Arnold's History Hub

Monday, October 26, 2020

Brief Overview of the United States Supreme Court

First published 9/8/2011 M.Streich copyright in Suite101

The role of religion in American politics has always affected voters and this is particularly true regarding the nation’s Presidents. In some cases, religion played some part in campaigns: John Quincy Adams, a Unitarian, was accused of being an atheist in 1828; in 1928 Alfred Smith’s Catholicism was an issue. Forty Presidents affiliated with the Protestant tradition; three claimed no affiliation and John F. Kennedy was the only Catholic. Whether subtle or overt, religion has always been important in national politics.

Religious Affiliations of American Presidents

There were eleven Episcopalians, beginning with George Washington, and nine Presbyterians. In some cases there was cross-over. Rutherford B. Hayes identified with the Episcopal, Presbyterian, and the Methodist traditions. James K. Polk was both a Presbyterian and a Methodist, baptized on his deathbed by a Methodist bishop.

Several Presidents claimed no official affiliation with any particular church, although they attended services. Martin Van Buren worshiped at Episcopal and Dutch Reformed churches; Andrew Johnson had no affiliation but frequently attended the Catholic Church, which he vigorously defended against Know-Nothingism in the 1850s.

Both Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler subscribed to Deism. Deism rejected an active God who intervened in his creation. While President, Jefferson, in 1804, authored The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, a work he revisited and enlarged in 1820. Jefferson’s Christ was the Enlightenment “historical Jesus” who, like Socrates, was a great moral and ethical teacher, but nothing more.

The Presidents and Non-Mainline Religious Affiliation

Running for the presidency in 1980, Jimmy Carter, a Baptist and a Sunday School teacher, stated that he was a “born again” Christian, introducing a phrase many Americans were unfamiliar with. Carter was one of four Presidents of the Baptist faith tradition that included Warren Harding, Harry Truman, and Bill Clinton (Southern Baptist; his wife was a Methodist).

During the 2008 presidential election, Barak Obama’s membership in the United Church of Christ caused controversy after his Chicago minister made several inflammatory remarks. President Obama, no longer a member of that church, has not yet settled on another church. James Garfield, Lyndon Johnson, and Ronald Reagan were members of the Disciples of Christ while Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon were affiliated with the Society of Friends or Quakers.

Only one President, Teddy Roosevelt, was a member of the Dutch Reformed church and it was Roosevelt who, while President, endeavored to have the phrase “In God We Trust” removed from the nation’s coins. John F. Kennedy was the only Roman Catholic and Calvin Coolidge the only Congregationalist.

Religious Affiliation in Political Families

Only two related Presidents, John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams, followed the same religious tradition; both were Unitarians. George Bush was an Episcopalian but his son, George W., belonged to the Methodist faith. Benjamin Harrison attended the Presbyterian Church although his Great Grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was an Episcopalian.

Presidents Affiliated with the Episcopal Church

George Washington

James Madison

James Monroe

William H. Harrison

John Tyler (also a Deist)

Zachary Taylor

Franklin Pierce

Rutherford B. Hayes

Chester A. Arthur

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Gerald Ford

George Bush

The Continued Effect of Religion

Although John Quincy Adams was the first President to quote scripture in his inaugural address, it was not until Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural that the practice became normal. Prior to the enunciation of “separation of church and state” by the Supreme Court, Presidents, indirectly, promoted religious concerns.

Harry Truman initiated the first “day of prayer” in 1952; Dwight D. Eisenhower began the tradition of White House prayer breakfasts. Numerous presidential speeches have ended with, “God bless America.” If history is a guideline, religion will continue to play a role in the political campaigns and personal lives of American Presidents.

Sources:

William A. DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents (Gramercy Books, 2001)

Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus Through the Centuries (Yale University Press, 1985)

Author’s lecture notes

What were the Religious Affiliations of United States Presidents?

The following article was published June 4, 2009 in Suite 101 by M.Streich and still under copyright

Religious Affiliations of American Presidents

The Presidents and Non-Mainline Religious Affiliation

Religious Affiliation in Political Families

Presidents Affiliated with the Episcopal Church

George Washington

James Madison

James Monroe

William H. Harrison

John Tyler (also a Deist)

Zachary Taylor

Franklin Pierce

Rutherford B. Hayes

Chester A. Arthur

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Gerald Ford

George Bush

The Continued Effect of Religion

Sources:

William A. DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents (Gramercy Books, 2001)

Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus Through the Centuries (Yale University Press, 1985)

Author’s lecture notes

The Religious Views of American Presidents and other Political Leaders has always been a point of interest and, sometimes, a point of Contention.

