In Christian doctrine, the Fall of Man, or simply the Fall, refers to the transition of the first humans from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience to God. In Genesis chapter 2, Adam and Eve live at first with God in a paradise, but the serpent tempts them into eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God forbade. After doing so they become ashamed of their nakedness and God consequently expelled them from paradise. The Fall is not mentioned by name in the Bible, but the story of disobedience and expulsion is recounted in both Testaments in different ways. The Fall can refer to the wider theological inferences for all humankind as a consequence of Eve and Adam's original sin. Examples include the teachings of Paul in and .

Some Christian denominations believe the Fall corrupted the entire natural world, including human nature, causing people to be born into original sin, a state from which they cannot attain eternal life without the gracious intervention of God. Protestants hold that Jesus' death was a "ransom" by which humanity was offered freedom from the sin acquired at the Fall. In other religions, such as Judaism, Islam, and Gnosticism, the term "The Fall" is not recognized and varying interpretations of the Eden narrative are presented.

The term "prelapsarian" refers to the sin-free state of humanity prior to the Fall. It is sometimes used in reference to sentimental recollections of a past time when conditions stood in sharp contrast to the present; this situation is called nostalgia.

Accounts

Genesis

In Genesis, the first book of the Jewish and Christian Bibles, God creates Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, in His own image. God places them in the Garden of Eden and forbids them to eat fruit from the ''tree of knowledge of good and evil'' (often symbolized in European art and literature as an apple tree). The serpent persuades Eve to eat fruit from the forbidden tree. Eve shares the fruit with Adam and they immediately become ashamed of their nakedness.

To the Serpent, God said:

Although God does not use the word "curse" when He addresses the couple, He does, at a minimum, prophetically warn them of the consequences awaiting them as a result of the sin they have committed.

To the woman God said:

To the man God said:

The question thus remains as to whether God's statements to the woman and man are ''prescriptive'', and therefore a curse, or are instead ''descriptive''; that is, prophecies of the natural consequences of their actions. Calvinist theologian Roger Nicole understands the passage this way:

and the sweat in cultivating the ground and earning a living.|Roger Nicole}}

Subsequently, God banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and places cherubim to guard the entrance, so that Adam and Eve will not eat from the Tree of Life.

Quran

God announced to the angels that He would create a vicegerent (man) on the earth. The angels questioned this, wondering why God would create something with the capacity to disobey Him:

God then commanded the angels to prostrate (bow down) to Adam. The angels prostrated but Iblis (Satan), out of haughtiness, refused to bow. God cursed him because of his disobedience. Iblis sought respite and vowed to mislead Adam and his progeny. He misled Adam and his wife Eve to eat from a tree that was forbidden for them by God. Due to their disobedience, God ordered the removal of Adam and Eve out of paradise and down to earth. God promised that the earth will be a dwelling place for them and their children a limited time (Until the Day of Judgment). The Qur'an Al-A'raf (The Elevated Places) verses 7:11-27 detail the story of the Fall.

Other traditions

In Gnosticism, the snake is thanked for bringing knowledge to Adam and Eve, and thereby freeing them from the Demiurge's control. The Demiurge banished Adam and Eve, because man was now a threat.

Ancient Greek mythology held that humanity was immortal during the Golden Age, until Prometheus brought them fire to help them live through cold. The gods punished humans allowing Pandora to release the evil (death, sorrow, plague) into the world due to her curiosity. See Ages of Man for more.

In classic Zoroastrianism, humanity is created to withstand the forces of decay and destruction through good thoughts, words and deeds. Failure to do so actively leads to misery for the individual and for his family. This is also the moral of many of the stories of the Shahnameh, the key text of Persian mythology.

Interpretations

Judaism and Islam

Judaism and Islam interpret the account of the fall as being simply historical, Adam and Eve's disobedience would have already been known to God even before he created them, thus draw no particular theological implications for human nature. That is, man's setting, condition, and environment have in essence changed - but not man himself. Quite simply, because of Adam's actions, he and his wife were removed from the garden, forced to work, suffer pain in childbirth, and die. However, even after expelling them from the garden, God provided that people who honor God and follow God's laws would be rewarded, while those who acted wrongly would be punished.

