A good day to remember the sacrifice of Union soldiers in the crushing of pro-slavery Confederate treason. Also, see McMurtry: And yes, I know I am embedding songs by a Alabaman and a Texan in saying this. Complication and contradiction is the essence of America.
Civil War
A couple of very interesting Civil War related items this morning. First, the Disunion series published one of its more touching and excellent pieces, on the high suicide rates among.
The New York Times' Disunion series continues to be absolutely fantastic, even if it doesn't get the publicity it did when the series started. And I've been reading Kevin Levin's.
Palestinian and Knesset member Ahmad Tibi takes Republicans to task for using increasing inflamed rhetoric against his people. He takes on Eric Cantor in an interesting way: A man living in a glass home ought not to throw such stones. Cantor's remarks ignored the fact...
To build on Rob's post below, Quiggin's argument is extremely lazy. It's one thing to blame Calhoun for contributing to the Civil War, but Clay and Webster? Rob took care.
On December 24, 1861, the first anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the Union, the Palmetto State celebrated. And it's not surprising because a year into their rebellion, things looked.
I find the charge of presentism one of the most annoying things someone can say to a historian. Every historian is deeply affected by the times in which they live. There is no such thing as pure objectivity nor history disconnected from politics or everyday...
The Detroit Daily Advertiser, late 1860/early 1861 (I do not have an exact date): "Every horse thief, murderer, gambler, robber, and other rogue of high and low degree, fled to.
If you haven't read Ta-Nehisi Coates' piece on why African-Americans avoid centering the Civil War in their history, why the Civil War is so associated with whites in public memory,.
I recently visited the Torn in Two exhibit at the Boston Public Library. Using maps at the primary storyteller, this exhibit told the story of the Civil War. Running until the end of the year, I highly recommend it for anyone visiting Boston. Maps are...
Count me as one who is quite glad that William Tecumseh Sherman sufficiently recovered from his severe depression to burn Georgia and South Carolina.
Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic, not only one of my favorite books about the Civil War, but one of my favorite non-fiction books ever, has recently published.