The issue of George Washington’s religious views is full of ambiguity and speculation. Washington was baptized into the Anglican Church, a “mild and eclectic Protestantism,” according to historian David Hawke. Although renting pews in a number of Virginia parishes, Washington identified most closely with the Truro parish church. A life-long member of the Anglican and later named Episcopal Church, Washington accepted the teachings and formality of its theology and liturgy.

Writer Larry Witham states that, “Though Washington was a churchgoer, owning a pew, he was hardly an orthodox Christian.” A Washington contemporary, Rev. Dr. James Abercrombie of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, flatly said that “…Washington was a Deist.”

Anglican Theology in Colonial Virginia

Historian Christine Leigh Heyrman at the University of Delaware contrasts Anglicanism with the other major colonial faith expression: “Anglicanism rejected Calvinism and the evangelical ethos often associated with that theology.” Despite the widespread effects of the Great Awakening earlier in that century and the continued revivalism often associated with growing Methodism – itself coming out of Anglicanism, the Church of England in colonial America “rejected evangelical influences.”

Anglicanism accepted three sacraments: baptism (more precisely infant baptism), communion, and marriage. Debate continues as to Washington’s participation in Holy Communion, although he was a regular church attendee. In Virginia, membership in the Anglican Church was a prerequisite for political participation. Hence, Washington’s membership qualified him, in part, to sit as a representative in the House of Burgesses.

Religious Views through the Prism of Presentism

The growing vogue notion that Washington and other Patriot leaders were somehow “born again” Christians seeking to establish a solidly “Christian” nation is not supported by the historical record, despite infrequent quotes mined from diaries, letters, and speeches and often taken out of context. Jack Feerick, writing in the October 22, 2009 Saturday Evening Post, states that, “The traditional idea of the Founding Fathers as conventionally pious Christian gentlemen is a myth…” Journalist Russell Shorto, in an extensive piece detailing proposed changes to Texas high school social studies standards, wrote in the New York Times that, “Washington, in his writings, makes scores of different references to God but not one is biblical.”

Contemporary conservative Christians, for the most part inheritors of a Calvinist tradition, commit the sin of historical presentism when it comes to George Washington and other Founding Fathers. Although Washington regularly attended church and even visited Quaker meeting houses and the sanctuaries of other faith traditions, he was also a Freemason and, as Shorto correctly stated, “Steeped in an Enlightenment rationalism…” At best it can be said that Washington was an Enlightenment Christian whose view of the Creator was strong but transcendent. Washington’s primary religious experiences were tied to Anglicanism and the “high church” tradition that developed alongside the more fervent and emotional revivalist approaches of cyclical evangelicalism.

Washington belief system was also strongly influenced by the Stoicism of classical Rome. Historian Henry Wiencek notes Washinton’s keen interest in Addison’s 1713 play Cato, which highlighted Cato the Younger’s devotion to republican virtue. Wiencek also notes the influence of Seneca on Washington. “All of this was not veneer,” Wiencek writes, “but the struts and trusses of Washington’s frame of mind.” Washington’s Anglicanism cannot be separated from the impact of these strong challenges that, “Profoundly influenced Washington’s generation.”

References:

Jack Feerick, “Faith in America,” Saturday Evening Post, October 22, 2009

David Freeman Hawke, Everyday Life in Early America (New York: Harper & Row, 1988)

Christine Leigh Heyrman, “The Church of England in Early America,” National Humanities Center, February 12, 2010

Russell Shorto, “How Christian Were the Founders?” New York Times, February 11, 2010

Henry Wiencek, An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America (NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003)

Larry Witham, A City Upon a Hill: How Sermons Changed the Course of American History (New York: Harper/Collins 2007)

Published in Suite101, M.Streich copyright

Saturday, October 24, 2020

End Time Prophecy in Colonial American Literature

Protestant American religious tradition has always included a strong belief in the Second Coming of Christ. Although different denominations treat the Second Coming from the perspectives of their own theological belief systems, core elements of apocalyptic understanding are the same. The belief that the existing world would end, ushering in a Utopia, as well as the belief in an Antichrist was already prevalent among Colonial Christians, notably those faith traditions tied to the teachings of John Calvin. In Massachusetts, Puritans firmly believed that New England would be the capital of the “New Earth” of biblical prophecy, and that America had been chosen by God to redeem a lost world.