Christianity

Christianity interprets the fall in a number of ways. Traditional Christian theology accepts the teaching of St Paul in his letter to the Romans "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and of St John's Gospel that "God so loved the world that he sent his only son (Jesus Christ) that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

The doctrine of original sin, as articulated by Augustine of Hippo's interpretation of Paul of Tarsus, provides that the fall caused a fundamental change in human nature, so that all descendants of Adam are born in sin, and can only be redeemed by divine grace. Sacrifice was the only means by which humanity could be redeemed after the Fall. Jesus, who was without sin, died on the cross as the ultimate redemption for the sin of humankind; "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

The dominant view within Christianity is that the serpent of Genesis was a figure of Satan, based on the reference in the Book of Revelation: "He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."

Catholicism

Catholicism teaches that "the account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man."

"Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of."

This first sin was "transmitted" by Adam and Eve to all of their descendants as original sin, causing humans to be "subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin." Baptism is considered to erase original sin, though the effects on human nature remain, and for this reason the Catholic Church baptizes even infants who have not committed any personal sin.

Protestantism

Among the teachings of Protestants John Calvin and Martin Luther were, in a variation and adaptation of the Pauline-Augustinian teaching, that God foresaw and predestined those who were to be redeemed by grace and those who were to be eternally condemned, thus giving humanity, in its sinful state, no real choice in spiritual matters, except to act at God's direction. (See Calvinism.) Calvinists (and others) holding this view are named Infralapsarians. Those who hold predestination to be superior to the Fall, and the creation, fall, and redemption to be part of God's eternal purpose are named Supralapsarians. (See supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism.)

Some Protestants (including some of the above mentioned Lutheran and Calvinist groups) understand the account of "the fall" in Genesis 2 and 3 not as a historical-factual account of the origins of human sin, but rather as the narrative myth that the Israelite people used to express their recognition that man's relationship with God was broken, (a "myth" in the sense that the truth contained in the narrative does not depend upon its historical factuality). This view has the advantage of not conflicting with the evolutionary description of human origins, while preserving the traditional biblical idea of man's moral failure and need for redemption.

Some more liberal Protestants see the person and work of Jesus Christ as God's act to restore relationship, but tend not to view this restoration in terms of a sacrifice necessary for an unpaid debt.

Eastern Orthodoxy

Eastern Orthodoxy rejects the idea that the guilt of original sin is passed down through generations. It bases its teaching in part on a passage in Exodus saying a son is not guilty of the sins of his father. The Church teaches that in addition to their conscience and tendency to do good, men and women are born with a tendency to sin due to the fallen condition of the world. It follows Maximus the Confessor and others in characterizing the change in human nature as the introduction of a "deliberative will" (θέλημα γνωμικόν) in opposition to the "natural will" (θέλημα φυσικόν) created by God which tends toward the good. Thus according to St Paul in his epistle to the Romans, non-Christians can still act according to their conscience. Nonetheless, as a consequence of Adam's sin, seen merely as the prototype (since human nature has been degraded) of all future sinners, each of whom, in repeating Adam’s sin, bears responsibility only for his own sins, humans became mortal. Adam's sin isn't comprehended only as disobedience to God's commandment, but as a change in man's hierarchy of values from theocentricism to anthropocentrism, driven by the object of his lust, outside of God, in this case the tree which was seen to be "good for food", and something "to be desired" (see also theosis, seeking union with God).

Pelagianism

Pelagianism rejects the doctrine of original sin entirely, holding that the fall did not permanently taint human nature, and that humans are therefore capable of choosing good even without divine aid.

The church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints (Mormons)

Latter day saints(Mormons) believe that the Fall was necessary as part of God's plan to redeem and exalt his children. When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he gave them two seemingly contradictory commandments: First, to "multiply and replenish the earth"; and second, not to partake of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Latter day saints veiws emphasizes that Adam and Eve's subsequent partaking of the fruit was a "transgression," not a sin. For Mormons a sin is the act of doing something contrary to the known will of God and to do so willing with full knowlegde. Transgression, on the other hand, is the violation of a law or rule. So for Mormons, all sins (willfully disobedience) are transgressions but not all transgressions (violations) are sins. Since Adam and Eve didn’t have knowledge of good and evil before partaking of the forbidden fruit, his act was a transgression of the law, not a sin against the law. Eve, after partaking, understood that without partaking of the fruit they could have no posterity, and hence could not fulfill the command to multiply and replenish the earth, partook of the fruit; Adam, seeing that his wife would be driven out of the Garden and he would be alone and unable to fulfill God’s command, partook as well.

