Ancestor-Worship: Very Popular

I reflect on the phenomenon of ancestor-worship, which seems to be particularly popular among old people who intently trace their ancestry online. Why is it so popular? I have some ideas. See my Substack article: https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/ancestor-worship

Napoleon: Man of Destiny

One of the best documentary series on Napoleon was by PBS in 2000. Click for episode guide. The episodes are posted on Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrbiSUgZEbg

American Imperialist Beliefs in the Late 1800s: Pro and Con

Students should read the following documents and list on a chart the key arguments of the imperialists/expansionists, to prepare for debates. Two "Pro" Arguments (Pro-Imperialist) "The US Looking Outwards" by Alfred Thayer Mahan, 1890, The Atlantic. He was a United States naval officer and historian, whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of …

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 …

MLK: ‘I’m So Glad I Didn’t Sneeze’ Because I Got to Live Longer And Participate in a Great Movement

Excerpts from this speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 3, 1968, the night before he was killed, have particular resonance to the concept that "slender threads" shape history and our personal lives. He carried with him a sense of the fragility of life, a historical perspective and a sense of gratitude about …

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois Debated Black Destiny

Crash Course Black American History with Clint Smith: "As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, Black Americans were searching for ways to think about how and where they would fit into a post-slavery society. There were several competing schools of thought. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) and W.E.B. Dubois (1868-1963) were essential to some …

Meditation on Alexandre Dumas’ Concepts of ‘Slender Threads’, ‘Fortune’, Fate and Destiny

"Oh what slender threads do life and fortune hang," observed Alexandre Dumas in the Count of Monte Cristo. The concept of "fortune," akin to fate, destiny, societies' stability or instability, divine providence, God's will, envy, revenge, justice and injustice, accident of birth and social class were themes that Dumas addressed in the novel. But these …

James Garfield, 1880-81: Dramatic Shooting of a President, and Medical Malpractice Leading to Unnecessary Death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h5bedYl2RA PBS American Experience: "President James Garfield was just four months into his presidency when he was shot by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. After his death that September, Garfield became a symbol of lost opportunity...lost potential...for a nation in transition." He is easily forgotten because he only served as president for 200 days …

Spanish-American War of 1898 and the Emergence of American Empire Explained

The Spanish-American War lasted less than five months and signaled the end of the Spanish Empire  -- Spain lost its last two colonies, Cuba and the Philippines -- and the rise of the American Empire. President William McKinley expressed idealistic goals that countries must be freed from the oppression of colonization. "Cuba ought to be …

Does African History Disprove Jared Diamond’s Theory That Guns, Germs and Steel Explain Western Dominance?

Cynical Historian: "There’s a question in the history profession that if sufficiently answered could not only reshape how we conceive ourselves, but reveal the best course of action for politics around the world. What makes the West strong? While there are many answers, the most popular of these has been Jared Diamond’s "Guns Germs and …