Common Core Elements of Millennialism in Colonial Religion

Puritans, like all American Protestants until the 20^th Century, were post-millennial. They believed that Christ’s return would occur at the end of the final 1,000 year period. The closer to the end of time also meant an increase in Satan’s attacks upon the righteous. The Puritans of New England shared several core elements of apocalyptic belief that are still accepted by post-modern Protestants living in the 21^st Century. These include:

Speculating on the exact or tentative date of Christ’s return

Interpreting contemporary events in light of biblical prophecy signs

Indentifying Antichrists

Assigning a special role to America in God’s End of Time plan

Setting the Date for the “Day of the Lord”

Puritan minister and theologian Cotton Mather assigned three different dates for the end of time, beginning with 1697. Earlier, Increase Mather gave 1676 as the date the New Jerusalem would be established in America and another Puritan minister, John Cotton, believed 1655 marked the year that the Antichrist would be defeated.

Identifying the Antichrist in Colonial Religious Belief

From the first decade of the early church in Jerusalem, Christians have attempted to identify the biblical Antichrist who would appear in the end times to do battle with Christ and his church. Early colonial Christians were no different. Potential Antichrists included:

The pope

King Charles I

King George III

The Catholic French during the Seven Years’ War

Proponents of Enlightenment Rationalism

This view of a coming Antichrist also helped to explain why Satan appeared to be working so hard to attack God’s faithful. The Salem witch trials of 1692 represented a direct assault by Satan upon a Puritan community already threatened by outside influences. Cotton Mather had warned the theocratic community that Satan was at the door.

The Special Role of America in the Imminent Coming of Christ

Historian Paul Boyer writes that, “From the early 17^th Century through the late 18^th, the entire span of American colonial history was marked by speculation about America’s role in God’s plan.” John Winthrop’s “City on a Hill” became a metaphor defining the special mission God had for America.

The revivalism of the Great Awakening in the early to mid 18^th Century further highlighted this notion of a divine or providential purpose. Jonathan Edwards, famously known for his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” pointed to the Great Awakening as a sign of the coming of Christ and the establishment of the new heaven and earth.

This would be repeated in the 19^th Century during the Second Great Awakening, a period of intense revivalism that produced several new faith traditions originally rooted in the belief in the imminent coming of Christ. This includes the Seventh Day Adventist church – coming, in part, out of the Millerite Movement, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Impact of Apocalyptic Belief on American History

The “chosen people” or “chosen nation” aspect of millennial belief helped to justify expansionism and Manifest Destiny. It added to the national self-identity as a people blessed for a special purpose. Political Scientist James Morone writes that, “Evangelical fervor for Christ’s Second Coming led the way to both revolution and civil war; it ran deep in 19^th Century black religion and reached its soaring apotheosis in Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.”

This legacy still motivates 21^st Century Americans seeking to spread democracy throughout the world and baptize global cultures in egalitarian principles. Although many American evangelical faiths now hold to a pre-millennial Second Coming, the self-identity rooted in apocalyptic mission held to by Colonial Christians is still there.

Sources:

Paul Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992)

David D. Hall, World of Wonder; Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989)

James A. Morone, Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003)

Richard Weisman, Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion in 17^th-Century Massachusetts (University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1984)

Published 8/5/2010 in Suite101 M.Streich, copyright

Colonial American Terms and other Vocabulary

Colonial American terms and song lyrics, regularly taken for granted by history students, often paint a deeper and richer picture, adding to the frequently colorful meanings attached. Students taught about the House of Burgesses in Virginia, for example, seldom question what exactly the term “burgess” meant or where it was derived from. What did early Americans mean when they referred to someone as “rich as Croesus?” What is actually meant by the original verses of the popular Revolutionary War song “Yankee Doodle?”

The House of Burgesses in Virginia

Begun in 1619, the House of Burgesses was a representative body composed of propertied white men that were elected to serve in the assembly. A representative was called a “burgess” and came from the planter social class. The term burgess, however, was of French and Germanic origins. The French word “burgeis” literally meant a “citizen of a borough.” The same root word is connected to the word borjois, meaning “town dweller,” and gave rise to the more popular Bourgeois.

