Bring Back the Whigs?

Timothy Noah on Substack: "Is it too late for Henry Clay to enter the New Hampshire primary? The Whigs were a political party in Great Britain that fought for expanded political rights in Parliament; their chief rivals were the monarchist Tories. The word is Scottish in origin (“whiggamore”) and made reference to Presbyterian rebels against the …

Origin of the Disdainful Term, ‘Pig War’, And It’s Importance to Diplomacy

"This will not be a pig war," meaning it won't be insignificant, there's a real danger of prolonged violent confrontation, and we had better take it seriously, we'd better think seriously about diplomacy. The Pig War of 1859 "was a confrontation in 1859 between the US and the British Empire over the British–U.S. border in the San Juan …

Was US Civil War Inevitable?

Historian David Blight has a piece in the NYT Magazine tracing the path to disunion in the 1850s — and the lessons it holds for our own era of deep division. It begins with Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney, two days after the inauguration of President James Buchanan in March 1857, reading aloud the court's …

1855: Most Contentious US House Speaker Election in History

US House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is having trouble corralling enough votes from fellow Republicans to be elected Speaker of the House for the 118th Congress (2023-25). He'll probably work it out. Republicans' struggles are unlikely to match "the longest and most contentious Speaker election in House history," according to US House History. After two …

History of Treason Charges in the US, Focusing on Abolitionist John Brown in 1859

Violent abolitionist John Brown, who led a slave rebellion in Harper's Ferry, VA (later WV), "was the first American to be executed for treason," explained historian Heather Cox Richardson in her Letter from An American. "Before 1859 the punishment for treason in America had not been clear. In the early years of independence, as colonies …

Senator Daniel Webster Famously Supported the ‘Great Compromise’ Which Destroyed His Political Career

Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was "an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore." Was he a hero or a villain? His former friends and supporters in NH and MA came to view him as a villain, many of them abolitionists, because he …

When Calling Out Bullies Was Prelude to the Civil War

President Joe Biden has called out what he characterizes as radical Republicans who threaten "our very democracy...our personal rights and economic security" and, in a fiery speech, said Republicans have turned toward "semi-fascism," The Washington Post reported. (Video clips.) Republicans responded that his remarks were "despicable." Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) called Democrats “radical left-wing lunatics, …

John Brown: The Man Who Started the U.S. Civil War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orxQY0N0-HA&t=8s John Brown, Soldier of Christ or America's first domestic terrorist? Clearly a man with a colossal ego.

In Russia, Military Losses Always Lead to Big Changes

Vladimir Putin surely knows that “the Russian national tradition is unforgiving of military setbacks,” observed Leon Aron, a Russia expert at the American Enterprise Institute, who is writing a book about Putin’s road to Ukraine. “Virtually every major defeat has resulted in radical change,” added Aron, writing in The Washington Post. “The Crimean War (1853-1856) precipitated …

Gadsden Purchase Completed the Continental US and Manifest Destiny

The Gadsden Purchase "is a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effect on June 8, 1854. Wikipedia. The Gadsden Purchase from Mexico completes the continental United States from coast to coast. History Nerds in Jimmy Fallon's audience. Gadsden …