The Book of Mormon, sacred scripture to Latter-day Saints comparable to the Bible, states

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According to Latter day saints commonly reffered to as Mormonism, through partaking of the fruit, Adam and Eve brought death into the world in two forms, namely physical and spiritual death. Physical death is a separation of the body and spirit; spiritual death is a separation between God and man. Through their own power, humanity is not able to overcome either. Yet, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all of humanity will be resurrected and overcome physical death; and by individual obedience to the Gospel, the grace of Christ provides forgiveness for individual sins, thus overcoming spiritual death and returning the faithful disciple to God’s presence.

This Plan of Salvation rejects the concept of Original sin. Three of their thirteen Articles of Faith state:

2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

According to Graded Absolutism (a hierarchy of moral absolutes), the Scripture teach humans that there are higher and lower moral laws, and that humans will meet unavoidable moral conflicts in life. If they keep the higher law, they are not responsible for breaking the lower law, and they have not sinned.

However, Latter day saints (Mormons) teach that Adam and Eve were responsible, and willingly so, for the Fall of Man. They relied on the promise of Atonement from the Savior to correct the consequences of that choice, which Atonement had been God's Plan from the beginning. The Fall was not "good" or "bad" so much as it was both "necessary" and "unpleasant." A step down but progressing in a forward direction. Furthermore, as Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence, they could not have sinned—sin being impossible without Knowledge of Good and Evil—but they were still responsible for the consequences of their choices, namely death of both kinds. The Atonement is explicitly given to them (see the Books of Moses or Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price) because they were incapable of doing anything about either kind of death.

Unification Church

The Unification Church agrees with those who believe the forbidden fruit was sex, but teaches that Adam and Eve were meant to be blessed in marriage by God after they had grown to spiritual maturity. They fell when they engaged in a sexual act prematurely after Eve was tempted sexually by the serpent in the world of spirit. Thus they learned about the sexual relationship from Satan, not from God.

Contrary to many Christians' belief, Unificationists do not believe that The Fall was predestined by God, but was a choice made by Adam and Eve. According to Divine Principle (the Unification holy book),

As a result of "the fall", humans lost God's lineage, and have been dominated by their ties to Satan. Unificationists believe that the fall is reversed through the Blessing Ceremony, which is understood to change a couple's lineage back to that of God, cutting off the bloodline to Satan. The entire purpose of history is restoration of man back to the originally intended divine lineage of God.

''Felix culpa''

''Felix culpa'' (the happy fault) is an interpretation of the doctrine of the fall is that it is necessary so that humans might benefit from God's grace. It includes the notion that, had humankind not been given the capacity for evil, our choice through free will to either serve God or not would not have been as meaningful. For example:

Other interpretations

Climatic Change

Steve Taylor, in his book ''The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of A New Era'', proposes an "Edenic" period associated with the transition from hunter gathering, followed by a "fall" through the establishment of a selfish, rational calculating ego, as a result of the desiccation of the arid zone during the 5.9 kiloyear event. The "pre-fall" cultures he speaks of had no organised warfare, were partnership not patriarchal cultures and were non hierarchical.

Entheogen theory

Writer/philosopher Terence McKenna in the Entheogen theory proposed that the fruit of knowledge was a reference to psychotropic plants and fungus, which played a central role, he theorized, in human intellectual evolution.

William I Thompson

In his theory of Kundalini Yoga, author William Irwin Thompson attributes the story of the fall to the time when human beings first understood that sex led to pregnancy, and understood what menstruation was. In "The time falling bodies take to light", Thompson theorizes that Eve's kundalini awakened, leading her to understand sexuality and human power and intelligence. In Sanskrit, "kundalini" means "curled up like a serpent".

Fiction

In William Shakespeare's ''Henry V'' (1599), the King describes the betrayal of Lord Scroop - a friend since childhood - as being "like another fall of man", referring to the loss of his own faith and innocence the treason has caused.

In the novel ''Perelandra'' (1943) by C. S. Lewis, the theme of the Fall is explored in the context of a new Garden of Eden with a new Adam and Eve on the planet Venus.

In the novel ''The Fall'' (1956) by Albert Camus, the theme of the Fall is enunciated through the first-person account given in post-war Amsterdam, in a bar called "Mexico City." Confessing to an acquaintance, the protagonist, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, describes the haunting consequence of his refusal to rescue a woman who had jumped from a bridge to her death. The dilemmas of modern Western conscience and the sacramental themes of baptism and grace are explored.