The Germanic connection is traced to the Old English which had great affinity with Germanic terms. The “borough” was derived from the German burg. German “burghers” were considered “free men of the burgh,” usually a fortified enclosed, citadel, or fortress – relating to the formation of early medieval towns surrounded by walls and protected by a castle. Thus, in the 16^th Century, the Reformer Martin Luther began his most famous hymn with the line, “Eine Feste Burg ist unser Gott:” Our God is a strong fortress.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

The lyrics of this Revolutionary War tune changed many times from when it was first written, most probably during the French and Indian War. Many scholars agree that the song was composed to ridicule the colonial militia, deemed insolent and provincial by professional British soldiers and their officers. There is no solid evidence that Dr. Richard Schuckburgh actually wrote the piece, although it is often attributed to him.

One of the original verses begins, “Yankee Doodle went to town/riding on a pony; he stuck a feather in his cap/and called it macaroni.” The term “Yankee” is first traced to the New York Dutch who used it as an insult to describe English settlers in Connecticut. According to the Dictionary of Etymology, “Doodle” was an 18^th Century slang term for “penis.” A “dandy” was a fop or foolish person and could also be used in lieu of prig. During colonial times, prig also referred to a thief.

The word “macaroni” is often confusing to students familiar with this version of the song. Although some scholars state that the term was synonymous with fop or dandy that usage occurred after 1764. If the verses were penned before the end of the French and Indian war in 1763, macaroni could have referred directly to the Macaroni Club of London.

Dr. Rictor Norton, a social historian specializing in gay studies, suggests that the term macaroni may have been associated with the homosexual practices of young men associated with the Macaroni Club. Although there is circumstantial evidence that the club never actually existed, the term “maccaronies,” at least according to Norton, referred to “practitioners of sodomy.” Later editions of the song, traced to Lexington and Concord, do not contain these verses.

Other Historically Based Terms

Until the 20^th Century, Americans used the term “rich as Croesus” to refer to someone very wealthy. The phrase refers to the ancient king of Lydia whose wealth derived from an abundance of gold mined within his domains in western Asia Minor.

Many original colonists arrived as indentured servants. The term “indenture” began in the high middle ages and referred to a contract associated with the early Guild system. Of French origin, the term implied an agreement between an apprentice and a master.

The origins of early American terms help to better understand the conventional meanings, providing intent, obligation, and social constructions.

References:

Walter Blair and others, The Literature of the United States, Vol. I, (Chicago: Scott, Foresman, and Company, 1953)

Richard M. Lederer, Jr., Colonial American English (Verbatim Books, 1985)

Rictor Norton, Homosexuality in Eighteenth Century England: a Source Book

Etymology Dictionary: on-line edition

Published in Suite101 February 19, 2010 M.Streich copyright

Friday, October 23, 2020

Remembering The Bombing of Hamburg: Ingrid's Story

When World War II began, Ingrid Piehl was nine years old, living in the north German port city Hamburg. An only child in a middle class family, her father had been notified of a promotion with the publishing firm he worked for. But the family would not relocate to Bielefeld because her father was drafted into the army. Ingrid and her mother continued to live in Hamburg in an outlying suburb overlooking one of the larger parks. As the war continued, she saw the construction of bomb shelters – bunkers, and her mother began to go through valuables, filling a suitcase with the most important heirlooms and family documents.

The air raid bag became the staple of every person rushing from apartments and into bunkers every time the sirens sounded. Hamburg, a prominent port city, experienced hundreds of air raids that did little damage. Air defenses for the city were some of the best in the German Reich. Still, Ingrid watched as her mother agonized again and again what to take out and what to put into the bag.

Her father came home once from France after his unit was ordered to Russia in 1941. She remembered trying to sleep that night, hearing her parents quietly talking in the next room. She heard her mother crying. Air raids were increasing in severity and frequency. Like many children at the time, Ingrid was sent out of the city to live in Poland with a family of German farmers.

She liked Poland and still recalls the brilliant night skies full of stars, the rabbit hunts, and the potatoes. She also remembers visits to Lotz where her teacher told her not to look into the streets of the Jewish ghetto but to walk on the other side of the street and keep her eyes to the front. She didn’t know why at the time.

