Beyond the Myths of Rural America

"Its inhabitants are as much creatures of state power and industrial capitalism as their city-dwelling counterparts." -- The iconic painting, American Gothic, by Grant Wood, probably the most famous piece of art coming from the U.S., sparks many reflections on the differences between cities and town, urban and rural environments. A piercing, unsentimental new book, …

‘Democracy Awakening’: Heather Cox Richardson’s New Book

On a road trip, I listened to "Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America" by Heather Cox Richardson. Splendid. Though I've taught American history and paid close attention to the news over the last seven decades, I still learned things from it. Richardson makes sense of this current moment and what's at stake in …

Lakota Tribe’s Victory Over Custer at Little Big Horn Reminded Me of Middle East

On the 196th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on the Great Plains of Montana Territory in 1876, Boston College History Professor Heather Cox Richardson traced the history that led to the shocking defeat of General George Custer and his men. The U.S. Army lost 263 men that day, the Lakotas lost about …

Might the US Abandon Democracy? Rediscovering America

On this, the 246th anniversary of America's birth, I worry that the country may forsake its birthright, democracy: "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," in Abraham Lincoln's famous phrase. Half the country believes that democracy won't survive in the long-term, and a substantial faction seems to have already lost faith …

Ben Franklin on the Smallpox Pandemic and Inoculations

Africans were innovators in the development of inoculations before Europeans and Americans, this clip from Ken Burns' Ben Franklin documentary points out. Ben Franklin's son died of smallpox at age four. Franklin believed in inoculation from smallpox but misjudged what was best for his young son. He never forgave himself. UNUM Ken Burns: This extended …

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 …

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Ended US War With Mexico, Brought New Lands into the Union, and Set Nation on Path to Civil War

In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, "officially titled the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic," brought an official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). It also gave advocates of slavery a new opportunity to spread the practice into new areas, and alter the …

The Seminal Importance of the Homestead Act of 1862 in Development of US Frontier

Six short videos on Youtube.com explain the seminal importance of the Homestead Act of 1862 to the development of the American nation and populating of the frontier. Click to watch.

Dawes Act of 1887 and Why It Matters

The Dawes Act of 1887 allowed the federal government to break up tribal lands. ... Only the Native Americans who accepted the division of tribal lands were allowed to become US citizens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKQD08Zr5lU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8SVqqCgH2Q

‘Legend of the Lone Ranger’ Reinforces Mythology of the Frontier West

The mythology of the Old West includes starkly beautiful landscapes, particularly desert, thirst, Christian evangelism, manifest destiny, cruelty, lawlessness, cowboys, outlaws, evil spirits, superstition, gratuitous violence, "the noble savage" or indigenous tribal leaders with folk wisdom, massacres of whites and "injuns," broken treaties, orphan children, uneducated frontiersmen, exploited workers, particularly Chinese, the arrival of the …