The book 
Indivisible: Daniel Webster & the Birth of American Nationalism (Riverhead Books, 2022) by Joel Richard Paul tells the story of how Webster, a young New Hampshire attorney turned politician, rose to national prominence through his powerful oratory and unwavering belief in the United States. [Read more…] about Indivisible: Daniel Webster & the Birth of a Nation
Political History
JFK Assassination Records Transcription Opportunity
President John F. Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. Nearly 30 years after his death, Congress enacted the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. The Act mandated that all assassination-related material be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. [Read more…] about JFK Assassination Records Transcription Opportunity
Jane Addams, Alice Hamilton & The Hague Women’s Congress
Berlin, May 1915. Three feminists on an historical mission — Jane Addams and New York native Alice Hamilton from the United States, and Aletta Jacobs from the Netherlands — meet Wilbur H. Durborough. The American photographer and filmmaker had traveled to Berlin with his cameraman, Irving G. Ries, to shoot footage for his war documentary On the Firing Line with the Germans (1915). [Read more…] about Jane Addams, Alice Hamilton & The Hague Women’s Congress
Newburgh Conspiracy: Showdown at the New Windsor Cantonment
In 1783, in the stronghold of the Hudson Highlands during the latter years of the American Revolution, General George Washington kept a wary eye on the British force in the city of New York, 60 miles away. His army, owed months of back pay, and his officers frustrated by the negotiations over their promised pension, chafed under martial authority.
A nationalist faction in Congress seized upon this discontent to instigate the Newburgh Conspiracy, a plot by Continental Army officers to menace civil officials who opposed the Impost, a 5% tax on imports to be collected by the central government, to satisfy the nation’s debts. The army – by this time a formidable force of seasoned veterans – was provoked into threatening the very liberties it had fought to defend. [Read more…] about Newburgh Conspiracy: Showdown at the New Windsor Cantonment
Warfare, Constitutions and the Making of the Modern World
The book The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions and the Making of the Modern World (Liveright, 2021) by Linda Colley traces the global history of written constitutions from the 1750s to the twentieth century, modifying accepted narratives and uncovering the close connections between the making of constitutions and the making of war. In the process, Linda Colley both reappraises famous constitutions and recovers those that have been marginalized but were central to the rise of a modern world. [Read more…] about Warfare, Constitutions and the Making of the Modern World
Kermit Roosevelt III: The Nation That Never Was
In his book The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story (University of Chicago Press, 2022), Kermit Roosevelt III argues that a traditional American narrative – “that our fundamental values as a country were stated in the Declaration of Independence, fought for in the Revolution, and made law in the Constitution”– is neither useful nor true.
Instead, he writes, we should look to the 19th century, to the period following Abraham Lincoln‘s Gettysburg Address, “when it was possible to envision the emergence of the nation committed to liberty and equality.” [Read more…] about Kermit Roosevelt III: The Nation That Never Was
Justus Schwab & East Village Radicalism
Today, the city of Frankfurt-am-Main is the largest financial hub in Continental Europe, home to the European Central Bank (ECB), the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The same city was at one time the epicenter of a liberal uprising that swept the German states. The Frankfurt Parliament was convened in May 1848; its members were elected by direct (male) suffrage, representing the full political spectrum. In the end, the revolution of 1848 failed and was suppressed with excessive force and retribution. [Read more…] about Justus Schwab & East Village Radicalism
A New Virtual Field Trip to Revolutionary Boston
In the 18th century, Boston was one of the most important cities in the British American colonies. It was known for its bustling port, numerous printshops, political ideals, and its lively taverns. In the 1760s and 70s Boston took on a new role of revolutionary host. Boston is the birthplace of the American War for Independence and was not just a key city in the American Revolution strategically, but also symbolically. [Read more…] about A New Virtual Field Trip to Revolutionary Boston
Recent Archaeology at the Joseph Yates House in Schenectady County
Daniel Mazeau and Aaron Gore, archaeologists with Beverwyck Archaeology, recently completed field investigations and research for the Yates house and property in Glenville, Schenectady County, NY, once home to the family of Joseph Yates (1707-1748). Yates was the grandfather of Joseph Christopher Yates (1768-1837), a lawyer, politician, statesman, founding trustee of Union College and longtime Schenectady Mayor who also served as the 7th Governor of New York in 1823-1824. [Read more…] about Recent Archaeology at the Joseph Yates House in Schenectady County
361 Votes: Saratoga County’s 1898 Leadership Battle
The recent battle for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives left many astounded that it took so many votes to reach a conclusion. However, Saratoga County once went through a situation that makes the House of Representatives battle look like very small potatoes. [Read more…] about 361 Votes: Saratoga County’s 1898 Leadership Battle