For seemingly forever, the end of Reconstruction has been taught as the “Compromise of 1877, where Democrats agreed to give the presidency to Rutherford Hayes in return for the end of Reconstruc
The great historian Richard White has an really interesting essay on the impeachment of Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876. The House managers, in their final brief of Feb. 2, called that argume
For the latest LGM podcast, I talked to Michael Hiltzik, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Los Angeles Times, about his latest book Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of
I’m teaching a graduate seminar this fall on Late 19th Century America. Figured you might all want to read along, so long as you can keep up with the workload which LOL. This reflects the latest
This is the grave of Horatio Alger. Born in 1832 in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Alger grew up in relative comfort. His father was a fairly prominent Unitarian minister and the family had roots deep into t
This is the grave of Philip Armour. Born in 1832 in Stockbridge, New York, Armour went to school at Cazenovia Academy in New York until he committed the unpardonable sin of taking a ride in buggy with
This is the grave of Joseph Choate. Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1832 to a well-off and well-connected family, Choate went to Harvard, graduating in 1852 and then from Harvard Law in 1854. He was i
This is the grave of Henry James. Born in 1843 to old New York money, Henry grew up in luxury. He and his family, which of course included his brother, the philosopher William James, and his sister, t