American History By The Day: March 19th

The American Revolution: Naval: On this day in 1776 the Continental Congress authorizes privateering raids on British Shipping.

The New American Nation - National:  On this day in 1824 in the case of Osborn v. Bank of the United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall holds that the state of Ohio cannot tax the Bank of the United States. Ohio state auditor Ralph Osborn and other state officials who had seized bank assets had been assessed damages and had appealed this earlier decision.  Marshall finds that if a agent of a state executes an unconstitutional statue, he will be personally liable for damages resulting from his enforcement of the act.  In this opinion, Marshall denies the state the protection of the 11th Amendment in such cases. 

Testing a Union - Regional:  On this day in 1860 Elizabeth Cady Stanton appears befor the New York legislature to promote the cause of women's suffrage. 

Spanish-American War - Approach:  The battleship Oregon leaves San Francisco for Key West.  The ship will play an important part in the Gulf of Mexico during the war, and the fact it will take 67 days to round Cape Horn brings to urgent attention the need for a Central American canal. 

Expanding Resourses - National:  Congress reorganizes its Committee on Rules in a successful attempt to liberate it from the firm hand of the archconservative Speaker "Uncle" Joe Cannon.  Henceforth the committee members will be elected by the House rather than apppointment by the Speaker.  The move has been untertaken by "insurgent" Republicans and Democrats after Cannon has rammed the Payne-Aldrige Tariff Bill through Congress, allowing 847 amendments which raised tariffs while withstanding the extreme pressure from the Progressives to liberalize them.  Now Cannon is bypassed since he may no longer appoint, and the Speaker is ruled ineligible for membership on this committee. 

On This Day In American History: Alice "Alse" Young Is First Person Hanged As A Witch In 1647 In The American Colonies

On this day on May 26th, 1647 in Hartford, Connecticut was the first recorded hanging of a person convicted of being a witch.  Alice "Alse"Young won't be identified as the victim until December 3rd 1904 through an article in the Hartford Courant.  In 1642 a law was passed in the Connecticut Colony making a conviction of practicing witchcraft a capital offense punishable by death.  The historical record of the colony seems to suggest the law was based on references to the King James version of the Bible: Exodus (22:18) and Leviticus (20:27) which stated, "...a man or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." 

Alse Young had a daughter who would also be accused of being a witch in Springfield, Massachusetts three decades latter.  Though there is a record of an influenza outbreak in early 1647, especially in the town of Windsor, Connecticut there is no evidence it was related to Ms. Young or that her trial and subsequent conviction was based on any such evidence.  Not until 1750 will the offense of witchcraft disappear from the list of capital  laws in the colony.  

Anecdote: John Adams & Daniel Webster On Health

The imminent statesman Daniel Webster described in this way his last interview with our 2nd President, John Adams:  "When I was with him and conversing on the common topics of the day, someone...a friend of his, came in and made particular inquiry of his health.  The former President answered, "I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement, battered by the winds and broken in upon by the storms, and, from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair." 

#1711 

On This Day In American History: Lawrence Kansas Is Sacked In Prelude to Civil War

As a prelude to what was to come and the violence that would follow on this day, May 21^st, 1856 Lawrence Kansas in Douglas County is ransacked by pro-slavery forces led by its county Sheriff.  Anti-Slavery forces were counting on Kansas to be admitted as a free state as it was founded by anti-slavery settlers.  Though only one death vas recorded in the incident from the pro-slavery side and was accidental it would be a precursor to what would be historically called “Bleeding Kansas.”  The following year on September 7^th, 1857 the first of three attempts as a constitution for the state required for admittance to the Union began:  (1) the Lecompton Constitution; (2) the Leavenworth Constitution; and finally (3) the Wyandotte Constitution.  It would not be until January 21, 1861 when the despised President James Buchanan by free-state settlers would sign the bill making Kansas the 34^th state as the prospects of a Civil War hovered over the horizon. 

Truman's Conscience American History Blogmanac Mission Statement

Welcome to Truman’s Conscience American History Blogmanac.  As a public school teacher that has taught World & American history for the past 14 years I have been an off and on again custodian of this small humble effort to share my all consuming love for the historical arc of the United States.  I am forever drawn to its promise and call for every citizen to contribute to the American community to further the ideals called for in it’s Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  This coming academic year I will be starting my 15^th year and that drive to consume myself in passing of that love to my students will take on a fresh effort as it does every year with the promise of  young minds open to learning just what the promise of the United States of America is historically, politically, social, and economically.

The most admired American historical figure for me is the brother of our 35^th President, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.  I was a 13 year old high school student the year he was assassinated.  I remember to this day how the news affected my mother as she awakened me shortly after midnight of June 5^th, 1968.  She was visibly upset and crying telling me to go watch the news coverage of the assassination attempt as it was a point in our history I should never forget.  She talked to me later that morning about the loss she felt after the loss first of his brother, John F. Kennedy in 1963 and now Senator Robert Kennedy who she felt was so full of promise and hope.  My father, who was away on an overseas cruise in the navy, related to me the very same feelings of disappointment and a feeling that our country was so much less without him.  My father passed on his sense of love for his country and the promise its arc of history gave us.

 

I read a speech by RFK in my college years where he once talked of that promise and the light our nation’s ideals, though woefully unrealized, offered to not only its citizens but to the rest of the world as well.  He felt it was his duty to be one of the many custodians to that promise and light our country offered and gave his life for that belief.  My blog of American History is a reflection of that custodian ship, though a small and humble one.  This is an invitation to join me as we explore where we have been, our mistakes, and the things we have done right to further what Jefferson called for to guarantee every citizen no matter what their station in life an, “….unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Come join in us.

