The Boy Scouts of America have had a profound effect on American history. As a group they performed more community service than any other group and, above all, the kids themselves enjoyed doing their service because it helped other people. Sir Robert Baden-Powell originally founded the Boy Scouts in Great Britain in 1907. He started the Boy Scouts by recruiting 12 upper-class boys and 9 sons of factory workers from Poole and Bournemouth on the south coast of England and took them camping. They went camping on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbor for two weeks, where they received instruction in camping, observation and tracking, woodworking, lifesaving and first aid. They were also taught good citizenship, honor, and chivalry. They were divided into groups, or patrols, and worked together as a team and competed with other teams to test their understanding of newly learned skills. The Boy Scouts then made their way to America through word of mouth and three men, Daniel Carter Beard, Earnest Thompson Seton and William D. Boyce decided that the Boy Scouts were a worthwhile organization and decided to start their own camps. It was February 8, 1910 when William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America under the laws of the District of Columbia. That same year, a group of thirty-four national representatives from men's employment agencies developed the first organizational plans and opened a temporary national headquarters in a YMCA office in New York. It was unclear why they decided to charter the Boy Scouts under the laws of the District of Columbia and then establish the national headquarters in New York. But, from that point on, scout groups sprang up all over the United States, and the Boy Scouts became a well-known organization throughout the country and the world. The Scouts were involved in the fight to win the war and recruit soldiers for the U.S. Army. Cans, clothing, food and even scrap rubber were collected to serve the Scouting communities and benefit the less fortunate. Without the intense work and devotion of the Scouts, America might have lost World Wars I and II or many unfortunate families would have remained in poverty if the Scouts had not raised food and shelter for these people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Sir Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell was born in Oxford, England, on February 22, 1857, and died in 1941. His father died when he was three, and his mother traveled teaching children about honor, duty, and reverence. He learned about the forest and nature from his brothers, of whom he had four (and two sisters). He played the trumpet and violin and was often asked by the cadet corps to play his trumpet to help them train. As a child he was always looking for adventures. Once, when he was nine, Stephe ran away from home and spent the night in the desert, which was his favorite place and he said it gave him a healthy body and mind. While there, he built himself a shelter with sticks, which he then covered with leaves in case of rain. He brought with him his bow and arrow, which he used to kill a rabbit, which he cooked and ate for dinner. When he returned home, he boasted to his brothers about his adventure and told them everything that happened that night. After graduating from Charterhouse School, Stephe joined the British Army (1876). On the entrance exam he took, Stephe placed 2nd out of 718 who took it. On 11 September 1876 Steph became a second lieutenant Baden-Powell. He served in India, Afghanistan and South Africa. He was always the first to go to the landsscout with his regiment and drew maps of a six hundred mile area to help the soldiers find their way. During the Boer War in South Africa, BP, as his fellow soldiers called him, led a famous defense of Mafeking, despite famine and disease affecting both he and his soldiers. He bluffed the enemy and then defeated him. He planted fake mines all over the area and set one to prove that they are all real. This honorable war which he won earned him promotions up to the rank of Major General and made him the hero of the nation. It was also that battle that inspired BP to found Scouting. Because of the little knowledge his soldiers had about survival and the pleasure BP derived from teaching them, he decided he would create a group that would inform younger boys of essential knowledge. of survival. He gathered a group of twelve boys from upper-class families, all with a lot of money, and then recruited nine boys from working-class families. All the boys were recruited, but not forced to go camping on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbor for a period of two weeks. When they got there, the first thing they did was pitch military tents and prepare for the first night. Food was brought along, but the boys had the opportunity, if they chose, to hunt for more food. The next day they began to learn all the necessary information about survival. They were taught how to camp, how to observe and track animals, as well as how to navigate the forest, saving their lives in both swimming and first aid. But along with their education in survival skills, they were also taught good citizenship, honor, and chivalry. They were taught to think of others before themselves and to always do good every day. For the remainder of the two weeks the boys spent on the Brownsea Islands, they were