J. R. R. Tolkien included as a note to his comments about the ''Dialogue of Finrod and Andreth'' (published posthumously in 1993), the Tale of Adanel that is a reimagining of the Fall of Man inside his Middle-earth's mythos. The story presented Melkor seducing the first Men by making them worship him instead of Eru Ilúvatar, leading to the loss of the "Edenic" condition of the human race. The story is part of ''Morgoth's Ring''.

In both Daniel Quinn's ''Ishmael'' (1992) and ''The Story of B'' (1996) novels, it is proposed that the story of the Fall of Man was first thought up by another culture watching the development of the now-dominant totalitarian agriculturalist culture.

In Philip Pullman's ''His Dark Materials'' series (1995, 1997, 2000), the Fall is presented in a positive light, as it is the moment at which human beings achieve self-awareness, knowledge, and freedom. Pullman believes that it is not worth being innocent if the price is ignorance.

The novel ''Lord of the Flies'' explores the Fall of Man. The storyline depicts young innocent children which turn into savages when they are stranded on a desert island. Lord of the Flies was originally named 'Strangers Within', also showing his views of human nature.

See also

''Paradise Lost'' by John Milton

Deal with the Devil

Original sin

Tree of Life (Judeo-Christian)

Ishmael (novel)

References

McKenna, Terrence, True Hallucinations & the Archaic Revival: Tales and Speculations About the Mysteries of the Psychedelic Experience (Fine Communications/MJF Books) (Hardbound) ISBN 1-56731-289-6; The Evolutionary Mind : Trialogues at the Edge of the Unthinkable (with Rupert Sheldrake and Ralph H. Abraham) (Trialogue Press; 1st Ed) ISBN 0-942344-13-8; Food of the Gods: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution (Rider & Co; New edition) ISBN 0-7126-7038-6

Thompson, William Irwin, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, 1981, 2001 ISBN 0-312-80512-8.

External links

Fall of Adam and Eve as explained in Mormonism

Category:Adam and Eve Category:Book of Genesis Category:Biblical phrases Category:Christian terms Category:Christian philosophy Category:Mormon cosmology

ca:Caiguda de l'home da:Syndefaldet de:Sündenfall et:Pattulangemine fr:Chute (Bible) it:Caduta dell'uomo he:נפילת האדם nl:Zondeval no:Syndefallet pt:Queda do homem ru:Грехопадение simple:Fall of Man sh:Pad čovjeka fi:Syntiinlankeemus sv:Syndafallet th:การตกในบาป uk:Гріхопадіння

name	Nathan Hale
allegiance	United States
birth date	June 6, 1755
birth place	Coventry, Connecticut
death date	September 22, 1776
death place	New York City, New York
cause	Hung
buried	Coventry, Connecticut
alma mater	Yale College
signature	Nathan Hale Signature.svg }}

Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British. He is probably best remembered for his purported last words before being hanged: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Hale has long been considered an American hero and, in 1985, he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut.

Background

Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut in 1755. In 1768, when he was thirteen years old, he was sent with his brother Enoch to Yale College. Nathan was a classmate of fellow patriot spy Benjamin Tallmadge. The Hale brothers belonged to the Yale literary fraternity, Linonia, which debated topics in astronomy, mathematics, literature, and the ethics of slavery. Graduating with first-class honors in 1773, Nathan became a teacher, first in East Haddam and later in New London. After the Revolutionary War began in 1775, he joined a Connecticut militia and was elected first lieutenant. When his militia unit participated in the Siege of Boston, Hale remained behind, but, on July 6, 1775, he joined the regular Continental Army's 7th Connecticut Regiment under Colonel Charles Webb of Stamford. He was promoted to captain and in March 1776, commanded a small unit of Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton's rangers defending New York City. They managed to rescue a ship full of provisions from the guard of a British man-of-war.

Espionage

During the Battle of Long Island, which led to British victory and the capture of New York City via a flanking move from Staten Island across Long Island, Hale volunteered on September 8, 1776, to go behind enemy lines and report on British troop movements. He was ferried across on September 12. It was an act of spying that was immediately punishable by death and posed a great risk to Hale.

During his mission, New York City (then the area at the southern tip of Manhattan around Wall Street) fell to British forces on September 15 and Washington was forced to retreat to the island's northern tip in Harlem Heights (what is now Morningside Heights). On September 21, a quarter of the lower portion of Manhattan burned in the Great New York Fire of 1776. The fire was later widely thought to have been started by American saboteurs to keep the city from falling into British hands, though Washington and Congress had already denied this idea. It has also been speculated that the fire was the work of British soldiers acting without orders, intending to punish and/or intimidate any remaining Patriots in the city — with unintended consequences, however. In the fire's aftermath, more than 200 American partisans were rounded up by the British.

