Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
Welcome back to How We Got Here! After surviving the Adams Administration, I’ll take it easy this week by reposting an old blog article. If parallels with modern events seem more explicit than usual, it’s with good reason, as I … Continue reading How We Got Here: Henry Clay Keeps America in Suspense
Part Five in a series; see Parts One, Two, Three and Four. By fall 1799, John Adams no longer found the prospect of war with France desirable. He toned down his belligerent rhetoric and dispatched a new peace commission, headed … Continue reading How We Got Here: The Prospect Before Us
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! This week’s topic: subjects you know nothing, or not enough about. No matter how much history you’ve studied, there are going to be blind spots in your knowledge. What are some subjects that, whether … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread Forgets
Part Four in a series; see Parts One, Two and Three. Following the XYZ Affair, war between the United States and France seemed inevitable. Diplomatic stalemate intensified French attacks on American shipping, triggering a vigorous response from American naval vessels. … Continue reading How We Got Here: Deceit and Weakness
Let’s close out the week with a few more trivia questions from the late 19th century. This is mostly an excuse to empty the old brain bucket of detritus I picked up doing research this week. NB – There was … Continue reading Shoeless Trivia: Fin de Siècle Miscellany
For what it’s worth, my definition of the Gilded Age here is a little bit broad, extending up until the turn of the century. The two monuments pictured below commemorate the same event, though each with decidedly different sympathies. What … Continue reading Shoeless Trivia: The Gilded Age
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Because we’re running behind, I’ll be brief. This week’s topic is atrocities, whether murders or massacres or genocides or what have you. Not the cheeriest topic, but humanity has a long, hallowed history of … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread is Too Late!
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Have fun and be historical! This week’s discussion question: Facts that changed your worldview. If you’ve studied history at all, whether as a history buff, a serious researcher or even someone with marginal interest in … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread
March 5 was the date of an annual, ancient Roman, nautical religious festival called Navigium Isidis (“Vessel of Isis”), which was dedicated to Isis, an ancient Egyptian goddess who had been reinterpreted by and for the Greco-Roman world. In the … Continue reading Happy Navigium Isidis!
Part III in a series; see Parts One and Two. On May 7th, 1798, a crowd of roughly 1,200 Philadelphians, mostly young men in their teens and twenties, gathered at Market Street for an impromptu rally. Some carried flags and … Continue reading How We Got Here: Deranged Affairs
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! This week’s topic: Historical pet peeves? A recycled topic I fear, but always a fun one. This thread enjoys complaining about the bad things in history, whether specific topics or the poor ways it’s taught, … Continue reading The Angry Weekly History Thread
Part Two in a series; Part One here. Matthew Lyon, Republican Congressman from Vermont, represented everything Federalists hated. He had been born in Ireland, a sure mark against him at a time when Federalist politicians attacked “hordes of wild Irishmen… … Continue reading How We Got Here: Malignant Passions
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! My participation this week will be relatively limited, This week’s discussion: Revolutions, rebellions, coups, etc. Arguably there’s a world of difference between them all, but they all have the same result – the destruction … Continue reading The Revolutionary Weekly History Thread
Note: I planned to continue my series on the Adams Administration this week, but sadly, circumstances prevented it from being completed on time. As penance, here is another revised version of an old blog post that nonetheless dovetails with previous … Continue reading How We Got Here: The Hun’s Shadow in America
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! This week’s topic: Judging historical figures and events. One of the trickiest quandaries facing both professional historians and amateur buffs is viewing historical events and personages through a modern lens. This is unavoidable no matter … Continue reading The Judgmental Weekly History Thread
Welcome to the latest How We Got Here series! The next few columns will examined the frenzied politics and repressive policies of John Adams’ presidency, especially the Alien and Sedition Acts. March 4th, 1797 was a glorious day for the … Continue reading How We Got Here: The Reign of Mr. Adams
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Topic: Food! Discuss historical food; meals, dishes and delicacies of far-away people, the impact of food on history (wars have been fought over foodstuffs, especially spices and sugar), the evolution of cuisine over time. However … Continue reading The Hungry Weekly History Thread
On April 8th, 1916 elements of the 24th United States Infantry Regiment visited the border town of Del Rio, Texas. This all-black unit, veterans of the Spanish-American War and service in the Philippines, was among the soldiers mobilizing for John … Continue reading How We Got Here: Racism, Riot and Mutiny in Houston
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Apologies for its relative lateness; internet and WordPress are being crappy this morning. Perhaps they sensed the less-than-optimistic subject? Today’s topic: How civilizations die. Perhaps it’s appropriate to ask this question on the anniversary of … Continue reading The Doom-Laden Weekly History Thread
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! This week we’ll discuss biographies. It’s the easiest way to explore historical figures, yet fraught with shortcomings and difficulties as the writers almost invariably skew their work to fit a thesis. What are some … Continue reading The Biographical Weekly History Thread
In 1913, Woodrow Wilson took office pledging to curtail the gunboat diplomacy of his Republican predecessors, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Yet he inherited conflicts in Cuba and Nicaragua, experienced tensions with revolutionary Mexico and chaos in Haiti. To … Continue reading How We Got Here: How America Made Haiti Safe for Empire
You must be logged in to post a comment.