“Sicko Ants on a Crucifix”

Censorship is riding high. It is once again as American as apple pie, assassinations and anti-immigrant vitriol.

Cruel and Unusual- (Civics Primer Part 5)

No, learning about Civics and American History is not the Cruel and Unusual part. Actually, when done properly, this stuff can be fun and interesting. Following up on my earlier lessons about the Bill of Rights, today’s focus is on two more of the fundamental rights of the accused found in the Seventh and Eighth [...]

Pleading the Fifth (Civics Primer Part 4)

My Civics Primer has been focusing on the Bill of Rights and continues with two more Amendments that deal with the rights of the accused –including perhaps the most famous of all, the Fifth Amendment.

Bare Arms? Arm Bears? A Second Amendment Guide (Civics Primer #2)

There is little doubt that the Founders and Framers, in a time when there was no standing army, expected men to have a gun at the ready to defend the country. But does that 18th century logic still hold in a country with a standing army, state militias and local police forces? And does the high level of American gun violence (more than 31,000 firearms fatalities in 2006, according to the CDC) mean it is time to reassess an idea that made sense more than 200 years ago?

Don’t Know Much About the First Amendment: A Civics Primer

Who is the Vice President? How many Senators are there? How many Supreme Court Justices? A new online survey suggests many Americans can’t answer those Civics 101 questions. That is a point underscored in a New York Times Week in Review article yesterday that points out how many Americans don’t know what the First Amendment [...]

Jefferson’s Version-A few key differences

Today , July 2d is the day the Continental Congress actually voted in favor of independence for America. It took two more days of debate to approve Thomas Jefferson’s explanation of that vote, the Declaration of Independence. Once again the New York Public Library is displaying a handwritten version of the Declaration, written by Jefferson. [...]

Independence Week: The Most Important Signer You Never Heard of

In another installment of my Independence Week Refresher Course, I focus on a man who most of us never heard of. But the United States of America exists, in part, because of his efforts. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, a few names are familiar. Most Americans, if pressed, can probably [...]

Don’t Know Much About® Independence Week: Declaration 101

In the run-up to the nation’s birthday, here are some more things you “need to know” about the Declaration of Independence and the men who created it. -It’s not a “piece of paper.” The original version of the Declaration  was “engrossed” (a word for preparing an official document in a large, clear hand) on parchment [...]

Patriots’ Day: It’s Not About the Marathon

As we reach another Patriots’ Day, the day that commemorates the beginning of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775, here’s a little refresher about some of the hidden history of this most important day in American History.

Ghosts of Confederates Past

On April 9, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

After four years of Civil War, with his Army of Northern Virginia practically starving and reeling under the onslaught of Union pressure from Grant’s superior forces, Robert E. Lee had to contemplate the inevitable