An account of Nathan Hale's capture was written by Consider Tiffany, a Connecticut shopkeeper and Loyalist, and obtained by the Library of Congress. In Tiffany's account, Major Robert Rogers of the Queen's Rangers saw Hale in a tavern and recognized him despite his disguise. After luring Hale into betraying himself by pretending to be a patriot himself, Rogers and his Rangers apprehended Hale near Flushing Bay, in Queens, New York. Another story was that his Loyalist cousin, Samuel Hale, was the one who revealed his true identity.

British General William Howe had established his headquarters in the Beekman House in a rural part of Manhattan, on a rise between 50th and 51st Streets between First and Second Avenues Hale reportedly was questioned by Howe, and physical evidence was found on him. Rogers provided information about the case. According to tradition, Hale spent the night in a greenhouse at the mansion. He requested a Bible; his request was denied. Sometime later, he requested a clergyman. Again, the request was denied.

According to the standards of the time, spies were hanged as illegal combatants. On the morning of September 22, 1776, Hale was marched along Post Road to the Park of Artillery, which was next to a public house called the Dove Tavern (at modern day 66th Street and Third Avenue), and hanged. He was 21 years old. Bill Richmond, a 13-year-old former slave and Loyalist who later became famous as an African American boxer in Europe, was reportedly one of the hangmen, "his responsibility being that of fastening the rope to a strong tree branch and securing the knot and noose."

Nathan Hale scholar Mary Beth Baker has argued that some of Hale's posthumous fame arose from a desire by alumni of Yale to claim a Revolutionary War hero, in addition to Yale president Naphtali Daggett, John Trumbull, and others.

The speech

By all accounts, Hale comported himself eloquently before the hanging. Over the years, there has been some speculation as to whether he specifically uttered the famous line:

But may be a revision of:

The story of Hale's famous quote began with John Montresor, a British soldier who witnessed the hanging. Soon after the execution, Montresor spoke with the American officer William Hull about Hale's death. Later, it was Hull who widely publicized Hale's use of the phrase. Because Hull was not an eyewitness to Hale's speech, some historians have questioned the reliability of the account.

If Hale did not give the famous quote, it is possible he instead repeated a passage from Joseph Addison's play, ''Cato'', an ideological inspiration to many Whigs:

No official records were kept of Hale's speech. However, Frederick MacKensie, a British officer, wrote this diary entry for the day:

It is almost certain that Nathan Hale's last speech contained more than one sentence. Several early accounts mention different things he said. These are not necessarily contradictory, but rather, together they give us an idea of what the speech must have been like. (The following quotes are all taken from George Dudley Seymour's book, ''Documentary Life of Nathan Hale'', published in 1941 by the author.)

From the diary of Enoch Hale, Nathan's brother, after he went to question people who had been present, October 26, 1776: "When at the Gallows he spoke & told them that he was a Capt in the Cont Army by name Nathan Hale."

From the ''Essex Journal'', February 13, 1777: "However, at the gallows, he made a sensible and spirited speech; among other things, told them they were shedding the blood of the innocent, and that if he had ten thousand lives, he would lay them all down, if called to it, in defence of his injured, bleeding Country."

From the ''Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser'', May 17, 1781: "I am so satisfied with the cause in which I have engaged, that my only regret is, that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service."

From the memoirs of Captain William Hull, quoting British Captain John Montresor, who was present and who spoke to Hull under a flag of truce the next day: "'On the morning of his execution,' continued the officer, 'my station was near the fatal spot, and I requested the Provost Marshal [the infamous William Cunningham] to permit the prisoner to sit in my marquee, while he was making the necessary preparations. Captain Hale entered: he was calm, and bore himself with gentle dignity, in the consciousness of rectitude and high intentions. He asked for writing materials, which I furnished him: he wrote two letters, one to his mother and one to a brother officer.' He was shortly after summoned to the gallows. But a few persons were around him, yet his characteristic dying words were remembered. He said, 'I only regret, that I have but one life to lose for my country.'"

