Historian Richard Rubin pieces together the racialized local history surrounding the Colfax riot, the bloodiest single episode of Reconstruction. While I found the article intriguing, I’m not sure which history professors he was consulting. Eric Foner‘s Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution — the first place one should go for Reconstruction-related queries — touches on the Colfax riot (albeit briefly), and I seem to remember it receiving more treatment in William Gillette’s Retreat from Reconstruction. At any rate, an interesting and somewhat perturbing read.
Tag: History
O.D…Original Dubya.
“He is the actuality of the schoolboy notion that anybody has a chance to be President.” Dubya? No, Warren Harding, but close enough. Hey y’all…sorry it’s been quieter than usual around here lately. Most of my time right now is spent in my summer research employ, which basically involves going down to the NYC Public Library at 40th St. and reading as many TIME magazines from the early 1920’s as possible. (In effect, I’m blogging 1923 at the moment.) I’ve also started getting serious with the orals prep, although not so serious that I didn’t create a goofy subsite to monitor my progress (and impel me to read faster.) Either way, I expect updates here will remain lighter than usual for the next few weeks, but y’never know.
Happy Independence Day.
“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved…”
Marked for Revision.
In the wake of Dubya’s recent insults with regards to Weaponsgate, Alexander Keyssar makes the case for revisionist history, using the work of Eric Foner as an example.
Hey, Dubya, I’ve found a “revisionist historian” for ya…
You must be joking. She’s been nutty for years, of course, but now Ann Coulter has really lost it. According to excerpts of her new bile-filled book on Drudge, Coulter has now taken to defending McCarthyism. According to Coulter, the “myth of ‘McCarthyism’ is the greatest Orwellian fraud of our times…Liberals are fanatical liars, then as now. Everything you think you know about McCarthy is a hegemonic lie…Liberals denounced McCarthy because they were afraid of getting caught, so they fought back like animals.” Wow. It’s pointless to even waste time on this book, I know. Still, this is ignorant on so many levels. Were Eisenhower, the Army, and the Senate all “liberals”? My advice to anyone out there interested in McCarthyism: consult a real historian on the subject. You’ll find that, contrary to Coulter’s swill, McCarthy had enemies – and supporters – on both sides of the ideological spectrum. If the conservative press wants to maintain any credibility at all, they’re going to have to renounce this garbage and soon, ’cause this is just off the deep end.
Lone Star.
Mama, take this badge off of him – He can’t use it anymore. Two New Mexico lawmen aim to find out if Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid or the wrong man in 1881. Does this mean James Coburn should’ve shot Dylan at the end of the movie instead?
The Recycle Bin of History.
Fred Kaplan wonders aloud about the perils of writing history in the e-mail era. I see what he’s getting at, but this argument cuts both ways. If in fact someone is saving administration e-mail correspondence (a big if, I know, but consider folks like Harold Ickes and Sidney Blumenthal in the Clinton White House), then there should be plenty of e-mails of conversations that would have been held on the phone throughout most of the twentieth century. Plus, so much more of government (at the highest levels, at least) is televised now, from subcommittee hearings on C-SPAN2 to Dubya’s 4pm photo-op with the Boy Scouts. Historians of the future should have their hands full.
Camelot Crusade?
Fred Kaplan of Slate reexamines the lingering question of Kennedy and Vietnam in light of Robert Dallek’s new biography.
Means of Descent.
Grad students and history lovers take note: Plight of the Reluctant has devised the altogether fiendish Robert Caro drinking game. “Drink once if Caro describes Lyndon Johnson’s stride…Drink once if LBJ’s weight or face is mentioned,” etc., etc. Thank goodness I was unaware of this amusement while slogging through The Power Broker.
At long last.
Dubya may have tied up the release of the Reagan papers indefinitely (hmm, whatever for?), but at least one branch of government has the courage to air their dirty laundry. Senators Susan Collins and Carl Levin announce the release of the McCarthy hearing transcripts (available here.) There’s probably a number of good dissertation topics in there…