Hamburg and Operation Gomorrah

Ingrid missed her mother and returned to Hamburg in 1943. Her father had been wounded at Stalingrad and evacuated to a military hospital in southern Germany. The summer was unusually hot in 1943. As the weeks went by, rumors began to circulate that the Allies were planning a major bombing mission over Hamburg. People with wagons began to move their possessions out of the city. Ingrid’s mother kept repacking her small suitcase.

The bombing began in July. Her suburb was spared during the first nights of the assault. Operation Gomorrah was a multi-day mission involving both British and American planes. The Battle of Hamburg introduced the term “firestorm,” resulting from the phosphorous bombs used in the attack. Ingrid and her mother emerged from their bunker and saw the deep red glow coming from the city center and smoke was everywhere. On the last night, she went to her doll house, put the dolls into their beds, and covered their faces. She didn’t want them to see what was going to happen. Pocketing a small doll, she awaited the siren.

They used a different bunker, built under a nearby railroad station. When the raid ended, all of the people in their usual bunker had died. The fury of the raid seemed all around them. Old people were vomiting and some were praying. When the “all clear” sounded, the police told the people to leave the city. The entire neighborhood was in flames. Wrapping wet towels around their heads and putting on sun glasses, they emerged into the firestorm.

Ingrid and her mother managed to find their way out of the suburb and board one of the few trains to Schleswig. Over 40,000 people had died in the raid in just one night. At 78 years old, Ingrid still recalls the horrors she witnessed as a child. It caused her to hate war and identify with the innocents: women, children, and old people. She eventually migrated to America to raise a family, but the memories survive. She still has the small doll rescued from the firestorm.

Sources:

Personal interview with Ingrid Piehl-Streich

Also:

Keith Lowe, Inferno: The Fiery Destruction of Hamburg 1943 (New York: Scribner, 2007).

Martin Middlebrook, The Battle of Hamburg: Allied Bomber Forces Against a German City in 1943 (New York: Charles Scriber’s Sons, 1980).

Published in Decoded Past, 2012 by M.Streich

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Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Teaching History with Political Cartoons

Using visuals in history lesson plans promotes student analysis skills and activates higher level thinking abilities. Activities involving political cartoons, works of art, and photographs are easy to put together and complement other parts of a teaching unit. Additionally, these activities are enjoyed by students.

Political Cartoons in American History

Although political cartoons in American History are often identified with the great 19^th century cartoonist Thomas Nast, every generation saw the use of such media in influencing thinking. Whether it was a depiction of a snake cut into pieces with the caption “Join, or Die” by Ben Franklin or a cartoon depicting Andrew Jackson as King George III, political cartoons help students understand the key issues within lesson plan units.

After discussing the role and impact of political cartoons, have students use the internet or history texts to find other examples relating to the unit under study. Demonstrate that political cartoons are still used to elicit reader responses by exhibiting contemporary cartoons from newspapers and magazines. Ask students to share any similarities and differences (19^th century and early 20^th century cartoons are often more difficult to interpret and frequently have several messages).

The purpose of the lesson plan should be to develop acute powers of observation. From this will flow analysis based on the historical facts already taught.

Campaign Literature

American History is full of campaign literature including posters, buttons, and other advertisement. An 1896 campaign “card,” for example, printed on behalf of the McKinley campaign, used pictures and bold print phrases that differentiated McKinley from William Jennings Bryan. The “card” addressed tariff issues as well as monetary concerns.

Old campaign buttons also help to relate candidates to key issues while at other times they might have seemed bland: why did everyone “like Ike” in 1952? In both American History and World History classes, a creative assignment might be to ask students to create their own buttons or bumper sticks. When teaching the ancient world, teachers might say, “Develop a bumper sticker one of the Roman emperors could put on their chariot.”

Paintings and Old Photographs

Although some famous historically-themed paintings were created more to glorify an event or person and thus perpetuate historical myths, they are still a good source to encourage student observation and analysis. What were the people in the painting wearing? Does this indicate a level of prosperity? What action in the painting does the artist want the audience to focus on? Have students initially develop their own questions and then write a brief analysis of the painting.

The same can be done with old photographs. Ask students to bring old family photographs to class for discussion. Photographs may depict old neighborhoods – perhaps ethnic enclaves in American cities, or some of the first suburbs after 1947. Students can be shown how to use photographs as historical sources and how they further illustrate an understanding of the past.