Two early ballads also attempt to recreate Hale's last speech. They are probably more imaginative than accurate, but are included here for completeness:

From ''Songs and Ballads of the Revolution'', collected by F. Moore (1855), "Ballad of Nathan Hale" (anonymous), dated 1776: ''"'Thou pale king of terrors, thou life's gloomy foe, Go frighten the slave; go frighten the slave; Tell tyrants, to you their allegiance they owe. No fears for the brave; no fears for the brave.'"''

From "To the Memory of Capt. Nathan Hale" by Eneas Munson, Sr. written "soon after" Hale's death:

Munson had tutored Hale before college, and knew him and his family well, so even though the particulars of this speech may be unlikely, Munson knew firsthand what Hale’s opinions were.

Quotes about Hale

Hanging site(s)

Besides the site at 66th and Third, there are two other sites in Manhattan that claim to be the hanging site:

A statue designed by Frederick William Macmonnies was erected in 1890 at City Hall Park at what was claimed to be the site.

A plaque erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) hangs on the Yale Club at 44th and Vanderbilt by Grand Central Terminal saying the event occurred there.

Nathan Hale's body has never been found. An empty grave cenotaph was erected by his family in Nathan Hale Cemetery in South Coventry, Connecticut.

Statues and appearance

Statues of Nathan Hale are based on idealized archetypes: no contemporaneous portraits of him have been found. Documents and letters reveal Hale was an informed, practical, detail-oriented man who planned ahead. Of his appearance and demeanor, fellow soldier Elisha Bostwick wrote that Nathan Hale had blue eyes, flaxen blond hair, darker eyebrows, and stood slightly taller than average height (of the time), with mental powers of a sedate mind and pious; Lieutenant Elisha Bostwick wrote:

Hale has been honored with two particularly famous standing images:

A statue designed by Frederick William MacMonnies was erected in 1890 at City Hall Park, New York. The statue established Hale's modern idealized square-jawed image.

A statue of Hale, sculpted 1908-12 by Bela Lyon Pratt, was cast in 1912 and stands in front of Connecticut Hall where he resided while at Yale. Copies of this sculpture stand at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts; the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry; the Connecticut Governor's Mansion in Hartford, Fort Nathan Hale in New Haven, the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; Tribune Tower in Chicago; and at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, Langley, Virginia.

There is also a memorial for him located in Huntington, New York where he landed for his fatal spying mission, as well as a marker in Freese Park, Norwalk, Connecticut that is denoted as the embarkation point. A obelisk known as the Captain Nathan Hale Monument was erected in his honor in 1846 in his birthplace of Coventry, Connecticut.

Statues of Nathan Hale are also located throughout the United States, including at the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Fairfax County, Virginia; the Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C.; in downtown Chicago; on the campus of Phillips Academy; in the Tulane University Law School reading room; and at the corner of Summit and Portland Avenues in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Famous relatives

Hale was the great-grandson of John Hale, an important figure in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Nathan Hale was also the uncle of orator and statesman Edward Everett (the other speaker at Gettysburg) and the grand-uncle of Edward Everett Hale (quoted above), a Unitarian minister, writer, and activist noted for social causes including abolitionism. He was the uncle of Nathan Hale who founded the ''Boston Daily Advertiser'', and helped establish the ''North American Review''.

Named after Hale

The hamlet of Halesite (formerly Huntington Harbor) in Suffolk County, Long Island, is named after Hale. There is a memorial plaque set into a large boulder, which was removed from the beach nearby where Hale is thought to have landed on his fateful mission.

Nathan Hale Army Depot, a U.S. Army installation, is located in Darmstadt, Germany.

Fort Nathan Hale, a Revolutionary War-era fort and historic site in New Haven, Connecticut, is named after him.

The Nathan Hale Inn and Nathan Hale dormitory on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, CT, are named after Hale.

The Nathan Hale dormitory, traditionally a freshman girl's dorm, at Phillips Academy is named after Hale.

Nathan Hale Hall is a Building at Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale, NY, which is home to Biology and Art Centers.

Nathan Hale Hall is a Barracks Building at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.

Nathan Hale Memorial Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Organized June 6, 1900 in East Haddam, CT. Ceremony took place at the one-room schoolhouse where he once taught.

High schools named after Hale include Nathan Hale-Ray High School in East Haddam, Connecticut (where he was schoolmaster), Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, Washington and high schools in West Allis, Wisconsin and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Middle schools named after Hale include Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School in East Haddam, Connecticut, Nathan Hale Middle School in Norwalk, Connecticut (the departure point for his final mission), Captain Nathan Hale Middle School in Coventry, Connecticut (his birth place), as well as middle schools in Northvale, New Jersey; Omaha, Nebraska; Cleveland, Ohio and Crestwood, Illinois .

