The Red River Resistance This is a continuation of the previous post detailing how half of Canada nearly joined the United States in 1869. The theater of action was the Red River of the North, the river dividing North Dakota from Minnesota. We left off by establishing that the Canadian government had a powerful need […]
Tag: Civil War
Manifest Destiny & the Red River of Manitoba – 1 of 3
This is part one of a three-part series on how half of Canada nearly joined the United States in 1869. That year, one of the most underappreciated but vastly important events in the history of North America took place in today’s Canadian province of Manitoba. Because of the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, the fate of […]
American Christianity & Providential Design, Part 2
In our last blog, we introduced the religious doctrine of providential design. Now, it is time to examine all the ways this religious viewpoint poisoned attitudes in American Christianity toward African Americans in the US for many years. We left off by stating that it absolved slaveholders from individual responsibility for the horrors of slavery. […]
Providential Design & American Christianity, Part 1
The doctrine of providential design arose in the United States after the Civil War and the end of slavery. It was, perhaps, the most perfect combination of racism and religion ever created in the United States. To understand the full importance of this pernicious doctrine, let us lay out what its beliefs were. How to […]
Miguel Hidalgo Costilla & Mexican Independence
On this date in history in 1810, Miguel Hidalgo Costilla, a Catholic priest, launches Mexico’s War for Independence in the town of Dolores. His proclamation, aptly called the “Cry of Dolores,” called for independence from Spain. It also declared in favor of land reform for greater equality and legal equality for all Mexicans. He picked […]
The Symbolism of the Bison
Along with the grizzly bear and perhaps the wolf, the bison is the iconic animal of the American West. The symbolism of the bison seems a key aspect of Western history. Its numbers were legendary. There were so many bison roaming the West 200 years ago that estimates were almost pointless. In his journal entry […]