Tag Archive for ‘slavery’
TODAY IN HISTORY: Don’t Know Much About® Tocqueville in America
Happy Birthday, Monsieur Tocqueville (born July 29, 1805; died April 16, 1859) Observing a Choctaw tribe—the old, the sick, the wounded, and newborns among them—forced to cross an ice-choked Mississippi River during the harsh winter, Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote, “In the whole scene, there was an air of destruction, something which betrayed a final [...]
TODAY IN HISTORY: A Very Significant Amendment
I know. The mere mention of Constitutional Amendments automatically sends most of us for the snooze button. But this one is different. On July 28, 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was declared in effect. On July 9, 1868, the state of South Carolina ratified the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing the [...]
Today in History: Don’t Know Much About® New York’s Bloody Draft Riots
On July 13, 1863, New York City exploded in a four-day long murderous riot, still considered one of the deadliest urban riots in American history. The cause of the riots–violent opposition to the Civil War draft law.
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. [...]
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
TODAY IN HISTORY: The Gettysburg Address
The opening lines are among the most familiar words in our history. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Today is Dedication Day, the date on which Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg [...]
TODAY IN HISTORY: The Fugitive Slave Act
Congress, in its infinite wisdom, often makes bad law. Today is a reminder of that fundamental truth. When: On September 18, 1890, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slave owners to reclaim slaves who had escaped to other states. Why: The Fugitive Slave Act was part of a larger “Compromise of 1850,” intended [...]
TODAY IN HISTORY–THE STONO REBELLION
For those still stuck with the Gone With the Wind view of American slavery, this is the anniversary of one of the largest and most violent slave insurrections in American History. It wasn’t anything like the picture Margaret Mitchell painted. The Stono Rebellion was one of hundreds of violent slave uprisings, refuting the long-held notion [...]
