the Greek
15 Revolution; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Volunteer Americans began traveling to Greece to
17 aid in the struggle for independence; among these brave men was
18 George Jarvis, a New Yorker, who traveled to Greece in 1822; he
19 died while in Greece, but his appeals for aid from the United
20 States soon made him a role model to other Americans; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Captain Jonathan Miller also traveled to Greece

 

 

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1 and was present during the fall of Messolongi to the Ottoman
2 invaders; Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, a physician from Boston,
3 also enlisted in the Greek Army, serving as a soldier and
4 surgeon; he went on to establish a medical center in Aegina and
5 a school for the blind in Corinth; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Through the efforts of these gallant men, medical
7 aid, supplies, as well as other fighters made the journey to
8 Greece; because of the work of these men, thousands of Greeks
9 were saved from starvation, disease, and exposure; in addition,
10 many of these men adopted Greek orphans who came to the United
11 States and received educations, and later went on to lead
12 productive lives as American citizens or by returning to the
13 newly independent Greece; therefore, be it
 
14     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
16 honor George Jarvis, Captain Jonathan Miller, and Dr. Samuel
17 Gridley Howe, as well as many other great Americans, for their
18 valiant efforts in the Greek War for Independence; and be it
19 further
 
20     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21 presented at the banquet honoring the American Philhellenes
22 Society.