There are elementary schools named after Hale in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, New London, Connecticut (where he was schoolmaster), as well as Enfield, Connecticut, Manchester, Connecticut, Meriden, Connecticut, New Haven, Connecticut, Whiting, Indiana; Schaumburg, Illinois; Mesa, Arizona; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Lansing, Illinois, Crestwood, Illinois, Carteret, New Jersey,and in Chicago, Illinois.

The United States Navy submarine USS ''Nathan Hale'' (SSBN-623) was named in his honor.

The Nathan Hale Ancient Fife and Drum Corps from Coventry, Connecticut, is named after him and includes a division called Knowlton's Connecticut Rangers.

The main character of ''Resistance: Fall of Man'' and ''Resistance 2'' is named Nathan Hale.

"Nathaniel Hale" Battalion is the name of the Battalion for Army ROTC Based at UCONN, With Knowlton Company (Company A) at UCONN and Sillman Company (Company B) at Sacred Heart University

Middle schools named after Hale include Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School in East Haddam, Connecticut, Nathan Hale Middle School in Norwalk, Connecticut (the departure point for his final mission), Captain Nathan Hale Middle School in Coventry, Connecticut (his birthplace), as well as middle schools in Northvale, New Jersey; Omaha, Nebraska; Cleveland, Ohio and Crestwood, Illinois .

See also

Nathan Hale Homestead

Notes

References

External links

The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution

Bibliography

Rose, Alexander. ''Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring.'' Random House, New York, New York, 2006. ISBN 0-553-80421-9.

Durante, Dianne, ''Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide'' (New York University Press, 2007): description of MacMonnies's Nathan Hale at City Hall Park, New York.

Phelps, William M. "Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America's First Spy" St. Martin's Press, New York, New York, 2008. ISBN 0-312-37641-3

Category:1755 births Category:1776 deaths Category:American Revolution spies Category:American Revolutionary War executions Category:Continental Army officers from Connecticut Category:Executed spies Category:People executed by hanging Category:People of Connecticut in the American Revolution Category:People from Tolland County, Connecticut Category:United States Army Rangers Category:Yale University alumni Category:Executed American people Category:18th-century executions by Great Britain Category:Symbols of Connecticut

de:Nathan Hale es:Nathan Hale eo:Nathan Hale fr:Nathan Hale (espion) id:Nathan Hale it:Nathan Hale ja:ネイサン・ヘイル no:Nathan Hale pl:Nathan Hale sv:Nathan Hale

name	The Edge
background	solo_singer
birth name	David Howell Evans
birth date	August 08, 1961
Birth place	Barking, Essex, England, United Kingdom
origin	County Dublin, Ireland
instrument	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano, bass guitar
genre	Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, activist
years active	1976–present
label	Island, Mercury
associated acts	U2, Passengers
website
notable instruments	Gibson ExplorerFender StratocasterGibson Les PaulFender TelecasterGretsch Country GentlemanGretsch White FalconRickenbacker 330/12 }}

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge), is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's ''The Joshua Tree'' and 1991's ''Achtung Baby''. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record ''Zooropa'', and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

As a member of U2 and as an individual, The Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison and Tina Turner, and the soundtracks to the musical ''Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of ''A Clockwork Orange''. In 2011, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine placed him at number 38 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Personal life

David Howell Evans was born at the Barking Maternity Hospital, Essex, England to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans. When he was one, his family moved to County Dublin, Ireland where he attended St Andrew's National School. He received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a band. The band accepted both of them. This band went through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change). U2 began performing in various venues in Ireland and eventually began developing a following. Their debut album, ''Boy'', was released in 1980.

In 1981, leading up to the October tour, Evans came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay. During this period, he became involved with a group called Shalom Tigers, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were also involved. Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday". The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983. The couple had three daughters together: Hollie in 1984, Arran in 1985 and Blue Angel in 1989. The couple separated in 1990, but were unable to get officially divorced because of Irish laws regarding marriage annulment; divorce was legalised in 1995 and the couple were legally divorced in 1996.

