American Boy Scouts
| American Boy Scout | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York City | ||
| Country | United States | ||
| Founded | June 1910 | ||
| Defunct | 1920s | ||
| Founder | William Randolph Hearst | ||
| Membership | 17,000 at peak | ||
| Affiliation | Order of World Scouts 1911-1912 | ||
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The American Boy Scouts (ABS), officially American Boy Scout then United States Boy Scouts, officially United States Boy Scout, was an early American Scouting organization formed by William Randolph Hearst in 1910, following on from the formation of the Scouting movement by Robert Baden-Powell between 1903 and 1907. Near the end of its existence, the organizations also used the names American Cadets and U.S. Junior Military Forces.
The ABS was the rival of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) similar to the situation in the United Kingdom with Baden Powell's Boy Scouts and the British Boys Scouts who did not like the militarism of early British Scouting. For the most part there were only minor differences between the ABS and the BSA despite the BSA's charges that the ABS was drilling Scouts with rifles and Scouts were soliciting funds in uniforms.
Among the objectives of the organization was to prepare boys for the obligations and duties of citizenship.
In May 1910, Hearst called an organizational meeting to form a new Scouting group. Hearst was aware of the Boy Scouts of America, formed months earlier by rival publisher William D. Boyce but pursued his own vision of Scouting and incorporated the ABS in June 1910 in New York along with James F. McGrath and James R. O'Beirne.Edgar M. Robinson and Ernest Seton requested that Hearst unite the ABS with the BSA but were rejected. In June 1910, the ABS started organizing the Department of New England which was operational in August or September under Chief Department Scout General William H. Oakes. Additional departments were also formed: Atlantic (New York City), Middle West (Chicago), Northwest (San Francisco) and Southwest (Los Angeles). The national committee members were also the officers of the Atlantic Department with Hearst as president, Jefferson M. Levy first vice president, Charles P. Devare second vice president, James R. O'Beirne treasurer and James F. McGrath secretary. The honorary vice presidents and founders included Col John Jacob Astor, William K Vanderbilt Jr., Major General Fred D. Grant, Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles, General EA McAlpin, and Lieutenant General Adna R Chaffee. The American Boy Scouts of Rhode Island was founded by Charles E. Mulhearn on August 29, 1910, with the meeting of an executive committee. The next day, the Rhode Island committee requested a charter from the ABS New England Department Headquarters.
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