Andrew Thomson - Who Was Woodrow Wilson?

To Norman, my brave Bermudian brotherMF
To RhiaAT

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Who Was Woodrow Wilson?

When Woodrow Wilson was almost four years old, he was playing outside his home in Augusta, Georgia. A man rushed by. He was shouting the news that Abraham Lincoln had been elected president, and war was coming.

The little boy ran inside to ask his father what it all meant. His father explained that Northern states were going to fight against Southern states. (Wilson would later say that this was his earliest memory as a child.)

Sure enough, a few months later, the bitter Civil War broke out in 1861. It lasted four years.

More than fifty years later, Woodrow Wilson became president of the United States. He was facing another horrible war. In 1914, World War I broke out in Europe. Germany was fighting Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and other countries, some as far away as Japan.

For three years, Wilson kept the United States out of the war. But more and more passenger ships carrying Americans across the Atlantic were being torpedoed by German submarines. In 1917, the United States joined the war. Victory came sooner with America in the fight.

In 1918, President Wilson went to Europe for the Paris Peace Conference. The nations that had won the war were planning for Germany and the rest of Europes future. Wilson had an idea for what he called the League of Nations. He hoped the League would prevent more wars.

According to him, countries needed to work together to keep peace. It was a wonderful idea. Sadly for Wilson, the US Congress stopped the country from joining. It was a terrible disappointment for the president. Still, in 1920, President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Many consider him to be one of Americas greatest presidents.

Chapter 1
A Southern Boyhood

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856, late at night in Staunton, Virginia. His mother wrote to her father that Tommy was a fine healthy boy... and as fat as he can be. Everyone tells us he is a beautiful boy.

Tommy had two older sisters, Marion and Annie. His father, Joseph, was a minister. His mother, Jessie, came from a family of ministers as well.

The Wilsons had been in Staunton for about a year when the family was invited to visit Georgia. While there, Dr. Wilson gave a sermon at a church in Augusta. He was a tall, handsome, outgoing man with a strong voice. The church liked him so much, he was invited to become their minister. Dr. Wilson accepted and the family moved south.

When the Civil War started in 1861, Union forces from the North fought against Confederate soldiers of the South. Augusta was not attacked, but wounded Southern soldiers were brought there. So were Northern prisoners of war on their way to the terrible prison at Andersonville, Georgia. Dr. Wilson set up a hospital for the wounded in the church.

Schools in Augusta were closed because of the war, so Tommys father taught him at home. Dr. Wilson often took Tommy on visits to factories and businesses around the city. His father asked him questions about what he had seen. Wilson said that his father was the best teacher I ever had.

As for his mother, Tommy was her favorite child. My mother was a mother to me in the fullest, sweetest sense of the word. His older sisters were never jealous of their brother. Like their mother, they adored him. So did his younger brother, Joseph, who was born when Tommy was eleven.

Mrs. Wilson worried about Tommy. He had stomach problems and bad colds. He also suffered from bad headaches, just as she did.

CIVIL WAR COMES TO AUGUSTA

ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR THE CIVIL WAR WAS SLAVERY. MANY PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH OWNED SLAVES TO WORK ON PLANTATIONS. ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS AGAINST SLAVERY. ONCE HE BECAME PRESIDENT, SOUTHERN STATES BROKE AWAY FROM THE COUNTRY. ELEVEN STATES FORMED THEIR OWN COUNTRYTHE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. THE SOUTH LOST THE WAR IN 1865 AND THE UNITED STATES BECAME ONE COUNTRY AGAIN. EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TOMMY WILSON WATCHED AS NORTHERN GUARDS WALKED JEFFERSON DAVIS THROUGH THE SILENT STREETS OF AUGUSTA. DAVIS HAD BEEN PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERACY, BUT NOW HE WAS A PRISONER.

Tommys mother could see that he was a slow learner. He didnt know the letters of the alphabet until he was nine. He couldnt read on his own until he was eleven.

Right after the war ended, a school for boys opened in a warehouse near the Wilsons. Tommy went, but he wasnt that interested in lessons. He liked playing outdoors with his friends a lot more.

Baseball was new to Augusta. All the boys wanted to be on a team. Tommy was small, yet he was good enough to play second base. He started a club with his friends. He liked taking over and being the leader.