Plucking the Eagle's Wings

The Zero Cycle and the Deaths of American Presidents

• 1860 - Lincoln was born in Kentucky but lived in Illinois • 1880 - James Garfield was from Ohio • 1900 - William McKinley was from Ohio • 1920 - Warren G. Harding was from Ohio • 1940 - Franklin Roosevelt was from New York • 1960 - John F. Kennedy was from Massachusetts

Although Reagan survived the "zero curse," it is interesting that he was born in Tampico, Illinois, the same state where Lincoln lived when elected president. These six presidents were born in areas where some of the most severe bloodshed occurred. In 1830, a law was passed that required the Indians to relocate. Ten years later in 1840, over 60,000 Indians walked the trail of tears on their journey westward. In 1840, William Harrison, the "Indian fighter," was elected president. He became deathly ill and died a few days after his inauguration, thus becoming the first president to fall under the "zero cycle." First the Indians—Then the Slaves It was not just the conflict with the Indians that impacted America. The scourge of slavery also plagued the nation. Abraham Lincoln, elected in 1860, was determined to set the slaves free. Some slave owners terribly mistreated the slaves, at times to the point of death. The soil of the young nation was again stained with innocent blood. By 1860, the nation was divided with brother turning against brother in the Civil War. Thousands died, cities were burned, homes were destroyed, and families were shattered. The Civil War brought an end to slavery, but the nation then witnessed the untimely death of its president. I do not believe that America has ever repented or made atonement for the shedding of innocent blood within our borders. The frontiersmen fought natives, annexed land, and conquered through wars. The trail of tears is a sad example of how our government moved the Indian tribes from their original lands to make room for the white settlers. It is possible that both cultures could have eventually lived together in peace, but whenever the Indians resisted, it meant war. One Indian said, "I am a good man. Why am I treated this way?" The reply from an American soldier was, "The only good Indians are dead ones!" If the "zero curse" originated because innocent blood was shed

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