The prompt for this week's discussion in one of my graduate classes and based on the numerous readings was: "If you had to select one defining moment, challenge, social cause, technological achievement, or political struggle that marked the start of the century what would it be and why?"
Some great discussions thus far and ...
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I am week four into my graduate class "Civil War Command and Leadership" at
American Public University. It is an online program and I am not embarrassed to say it was my only choice living in an isolated region of Western Colorado where there are no graduate programs. This class is one example of why I am proud to say I am attending APU, ...
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Thomas Paine's place in American History is secure but that wasn't always the case. He died in relative obscurity after having made the mistake of taking on the Federalists, who viciously attacked Paine. Also, his mistaken commitment to the French Revolution also contributed to his downfall. Though always a friend to Thomas Jefferson, when Paine ...
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I am taking a class in graduate school on the American Constitution. I just finished a pretty good book by Carol Berkin called "A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution," and in it Berkin skilfully describes and analyzes the issues, controversies, and events of the Constitutional Convention.
The war was over and independence gained when the ...
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Do I have a bias as an aspiring historian? Do I have personal and cultural preconceptions that hopelessly doom me to not treat certain people, events and institutions fairly? Before you judge me, ask yourself the same question. Then feel free to respond.
Here's a Précis of an article (I had to write for my "Historical Research Methods" Graduate Class) that I found fascinating:
McCullagh, C. Behan. ...
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Another book I almost forgot, Arthur Marwick's
The Nature of History. In his chapter "Controversy and History" he writes:
There is a form of historiographical discourse (particularly prevalent in the United States) where the historical writing on any issue is divided up into different schools (Conservative, Progressive, Revisionist, ect) each said to present a distinct view on the issue. To concentrate on the differences of ...
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Howard Zinn is not a historian, he is a political activist. But then again, maybe he is no different than the rest of us, his is just being more honest.
In my graduate "Historical Research Methods" class we have had, as you can imagine, plenty of discussions on historical research and writing. We've been reading a lot about "objectivity" and honesty in the field of history. ...
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For my Historical Research Methods graduate class we are required to read David Hackett Fischer's
Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought. Now I picked this book up and thumbed through it at a Border's store a few years ago and did not buy it, why? (Bad question, but more on that later.) Because with my cursory view of it, it looked confusing and ...
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Well I received my grade on my cavalry paper.
If you missed it, the prompt question was this: "Did the cavalry play a decisive role in war."
I argued that even though there are times where cavalry played what could be argued a pivotal role in a battle, most of the time they fought dismounted and the horse was simply a vehicle for transportation.
Well, the ...
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Well here's the instructions for my first paper in my Civil War graduate class:
PAPER#1: Did cavalry play a decisive role in the American Civil War?
A question was once presented to me by a professor in a graduate class: Civil War cavalry, precursor to blitzkrieg or military anachronism? It was an interesting question ten years ago and still is today. Some of the most ...
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WE are 4 weeks into my Civil War graduate class titled " The Civil War: Seminal Event in American History." I think the class is going fairly well. The weekly discussion topics have produced interesting correspondences. Most of my classmates have displayed thoughtful reflection and comprehension. I have been surprised by the fairly light reading load. We have been assigned three books, two of which ...
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Stuck out here in Western Colorado, opposite Denver and Boulder on the Rocky Mountains, we are limited in where we can find graduate schools. If I wanted to get my master in education or some technology field, no problem. But finding a local Masters in History program is impossible. So I have been looking around online. Even there, the options were limited.
The key is finding ...
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