While it’s never fun to look at the unfortunate truths of a nation’s past, unfortunate events are often important ones. The first slaves in Virginia are a great example of this. When they arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1619, life in colonial Virginia changed. Some of the changes took time, as we’ll see, but […]
Tag: Slavery
The Bloody Sunday Attack at Pettus Bridge – Who Was Edmund Pettus?
The Bloody Sunday Attack at Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, is a signature event from the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It proved important enough to feature in a Hollywood movie, Selma, that appeared over the winter of 2014-15. While the Bloody Sunday attack at Pettus Bridge is famous, the person for whom […]
The Mexican-American War Causes – More Important Than You Think? (2)
This post on the Mexican-American War Causes is a continuation of my previous post. Part one (read here) detailed the reasons why the US and Mexico were upset with each other in 1845. Today’s blog describes the events that caused war to break out in 1846, but it won’t make full sense unless you’ve read […]
Causes of the Mexican-American War – More Important Than You Think?
The causes of the Mexican-American War are, surprisingly, still a matter of some debate. Normally, that isn’t true of things that happened 176 years ago. Generally, historians can figure things out after two centuries. But in this case, dispute remains, at least regarding the events immediately preceding the war. And this dispute involves many of […]
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi – Should People Read This Ambitious Novel?
The novel Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi has been around for a few years now. I read it on the advice of a friend. It’s very much a work of historical fiction. The reader begins in the Gold Coast of the eighteenth century and finishes in the United States around the turn of the millennium. Structure […]
What Are Some Frederick Douglass Books? Works By A Great American
When it comes to Frederick Douglass books, many of us remember his autobiography. It is one of the most famous autobiographies in US history. When I taught American History in college, I had my students read it each year. If you need a reminder, Frederick Douglass was the most famous African American in the United […]