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 […]
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,” […]
John Brown: Madman, Martyr, Or Both?
In 1837 word of the murder of abolitionist newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy reaches John Brown who is thirty-six years old and living in Franklin Mills, Ohio. By then Brown has already led a hard life. His mother dies when he is eight and he grows up with an overbearing father, Owen Brown, a strict Calvinist […]
