For matters far removed from warfare, including ones concerning severe political conflict, Grant’s Overland Campaign offers useful lessons. It’s typically a poor idea to describe political affairs in military terms, but grave threats to the political order sadly call for a different approach. One fights in more than one way: sometimes using maneuver, at other times…
History
America, History, Immigration
The 1940 Map That Depicts America as a Nation of Immigrants
by JOHN ADAMS •
Lauren Young describes The Powerful 1940 Map That Depicts America as a Nation of Immigrants: In the years leading up to the Second World War, isolationist sentiment coursed pretty strongly throughout the United States. Some Americans feared that immigrants were a threat to the country. Sound familiar? Then you’ll have no trouble understanding the reasons why the map below, titled America–A…
History, Language, Trump
Full Transcript of Trump’s Black History Month Remarks
by JOHN ADAMS •
History, Immigration, Law, Liberty
Trump Surrogate Defends Precedent of Internment Camps
by JOHN ADAMS •
Carl Higbie, a Trump surrogate, while speaking to Megyn Kelly on Fox News suggested the internment of the Japanese during the Second World War as a precedent for a registry of Muslim immigrants to America. Kelly rightly rejected the precedent, as the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War and the Korematsu decision…
History
Weaving the Threads of History
by JOHN ADAMS •
At one point, Venice, Italy, was famous around the world for producing some of the finest textiles. Velvet—woven from thousands of fine silk threads—was especially desirable. In 1500, the clatter of 6,000 enormous looms echoed through the streets of the ancient canal-lined city. Today there is just one company left producing velvet in the traditional…
History, Law, Liberty, Politics, Presidential race 2016, Trump
Kevin Drum on Trump and the End of Reconstruction
by JOHN ADAMS •
Blogging at Mother Jones, Kevin Drum – like many of us, of whatever politics – seems uncertain about the consequences of a Trump Administration. (In fairness, much has happened in a short time, and it’s hard to make sense of it all.) Still, Drum’s thinking has shifted significantly over the last few days, in ways…
Architecture, Faraway Places, History
A Medieval Abbey Trapped by Tides and Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
Documentary, History, Technology
And the Internet was Born: The Creation of the ARPANET
by JOHN ADAMS •
Bridget Galaty has produced a fine documentary on the ARPANET, an early packet-switching network. Ms. Galaty is a 12th grade Video Cinema Arts (VCA) student at Denver School of the Arts (DSA) – a public, magnet, arts school within Denver Public Schools (DPS). Her work here, and her other videography on her YouTube channel, is…
History
‘A Sketchy History Of Pencil Lead’
by JOHN ADAMS •
History, Holiday
Happy Independence Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
History
FDR’s Secret Passageway Into Grand Central Station
by JOHN ADAMS •
Animation, History
Sunday Animation: The Petard Pinch
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Petard Pinch from Mike Brookes on Vimeo. It’s 1942, and Britain is in the midst of WW2. On HMS Petard, amidst battle, three men act with bravery and courage, in the process capturing vital Nazi documents and secret codebooks that helped Bletchley Park to crack the enigma code, and ultimately help win the war.…