When Art Changes with the Time

The May 29^th, 1943 edition of The Saturday Evening Post featured a Norman Rockwell cover: the iconic “Rosie the Riveter.” Ask students to compare the propaganda message of “Rosie” to American women with later 1950s Rockwell depictions of American women as happy housewives. Lesson plans can explore how cartoons, posters, and other media were used as propaganda. This was particularly true in World War I and World War II.

Another area students may wish to explore involves military recruitment posters used throughout the 20^th century and the changing role of “Uncle Sam” in those depictions. The bottom line is that enough material exists, at least in American History, to incorporate fun and creative activities into lesson plans that encourage observation, analysis, and high level skills.

Suite101 3/26/09 M.Streich copyright

Teaching History with Original Source Documents

Utilizing original documents in historical research can be extremely helpful when attempting to analyze the various elements of a particular period or event. This is especially true when researching social and cultural aspects within the micro-history of specific chronological events. Using original documents, however, necessitates corroboration, which means that information in documents must be replicated in other, similar sources in order to draw valid conclusions.

Kinds of Original Documents

Original documents can come from a variety of sources. Anyone familiar with the national Advanced Placement examinations will know that the primary “document based question” or DBQ utilizes numerous examples that include a selection of different sources. These can include:

Diaries

Memoirs

Newspaper articles from the time period

Political cartoons

Letters and other forms of correspondence

Pictures and photographs

Official documents such as legislative bills and proclamations

Speeches

Newsreel items

Music lyrics

Wills and other public documents like court records

Census figures

Consistency and Corroboration

Research on the attitudes and daily lives of American soldiers training for military action in Europe in 1917 and 1918 might rely heavily on soldiers’ diaries and letters sent to family members. Using popular song lyrics such as “Over There” or recruitment posters will merely present a one-sided view, often created by government propaganda serving the war effort.

Thus, in order to draw valid conclusions, researchers must analyze dozens – if not hundreds, of letters. It is not enough to base conclusions on letters sent by new recruits. A more complete picture may emerge after reading letters as well as official reports from the officers conducting the basic training exercises. Post-war memoirs as well as first-hand newspaper accounts may also either corroborate or refute conclusions drawn from analysis. Basing a conclusion on one or two accounts can reflect typical as well as atypical attitudes.

Integrating Original Documents with Known Facts

Research focused on the civilians at Gettysburg in 1863 must include factual background knowledge of the battle itself. Understanding the social structure of Puritan New England can only be fully comprehended with some knowledge of Calvinist theology. American slavery represents a research area inundated with many fine scholarly works. Additionally, internet projects, many sponsored by universities and reputable research organizations, provide the researcher with an abundance of drawings, personal histories, and repeated accounts of the time of oppression.

Students availing themselves of these sources, however, must begin with general background reading on the Southern slave institution in order to first see the “big picture” before using specific documents to prove a thesis. Documents must be as current as possible in terms of their accessibility. For example, fifty years after the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat, previously sealed documents altered many of the assumptions made in World War I histories relative to the disaster.

Questions to ask when Handling Original Documents

Can the information found in the document be replicated?

How objective is the source?

Does the bias in the document affect the analysis?

Do the documents allow the researcher to draw general conclusions?

Do the documents affect previously held assumptions?

Is the documentary evidence fully inclusive?

How does the researcher account for contradictory evidence?

Other dangers include allowing present attitudes to taint the evidence. American imperialism was supported by men like Teddy Roosevelt but decried by critics such as Mark Twain. Unless the final product is a position paper, the study should not interject personal opinion if it is to be fully objective. In the case of imperialism, it might be proper to conclude that, “imperialism dramatically affected American foreign policy, often with negative results…” Original documents must be taken at face value and serve the best purpose when corroborated by other, similar documents.

Causes of the American Revolution

Perhaps the greatest single cause of the American Revolution was the ability of certain patriots like Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine in galvanizing colonial Englishmen into a rebellion against the home country. British historian Christopher Hibbert maintains that Paine’s Common Sense, published in 1776, not only gave a rationale for revolution, but took the idea of independence from private conversations “into public debate.” [1] Although history texts give many long term and immediate causes of the war, none of them played as significant a role as Paine’s well reasoned treatise.

