American History
Different Stages of Development
Today I was reading The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America by James Wilson and in the first chapter of the book, Wilson brings up a very good point about the “stage of development” of the Native American tribes versus the European cultures. He discusses the fact that from our own Euro-American perspective, … more »
Was German intelligence correct about the Lusitania?
I read an interesting article which discusses recent findings that reveal that the cruise ship Lusitania, whose sinking propelled the US into World War I, was actually carrying arms despite Allied claims denying it. Here is a portion of it: Her sinking with the loss of almost 1,200 lives caused such outrage that it propelled … more »
Books about Native Americans
I have posted a new featured book called Native American Testimony edited by Peter Nabokov. This book is a very interesting culmination of testimonials by Native Americans about the coming of the white man. What makes this such a unique volume is that it is told from the perspective of the Native Americans rather than … more »
His Promised Land: The story of John P. Parker
For the same US history course that I mentioned I am taking this semester in my last post, I just finished reading a book called His Promised Land. The book is the autobiography of John P. Parker, an African-American born into slavery who eventually bought his freedom for $1,800. Based out of Ripley, Ohio, he … more »
New Worlds For All
This semester I am taking a survey class of US history up to 1865. For that class, I just finished reading a book entitled New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America by Colin G. Calloway. The book itself was actually quite interesting. Calloway discusses how the world not only changed … more »
1908 Presidential Candidates Speak
This is something I posted on another blog of mine a while ago, but I’m not entirely sure why I never posted it here. Anyway, here it goes: I found a really interesting webpage that has a lot of information about the 1908 presidential election. The two candidates were William J. Bryan and William H. … more »
Who were the real cowboys? (Part 5)
Life on the cattle trail in the late 19th century was often monotonous and boring, however, there were also times that were quite exciting and dangerous. Chief among the many dangers that the cowboys had to face on a regular basis were Indians, thieves and stampedes. Indian raids were certainly among the most prominent concerns … more »
How Railroads took the ‘Wild’ out of the West
While I’m finishing up some other articles for History Rhymes (such as the 5th installment of the “Who were the real cowboys?” series…finally), I found a good article about how the railroads took the wild out of the wild west. It was a very interesting read actually about the development of the railroads in the … more »
Who were the real cowboys? (Part 4)
In the late 19th century, the combination of high demand for beef in the eastern United States and the lack of railroads or really any kind of infrastructure in the west was the cause for a unique phenomenon west. The western ranchers in states such as Texas and Wyoming needed to find a way to … more »
Who were the real cowboys? (Part 3)
The image of the American cowboy as we perceive it today was created in the 19th century, particularly in the postbellum period, or the period after the Civil War. After the war, many soldiers from both the Union and the Confederate sides had difficulties finding jobs in the east despite the South’s infrastructure laying in … more »