Category: US History
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As we wait to see if history will repeat itself, do not forget this Executive Order, 75 Years Ago today
Executive Order No. 9066 The President Executive Order Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533,…
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One Hundred and Fifty Years Later
One hundred and fifty years ago, a good deal of Manhattan was under siege. The New York Draft Riots were in their second day. New Yorkers would have locked themselves in their houses, worried that the events of yesterday would continue. Those events involved the burning of significant parts of Manhattan, the destruction of the…
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The Rebel Yell
The Rebel Yell It was psychologically overwhelming to hear the Rebel Yell on the battlefield. Here is a wonderful clip showing Civil War veterans remembering the call to battle! Click link
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Why We’re Not Studying the Civil War
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the battle which turned the tide of the Civil War…or the War Between the States. Here, in New York City, there is no feeling that the war ever happened. We sent our troops to fight for the Union, and many of them marched on New…
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Terrorist
It is difficult to escape the news reports concerning Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, caught at age 19 after his involvement in the horrific Boston Marathon bombing alongside his brother Tamlan, age 26. By all accounts, Dzhokhar was a nice guy, the last person anyone would suspect of terrorism. The blame circulates: it was Islam, it was American…
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Remembering Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman died one hundred years ago today. If i ask my students who she was, they will know that she was a former slave and later abolitionist, and that she was instrumental in running the Underground Railroad. She saved seventy slaves by bringing them to freedom herself, knowing that if she had been caught,…
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Teaching, Collaboration, and the Wild Life of Frederick Townsend Ward
Last week, our Revolutions class discussed the Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) As an instructor, I chose to focus on the rebellion’s beginnings — Hong Xioquan’s vision of a utopian world, his dedication to the equality of the sexes…not to forget that he taught his followers that he was Jesus Christ’s long lost brother and that Buddhism,…
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Emmett Till, Forgotten
Many of my students know the song “Karate Chop” in which Lil Wayne brings out the name of Emmett Till — and laughs — in a reference too vulgar to repeat here. I’m wondering, however, how many know who Emmett Till was. Some may identify him as “someone involved in civil rights”, which would be…
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Django Unchained as Education
Django Unchained has received a lot of commentary this year, and deservedly so. Spike Lee condemned it, historians criticized some of its details, and film critics lauded it. Can such a movie teach us about American history, and if so, in what ways? -The obvious: slavery was brutal. The violence in the film may…
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