Speech #1030021172

Thomas Jefferson himself wrote that we are Indebted to the ancient Greeks "for the light which led ourselves out of * * * darkness." James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers that the ancient Greek republic was the model for "the present confederation of the United States." As much as our founders looked to ancient Greece for inspiration. so the founders of modern Greece looked to the United States as inspiration for their struggle. Greeks translated the Declaration of Independence and used it as their own declaration of Independince from the Ottoman Empire. Our ties to Greece only Intensified after Greek Independence In 1821. The tie was strengthened by the immigration to the United States of hundreds of thousands of Greeks in the early years of this century. In fact. 1 in every 4 Greek males between 15 and 45 left Greece for America. Ties were also strengthened by Greeces alliance with the United States In every major conflict this century.