As Americans prepare for their annual Thanksgiving feast, few will stop to consider the holiday’s Civil War origins. Although George Washington declared the first national day of Thanksgiving in 1789, it wasn’t until 1863 that it became a formal federal holiday.
November, 2014
Sarah Josepha Hale and the Civil War Origin of Thanksgiving as a National Holiday
The first American Thanksgiving, the one celebrated by Pilgrims and Indians according to well-established historical tradition, provides at best a mixed legacy.
Walter White: A Real American Cowboy
It has been over one year since Breaking Bad ended, and three months since its impressive showing at the Emmy Awards. Breaking Bad was not just about manufacturing meth. It had a lot to say about western history.
Spain and the Harlem Renaissance: To be Simply a Man
The Harlem Renaissance was a diverse artistic movement of great creativity that took place in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s.
What the Gettysburg Address Means for America Today
On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln spoke at the dedication of a national cemetery at Gettysburg. When the battered armies limped out of Pennsylvania after July’s brutal fight, they left behind them more than seven thousand corpses in a town with fewer than 2500 inhabitants.
Interstellar and the Myth of the American Hero
Interstellar is about a farmer (played by Matthew McConaughey) who literally tries to save the world. The average-man hero is a central premise of many Hollywood films.
The Arrest of John Peter Zenger and the Seeds of the American Revolution
On November 17, 1734, newspaper printer John Peter Zenger was arrested on charges of seditious libel.
Nevada Women Win The Vote: A Centennial Recognition
As pundits discuss the role that women’s issues will play in 2016, it is good to remember that a century ago this year, Nevada became one of the last western states to approve suffrage after a struggle that started forty-five years earlier with the first attempt to bring the issue to the legislature.
Ready to Rumble? A Fight Between Lincoln and the Other Douglass
In the run up to the 2008 Democratic primary, Fox News proposed a series of debates between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton reminiscent of the ones between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass 1856.
Joseph Hooker and the Problem of Politics in the Military
In the midst of the Civil War sesquicentennial, the bicentennial of Union General Joseph Hooker’s birth on November 13 hardly seems worthy of much celebration.