In 1993, The Edge began dating Morleigh Steinberg, a professional dancer and choreographer employed by the band as a belly dancer during the Zoo TV Tour. They had a daughter, Sian (born 1997), and a son, Levi (born 25 October 1999), before marrying on 22 June 2002. He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film ''It Might Get Loud''. The Edge has been criticized for his efforts to build five luxury mansions on a 156 acre plot of land in Malibu, California. The California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against the plans, with the project described by the commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, as "In 38 years...one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation...It's a contradiction in terms – you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location." The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed to remain neutral on the issue following a $1 million donation from The Edge and a commitment from The Edge to designate 100 acres of the land as open space for public footpaths.

Music style

Guitar playing

As a guitar player, The Edge has a sound typified by a low-key playing style, a chiming, shimmering sound (thanks in part to the sound of VOX AC-30s) that he achieves with extensive use of delay effects and reverb. The feedback delay is often set to a dotted eighth note (3/16 of a measure), and the feedback gain is adjusted until a note played repeats two or three times.

On 1987's ''The Joshua Tree'', The Edge often contributes just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. He said in 1982 of his style,

"I like a nice ringing sound on guitar, and most of my chords I find two strings and make them ring the same note, so it's almost like a 12-string sound. So for E I might play a B, E, E and B and make it ring. It works very well with the Gibson Explorer. It's funny because the bass end of the Explorer was so awful that I used to stay away from the low strings, and a lot of the chords I played were very trebly, on the first four, or even three strings. I discovered that through using this one area of the fretboard I was developing a very stylized way of doing something that someone else would play in a normal way."

Many different influences have shaped The Edge's guitar technique. His first guitar was an old acoustic guitar that his mother bought him at a local flea market for only a few pounds; he was nine at the time. He and his brother Dik Evans both experimented with this instrument. He said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "I suppose the first link in the chain was a visit to the local jumble sale where I purchased a guitar for a pound. That was my first instrument. It was an acoustic guitar and me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that." The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the ''Achtung Baby'' era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echos.

Vocals

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2. U2's 1983 live album and video release, ''Under a Blood Red Sky'' and ''Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky'' are good reference points for his singing (as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, ''U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle'' and ''Elevation 2001: Live from Boston''). For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are sometimes in the form of a repeated cry; examples of songs that use this approach include "Beautiful Day", "New Year's Day" and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Another technique he uses in his backing vocals is the falsetto, in songs such as "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "A Man and a Woman", "The Wanderer", live versions of "The Fly", and "Window in the Skies".

The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" and "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", dual vocals with Bono in "Discotheque", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug". He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's birthday). He also plays a solo acoustic version of the song "Love is Blindness" that is featured in the documentary film ''From the Sky Down''.

Other instruments

He has played piano and keyboards on many of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please". In live versions of "New Year's Day", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Your Blue Room", and "Moment of Surrender", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. In most live versions of "Original of the Species," piano is the only instrument played during the song. Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he occasionally plays bass guitar, including the live performances of the song "40" where The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments.

Solo recordings

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jay-Z, and Rihanna. The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film ''Captive'' (1986). From this soundtrack the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor was released as a single.

He also created the theme song for season one and two of ''The Batman''. He and fellow U2 member, Bono, wrote the lyrics to the theme of the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye''. The Edge, along with bandmate Bono, recently composed a musical adaptation of Spider-Man. On May 25, 2011, a single titled ''Rise Above 1: Reeve Carney Featuring Bono and The Edge'' was released digitally. The music video was released on July 28, 2011.

Musical equipment

The Edge plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap steel guitar. Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.

Philanthropy

In 2005, The Edge along with Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz co-founded Music Rising, a charity that helped provide replacement instruments for those that were lost in Hurricane Katrina. The instruments were originally only replaced for professional musicians but they soon realized the community churches and schools needed instruments as well. The charity's slogan is "Rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note" and has so far helped over a hundred musicians who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Edge also serves on the board of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health by advancing angiogenesis-based medicine, diets, and lifestyle.

See also

List of people on stamps of Ireland

Timeline of U2

References

;Footnotes

;Bibliography

External links

U2.com, official U2 site

Music Rising

The Edge – Album Credits

A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay

The Edge: 'It's all about the vision'

Food Bank For New York City public service announcement

Comment on the mathematical analysis of The Edge's guitar sound

Category:Irish male singers Category:Irish rock guitarists Category:British male singers Category:British rock guitarists Category:Irish people of Welsh descent Category:People from County Dublin Category:People from Essex Category:People from Dalkey Category:Lead guitarists Category:Slide guitarists Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Golden Globe Award winning musicians Category:Backing vocalists Category:U2 members Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Pseudonymous musicians Category:Rock songwriters

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