Examining the Usual Causes of the Revolution

The Revolutionary War was the effect of the actual “Revolution,” the point at which a significant number of Americans concluded that independence from Britain was both necessary and logical. Common Sense provided that and, as Hibbert writes, “…it was straightforward, easy to comprehend, written in clear yet striking prose which all men, the Philadelphian mechanic as well as the Boston lawyer, could readily understand.” [2] Yet what of the other causes?

In his detailed discussion of the British Navigation Acts and their impact on the American Revolution, Oliver Dickerson downplays the role of Parliamentary tax measures. [3] In fact, Dickerson argues convincingly that the Navigation Acts enhanced colonial prosperity. “The colonies were prosperous,” Dickerson writes, “and wages of labor were admittedly higher in the continental colonies than elsewhere in the world.” [4] His conclusion is that, “no case can be made out for the Navigation Acts as a cause of the Revolution…”

History texts highlight the dilemma of Britain’s Lord Grenville following the defeat of France in the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) in terms of retiring the enormous national deficit resulting from William Pitt’s plan of empire. Robert Harvey discusses the dilemma from the British perspective, demonstrating that the amounts requested of the colonies to pay for their own protection after 1763 were relatively small. [5]

Some of the pre-Revolution Parliamentary Acts were ill-conceived. The Stamp Act, for example, was unenforceable and only led to widespread colonial anger, this despite the fact that a Stamp Tax had been in force in Britain for several years. The Declaratory Act merely reminded the colonists that, as Englishmen fully protected by English law, they were still under Parliamentary jurisdiction.

King George III as a Tyrant

Every effort was made by American patriots to portray King George III as a tyrant and this formed the basis of Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, giving a rationale for separating from Britain by asserting that the king no longer served by the consent of the governed. Thomas Jefferson even included a clause blaming the king for slavery, quickly removed by delegates from South Carolina and Georgia. Many of the Founding Fathers, including the wealthy Virginia planter Jefferson, were slave owners.

But the king was a convenient scapegoat for the list of grievances advanced by those that advocated Revolution. It was the reason Thomas Paine’s Common Sense compelled the readers of his 150,000 copies to confront the realties of independence. The Revolution, as Howard Zinn has pointed out, was purely political, not social. The only changes – the effects of the ordeal, were in the leadership.

Good History and Good Facts

The causes of the American War for Independence have been discussed and debated in thousands of books and articles. In many cases, new “twists” add to the debate. Yet, as John Adams pointed out, only one third of the colonists were actively treasonous. Was it a combination of events? – The Boston Massacre, the revenue acts of Parliament, the salutary neglect of Britain that led to the final break? These questions form the arguments that keep historians busy.

[1] Christopher Hibbert, Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes (New York: Avon Books, 1990) p. 114.

[2] IBID.

[3] Oliver M. Dickerson, The Navigation Acts and the American Revolution (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1951) pp. 52-57.

[4] IBID.

[5] Robert Harvey, “A Few Bloody Noses” The Realities and Mythologies of the American Revolution (Woodstock & New York: The Overlook Press, 2001)

See Also Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States (chapter 5) available on-line.

Published Suite101 December 23, 2008 by Michael Streich

Calvinism in Early Colonial American History

As the 16^th Century Reformation swept through central and northern Europe, a variety of differing theological interpretations evolved, each identifying with the greater movement called Protestantism. Within this movement, the teachings of French-born reformer John Calvin had a significant impact on the early English colonies in North America. Although colonial religions exhibited diversity within the movement, many colonial faith traditions represented the beliefs of Calvinism. This included the Pilgrims and Puritans (later the Congregationalists), Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, and French Huguenots.

Calvinism Put into Practice in Colonial American Communities

John Calvin is often associated with Predestination, taken from his theological interpretation of “limited atonement.” While frequently misunderstood, Calvinists like the Puritans viewed this belief in terms of salvation or election. Members of the elect lived righteous lives which included hard work, keeping the Sabbath, and focusing all aspects of everyday life on giving glory to God.

Loving God was to cherish him and in a real-life experience, that entailed godly pride in everyday tasks. In later generations, this would be referred to as the “Puritan” or “Protestant” work ethic. Every occupation was blessed, whether lowly or socially important, because every man worked to give God glory and to exhibit outwardly to the community that he was a one of the elect.

Education and the Family Based on Calvinism

The Bible was the chief source of inspiration and instruction in any reformed church that followed Calvinism. Jonathan Edwards, the foremost colonial theologian during the Great Awakening, reminded his listeners that the Bible was, “a book that the great Jehovah has given to mankind for their instruction, without which we should be left in miserable darkness and confusion.”

