Monthly Archives: November 2009
Further Evidence of the Decline of American Exceptionalism… According to Dirty Harry!
Recently Clint Eastwood, famed Hollywood actor and now director / producer, was interviewed for a cover story by GQ Magazine. When asked about America today, he had some rather “pointed” [ha, ha] comments. I have enjoyed his recent films: Flags of … Continue reading
Fort Blakely, A Massacre of White Confederates by Black Union Troops?
The attack on Fort Blakely during the late afternoon hours (5:30pm) of April 9th 1865 had no impact on the outcome of the war, yet the fighting was as viscous as any had been. In the post war years accusations … Continue reading
Empire of Liberty
For more information on book: Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (Oxford History of the United States). I can’t wait to get a chance to read Gordon S. Wood’s latest book. I am a huge fan … Continue reading
New Look
Well last night I spent several hours downloading, installing, and upgrading my WordPress so I could use one of the newer themes that required the newer version of WordPress. So the blog was down last night for some time and … Continue reading
The Frontier in American History
Western Expansion involved themes such as American Excpetionalism, Manifest Destiny, and Racism. Continue reading
Reconstruction Unit Reflection
As noted in my last post, my A.P. United States history class is in the final phase of our Reconstruction Unit. Yesterday we opened class discussion with a reading they were assigned the night before from Elizabeth R. Bethel’s excellent … Continue reading
Sherman’s Field Order No. 15
The end of our Civil War and Reconstruction unit is nearing and as we enter our discussion concerning Reconstruction we looked briefly at Sherman’s Field Order Number 15. To me this represents so much about Reconstruction. William T. Sherman clearly … Continue reading
Ronald Reagan and the Berlin Wall
Whether you appreciate Reagan or not. Whether you think he had much to do with the Berlin Wall coming down or not, his “Tear Down This Wall” speech is historic and prophetic. In honor of the anniversary of the “fall” … Continue reading
West Pointers and the Civil War: The Old Army in War and Peace
West Pointers and the Civil War The Old Army in War and Peace By Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh (UNC Press, 304 pp., ISBN 978-0-8078-3278-3) Americans at one time were very sensitive to standing armies and very distrustful of the idea of … Continue reading
Orange Blossoms Continued
A letter written by Major Thomas W. Bradley, 124th New York Volunteers, and published in the National Tribune, February 4, 1886 : “Smith’s Battery has not received in history full credit for the heroic and valuable work done by its … Continue reading