divided into groups, which they called patrols, and worked together as teams for daily competitions. Each night before dinner, the scouts gathered into their teams and competed using their newly acquired skills. The aim of the competition was to test their understanding of the skills they needed to remember for further use. After the two weeks passed, the scouts returned home and their reactions to the trip were surprising. A boy called Arthur Primmer, a working-class boy from Poole who was fifteen when the Brownsea camp was held, told a reporter: It was a great adventure; we need to think back to what it was like back then. I don't think I saw a car when we went to Brownsea, no television, no wireless, and everything was primitive compared to what it is today. Nobody went camping, not the kids. The only camping that took place then was that of the army. But when we returned, it seemed like we had endless stories to tell our friends and families. Later in his life, BP wrote many books such as Aids to Scouting and his famous Scouting For Boys. Scouting For Boys was the first ever Scout manual that outlined all the techniques and ideas he had on survival and as soon as it was published in 1908, it was an instant success. It contained chapters such as scout crafts, campaigning, camp life, tracking, wood crafts, endurance for scouts, chivalry, saving lives and our duties as citizens. The book provided all the information needed to survive in the wilderness, but it also explained how to become a Boy Scout and explained the Scout Promise, the law, the Be Prepared motto, and the Scout sign, salute, and handshake. He suggested a uniform, which included a wide-brimmed hat, a loose-fitting shirt with a handkerchiefneck, shorts and knee socks with garter belt. With the immediate success of this book, fourteen countries (Belgium, France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, United States) translated the book into their language and Scouting became a worldwide function. Juliette Low, one of BP's friends, traveled with BP and was so intrigued by what he was doing for the young male population, she decided to found Girl Scouts. In the year 1909 in London, England, an American visitor, William D.Boyce got lost in the thick fog of the night. He stopped under a streetlight and tried to figure out where he was. A boy approached him and asked if he could help. He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain trading office in the center of the city and the boy took him directly to his destination. When they arrived, Boyce gave the boy a tip, but he refused it. He told him that he was a scout and that he would not accept anything in exchange for his help. Boyce asked him questions about what a scout was and after hearing the story he became very interested in scouting. He had the boy take him to the British Scout Office where he met Baden-Powell and because he was so impressed with what he learned, he decided to take Scouting home with him. On February 8, 1910, Boyce and a group of leaders including Daniel Carter Beard and the serious Thompson Seton founded the Boy Scouts of America. This unknown scout will remain the true founder of the Boy Scouts of America as he informed Boyce of the great things that come from scouting. Daniel Carter and Earnest Seton then became interested in the Boy Scouts of America. They were both British immigrants and considered themselves progressive. They met with President Theodore Roosevelt and soon received government funding to publicize Scouting. On January 2, 1911, the National Council office was established at 200 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. The Scout Oath, Law, and Motto were adopted into the BP manual, and Scouting officially began. In 1912, the Scouts were chartered in every state and The Scouts rallied for the first of a series of national civic good deeds, which included promoting a safe and healthy Fourth of July. Boys Life magazine was purchased and became the official magazine of the BSA (Boy Scouts of America). Seton and Beard wrote their own version of BP's Scout manual and called it The Boy Scout Handbook. It contained many of the same chapters written by BP and was published and immediately sold out. Scouting actions and projects began to arise throughout the country. The first was at Pearl Harbor, where scouts played an important role in World War II. They helped troops in Hawaii by providing them with water, helping with first aid and refueling their cellphones. There were many recordings of the scouts fighting fires, helping send messages from place to place, and controlling traffic. One of the most significant actions of the scouts was the enforcement of blackouts and the construction of log cabins. If the blackouts had not been imposed, the enemy's armies could have seen the fields and possibly attacked them, causing us to lose the war. Wooden huts were built to offer soldiers protection and shelter during the harsh winter nights during World War II. Scouts also helped in hospitals during the war. They built hundreds and hundreds of stretchers that were used by the war's first aid officers to carry the wounded out of battle. They also used common first aid skills to treat minor injuries. They applied splints to broken bones, cleaned cuts and scrapes, and also acted as assistants to the doctors who were operating. The scouts not only helped during the.