Description
Mr. Wilson Chinn, and the Power of Photography
This iconic photograph of Mr. Wilson Chinn shows him displaying a range of the “torture instruments” he experienced during his years as a slave. Across his forehead are the initials “VBM,” branded there by his last master. Around his neck is a metal collar designed to infringe on his ability to rest his head. A […]
March 17, 1775: The Cannons of Ft. Ticonderoga Cause the British to Abandon the City of Boston.
Britain is rocked by its losses on April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord to the rag tag American minutemen and they retreat to the safety of their fortifications around Boston Harbor. When word of the defeat reaches King George III, he sends three top generals led by Lord William Howe to strike the enemy. […]
Congress approves the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago ending Mexican War
Five months after the U.S. army under General Winfield Scott occupies Mexico City, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ending the war is approved by the Senate. The fighting itself has lasted for sixteen months from the opening clash along the disputed Rio Grande border at Matamoros until the final assault on the Chapultepec Castle […]
March 5, 1845: Mexican Forces Massacre Defenders At The Alamo
In 1836 Mexican President Lopez de Santa Anna decides the time has come to take back territory in the state of Coahuila y Tejas then occupied by Americans who cast themselves as “Texians.” His campaign begins with a brutal massacre of some 285 of their settlers garrisoned at the Alamo Mission in the town of […]
February 24, 1803: The Marbury v Madison ruling defines the authority of the Supreme Court.
Fifteen years after the founding fathers create the judicial branch of the federal government, the nation’s fourth Chief Justice, John Marshall, defines the authority of the Supreme Court over the laws of the land in his Marbury v Madison decision. Until that moment the High Court has floundered under three prior Chiefs, unsure of its […]
February 13, 1819: The Tallmadge Amendment rings like “a fire bell in the night” for ex-President Jefferson.
James Tallmadge, Jr. is a 41 year old graduate of Brown University, a lawyer, ex-soldier in the War of 1812 and serving his one term in Congress when he becomes famous for offering an amendment to a bill to admit Missouri as the 23rd state in the Union. It supports the addition, but only… Provided, […]
Frederick Douglass: From Slavery To American Icon
It seems fair to say that Frederick Douglass does more than any other individual in his era to alter the negative stereotypes of black people in America. For over 200 years prior to his arrival on the national stage the enslaved Africans are perceived as a “different species of being” from their white counterparts. A leading […]
The Civil War Begins At The Battle Of First Bull Run
Forces Overview Union Forces: The Army of Northeastern Virginia under General McDowell made up the bulk of Union Forces. The army was composed of 36,000 troops divided into five divisions, these divisions were further divided into 3 to 5 brigades. There was also another army of 18,000 under Major General Robert Patterson, to prevent any […]
The Evolution Of America’s Four “Political Systems” Up To 1860
It is George Washington, the only president elected as an Independent, whose Farewell Address famously warns about the dangers of political parties to the well-being of the Union. His advice, however, is quickly ignored and between 1800 and 1860 four divisive “political systems” evolve. The 1st System is visible at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, with […]
Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech
In October 1859 Abraham Lincoln accepted an invitation to lecture at Henry Ward Beecher’s church in Brooklyn, New York, and chose a political topic which required months of painstaking research. His law partner William Herndon observed, “No former effort in the line of speech-making had cost Lincoln so much time and thought as this one,” […]