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Category Archives: American History
In Praise of Every[hu]man
Pre-eminent American historian Carl Becker in 1931 sounded a theme for the 1930s when he pronounced, “Everyman His Own Historian.” The great American composer Aaron Copland in 1942 composed “Fanfare for the Common Man,” a wonderful piece for horns and … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography, books
Tagged Biography, books, Jean Louis Berlandier, Narrative history, Passaconaway's Realm
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Thomas Jefferson and the Idea of Revolution
Thomas Jefferson had a lifelong dream when he died on Independence Day, 1826. The epitaph that he composed to mark his passing highlighted the three great achievements of his life: creating the Declaration of Independence, penning the Statute of Religious … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography, Government
Tagged Independence, Revolution, Thomas Jefferson
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George Washington: The First (and Best?) President
In Philadelphia, the summer of 1787, the members of the Constitutional Convention, following the lead of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, decided that the office of a single executive, with his power checked and balanced by the Congress and Courts, … Continue reading
War Story
Bob lived in an old two story tenement, thin, tall, and long with clapboard exterior badly in need of paint. Other tenements of similar age and quality lined the street, which was crowded with parked cars, some working but others … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography, European history
Tagged D-Day Invasion, World War II
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Reflections on “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
First, I will admit that I have been teaching American history for almost 35 years and have never, until recently, read Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Why? For several reasons, I suppose. First, it was never assigned in any … Continue reading
Posted in American History, books, Christianity, God's Providence
Tagged Harriet Beecher Stowe, Slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin
4 Comments
Images of Lincoln
When I was a teenager–not very thoughtful and focused mostly on baseball and basketball–my grandfather, a retired custodian whom I would have never thought would read such books, gave me a three-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg. The … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography, books, Government
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sanderg, Civil War, Slavery
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Moral Expediency and the Atomic Bomb
The Manhattan Project that resulted in the development of the Atomic Bomb was one of the most creative moments in world history. American scientists accomplished what only a few years before was considered unthinkable–exploiting the power of the atom in … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Government
Tagged Atomic Bomb, Harry Truman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Manhattan Project, Morality
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Whose Democracy Is It, Anyway?
Is America under the Constitution a democracy? The Constitution was written over the course of a summer in 1787 (in Philadelphia: the Constitutional Convention). The 55 or so men who wrote the Constitution did not have mandated authority from the … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Government
Tagged Constitution, Democracy, Government, James Madison
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History and Miracle
What is a historian to do about miracles, events in time that break the rules of natural law and sensory evidence, products of a supernatural force, that is, God? The easiest approach is, of course, to reject all theism, to … Continue reading
Posted in American History, books, Christianity
Tagged god, history, Jeremy Belknap, Miracles, Providence, St. Paul
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The Great Commission, Love, and Science
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” I have written a previous post about the Great Commission, as recorded in the Gospel of Mark, which is the basis for Christian missionary activity for the … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography, Christianity, Great Commission
Tagged Daniel Little, god, Great Commission, Missionaries
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The American Plutarch 