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Article: PORTSMOUTH PLAYED A BIG PART IN BIRTH OF OUR NATION'S NAVY.(PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- May 4, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Alan Flanders
The arguments about the future role of the Navy and defense cutbacks, now familiar to most contemporary readers, would have been all too familiar to people two hundred years ago.
Early in our national history, isolationism and neutrality became popular. Many in Congress claimed that further commitment toward building seagoing fighting ships was unnecessary and just too expensive.
Finally, it took the age-old argument about freedom of the seas - and the combined threats of a war with France, a former ally, and the belligerence of pirates from North Africa - to convince Congress to authorize the construction of six frigates ...