Tag: History
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Four Candidates: The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912 was weird. It featured a former two-term president running under a newly formed third party because he was dissatisfied with his old one, a candidate who had only recently won his first political race, a socialist seeking significant gains, and the incumbent president. In many ways, it’s unique in American history.…
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Following Up: An American Coal War: The West Virginia Coal Mining Wars of 1912-21
This is a follow-up to my article on the West Virginia Coal Mining Wars that you can find here. The West Virginia Coal Mining Wars were a topic about which I had very little prior knowledge. I chose the topic based on a small mention in another book. I can honestly say I don’t regret…
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An American Coal War: The West Virginia Coal Mining Wars of 1912-21
Labor battles in the history of the United States have not been without violence. Even though I understood that fact, I was shocked by the violence of the West Virginia Mine Wars between 1912 and 1921. I had not even heard of this fight before I randomly saw a mention of it in a book.…
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Following Up: A Bad Tariff Plan: The Disaster of Smoot-Hawley
The general purpose of my follow-up articles is twofold: first, to explain why I find the topic interesting and important, and second, to review the books I used for my article. Sometimes, it isn’t easy to see why a casual reader may find the topic worth reading. Luckily, this is not the case with the…
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A Bad Tariff Plan: The Disaster of Smoot-Hawley
Passing Smoot-Hawley Picture this: You’re a Republican in Congress in 1928. You’ve controlled the government for the last eight years, and the economy is booming. So, what do you want to do next? Is it introducing painful tariffs that mess with international trade? If not, you’re not a Republican Congressman in 1928. The situation I…
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Following UP: A Ticket to Panic: Jay Cooke’s Railroad Dreams and the Panic of 1873
While researching Reconstruction, I came across the impact of Jay Cooke’s railroad failure. I was fascinated that one man’s poor business decision was blamed for launching a financial panic that ended in a global depression. How could he be responsible for the second-worst depression in American history? It seemed like the perfect topic to research.…
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A Ticket to Panic: Jay Cooke’s Railroad Dreams and the Panic of 1873
Studying financial crises throughout history is a lot like studying wars. There are far too many of them, and each feels unique. If I were to continue to use my war metaphor (mainly because it is all I have), I would say the global depression that rocked the world in the 1870s is akin to…
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Following Up: Reconstruction: The Topic You Forget (Or Were Never Taught) From History Class
I started looking into Reconstruction as a topic based on the recommendation of my friend, Paul. There were times while I was researching and writing that I was silently cursing his name. Reconstruction is a fascinating topic, but as I said in my article, it’s incredibly dense. It took a lot of work to cover…
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Reconstruction: The Topic You Forget (Or Were Never Taught) From History Class
Writing a short-form article about Reconstruction is not an easy proposition. It is a dense topic that easily has filled thousands of pages. Historians have written books focusing on singular aspects of Reconstruction just so they could do them justice. I’m not going to pretend that I will be able to fully convey the history…
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Following Up: A Rebel And an Outlaw: The Life of Jesse James
While researching my article on the Pinkertons, I saw Jesse James’s name pop up often. Based on the snippets I read, I was naturally interested, so I decided to make Jesse the topic of an article. Jesse lived a fascinating life; no wonder he has been part of the American imagination for so long. However,…
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