 

American History Blogmanac will be here.

Ulysses S. Grant 3 Day Mini-Series Event History.com

Just saw an ad on MSNBC for a History.com three night special event on Ulysses S. Grant our 18^th President and General of the Union Army that literally saved the country.  Over the past few years there seems to be a shift in the perspective of Grant in the academic community.  This ‘revisionist’ look is taking him in as more of a heavyweight than he was essentially given credit for.  I’m really looking forward to it as I am just two years past my reading of William S. McFeely’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography on Ulysses S. Grant. McFeely passed away late last year and I understand that Leonardo DiCaprio is the executive producer of the mini-series.  I’ll review the series as it runs each night here at Truman’s Conscience American History Blogmanac.  More updates on the series as I run across it as so far all I know is it starts on Memorial Day evening, Monday, May 25^th.

American History By The Day: May 24th

The American Revolution - Approach:  On this day in 1764 the Grenville measures are protested at a Boston town meeting where James Otis first introduces the issue of taxation without representation, and he also suggests a united colonial response to the parliamentary acts.

The New American Nation - National:  On this day in 1813 in Washington, the 13th Congress convenes.  Among the freshman congressmen is Daniel Webster of New Hampshire.  In the Senate are 27 Democratic-Republicans to 9 Federalists, and in the House of Representatives are 112 Democratic-Republicans to 68 Federalists.  As a result of the most recent national census, 36 new seats have been added to the House.  Of these new representatives, 32 are Federalists.

Post Civil War America - International:  On this day in 1871 the Senate consents to the provisions of the Treaty of Washington, which have been worked out by the able Secretary of State Hamilton Fish.  This treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States would settle a variety of disputes between the countries that specifically included the Alabama Claims which resulted from British support of Confederate causes during the Civil War.

The American Cold War - International:  On the day in 1957 in Taipei, Taiwan, rioters mob the United States Embassy after the release of an American soldier held on a charge of killing a Chinese national.

James Otis in his famous five hour oration in the Massachusetts State House against the Writs of Assistance

American History By The Day: May 23rd

Early Colonial America - British Policy:  On this day in 1609 the English Crown grants a new charter to the London Company, which will now be titled the Virginia Company.  The charter provides for its incorporation as a joint stock company, thus providing the company with an infusion of much needed capital.  The Virginia company is also granted land and greatly increased powers of government in the American colony.  Sir Thomas Smith is named treasurer of the Virginia Company.

Early Colonial America - Colonial Affairs:  On this day in 1610 long delayed by a shipwreck in Bermuda, deputy-governor Sir Thomas Gates, accompanied by Sir George Somers and Captain Newport, finally reaches Jamestown to find the settlement demoralized by the wide-scale suffering and deaths of the previous winter.

Twentieth Century America - Regional:  On this day in 1903 Wisconsin is the first State to adopt direct primary elections.  By 1948 all states will have adopted the system.

America At War - WWII:  On this day in 1944 having bogged down at anzio since their landing there on January 22nd, the Allied forces now launch a major offensive in an effort to break out and move on to Rome.  Day by day, the Allies advance, and by June 1st they are able to start a drive on Rome.

Elements of the 5th Army wade ashore at Anzio, Italy in 1944

American History By The Day: May 22nd

The American Civil War - West:  On this day in 1863 Gen. Uysses S. Grant makes the decision to begin a seige of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  After Grants assaults are repulsed a second time on May 22nd against Confederate fortifications he makes a momentus decision to begin a siege of Vickburg instead of repeated assaults.

Post Civil War America - International:  On this day in 1892 a treaty of friendship and commerce is signed by Korea and the United States which will be ratified by the Senate on February 13th, 1883.  Korean independence from China, Russia, and Japan is recognized as desirable to the United States.

Twentieth Century America - National:  On this day in 1935 President Roosevelt vetoes the Patman Bill, which would allow veterens of World War I to immediately cash in bonus certificates (not due until 1945.)  Roosevelt becomes the first president to appear in person to appear in person before Congress to give an explanation of his veto -- he sees the results as inflationary -- but the House of Representatives immediately overrides his veto.  On May 23rd. however, the Senate will sustain the veto.

The American Atomic Age - International:  On this day in 1959 in signing an agreement with Canada the United States agrees to cooperate in research and development of nuclear energy.

The American Black Experience:  On this day in 1959 Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., of the Air Force, is appointed to Major General, the first Black American appointed to the rank.

Albert Einstein's Office The Day He Died

Notable Americans:  At Albert Einstein's death on April 18th, 1955 in Princeton, NJ he was considered the world's most preeminent physicist.  Life Magazine was allowed access to his office a mere hours after he died at a Princeton hospital and took a series of photos of his desk and personal belongings just as he had left them.  He had gone to the hospital with an unfinished draft for a speech he was to give the next evening on television commemorating the State of Israel's seventh anniversary.  At his funeral Robert Oppenheimer, the head of the Manhattan Project that developed the Atomic bomb, spoke at his memorial service and had this to say about the 1921 Nobel Prize winner:  "[...] He was almost wholly without sophistication and wholly without worldliness ... There was always with him a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn."  He was 76 when he died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Albert Einstein's office desk just as he left it at his Princeton office the day he died a few hours earlier.  It included his pipe and a photograph.