Early childhood education, the purview of mothers in the household, utilized the Bible not only to teach reading and writing, but to instill morality and the cultural and social norms of a Calvinist theocracy (such as in Puritan New England). Harvard, the first college established in Colonial America, was a seminary for ministers and like Princeton, followed the theological principles of John Calvin.

Strong family identification was part of all Protestant beliefs. Much like Martin Luther, Calvin saw the father as the patriarch of the family with absolute authority over wife and children. According to historian Edmund Morgan, the “first premise of Puritan political and social thought” related to the family and focused on how the entrance of evil into the Garden of Eden perverted the perfect relationship between Adam, Eve, and their Creator.

For Puritans and other faith traditions embracing Calvinism, God not only blessed the family but deliberately chose the family through which church and state would evolve. Strong families preserved social order. After detailing Cotton Mather’s writings on how he trained his own children in spiritual things, Morgan comments that, “If the family failed to teach its members properly, neither the state nor the church could be expected to accomplish much.”

Legacy of Early Calvinism in Colonial America

Many of the applications of Calvin’s practical and moral theology found in colonial communities survived in American history. This included the notion of a work ethic and a strong sense of what constitutes a family. Twentieth century social debates on divorce, child custody, inter-racial marriages, and common-law marriage arose in opposition to these perceived traditional norms in American society.

Today, opponents of same-sex marriage frequently evidence accepted norms that, historically, are traced to Colonial beliefs founded on Calvinist principles. Although other Colonial faith traditions such as Quakers and a variety of Pietists did not accept some of the views of either Luther or Calvin, the core Protestant notions of family and hard work helped to form a near universal American basis that influenced future generations of Americans.

Sources:

Jonathan Edwards, The History of Redemption (Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors, Inc.)

James Buchanan: Wrong Man in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

There are few, if any, happy endings in history. The 1856 election of James Buchanan should have signaled a happy ending after several years of rancorous political debate involving slavery, its extension into the territories, and the equally boisterous arguments over tariffs and national projects such as the transcontinental railroad. For all intents and purposes, “Bleeding Kansas” was an event of the past and 1857 began with the unexpected death of South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks, the man responsibly for caning Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner.

In His March 4^th inaugural address, Buchanan alluded to a sense of finality tied to the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott Decision, which was about to be announced. Buchanan saw his presidency as a time to “restore harmony” and to placate his Southern supporters by emphasizing a policy of non-interference with slavery. Buchanan, who had spent the last four years as U.S. envoy to Great Britain, noted that the nation’s prosperity depended upon union.

Why Buchanan Made a Good Candidate

Buchanan’s diplomatic sojourn, a political “get out of jail” free card during the turbulent days of the Pierce administration and the prelude toward Civil War in the Kansas territory, left him blissfully untainted within the Democratic Party. He represented a venerable candidate with an impressive portfolio whose hands were not tied to Bleeding Kansas or the actions of Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, whose 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act was akin to Brutus’ treachery in the Roman Senate or Judas bargaining away the life of Christ for thirty pieces of silver.

Buchanan’s greatest support came from the South. He lost numerous Northern states to John C Fremont, the candidate of the upstart Republicans, and to Millard Fillmore, standard bearer of the so-called Know-Nothings. Buchanan almost lost Pennsylvania, his home state, if not for last minute infusions of cash by lobbyists. When it was all over, Buchanan was a minority president, elected with 45% of the popular vote.

The Tariff Issue in 1857

The lame duck Congress also passed a new tariff, signed by President Pierce before Buchanan’s inauguration. Lower tariff schedules were designed, in part, to stop the treasury surplus, seen as a growing temptation for public works projects deemed unnecessary. Buchanan, however, called fore the need to construct a “military road” connecting the east with the Pacific. A transatlantic cable was already in the works. The railroad, however, was already becoming associated with corruption.

Finally, Buchanan addressed the need for immigrants and their impact on growing national prosperity. These sentiments were aimed at the Know-Nothings who were rabidly anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic. Within the decade of the 1850’s, 424,000 had emigrated from Britain and 914,000 from Ireland.

Congress was a Pro Slavery Government

The Democrats controlled the White House and both Houses of Congress. The Supreme Court under Roger B Taney, a Maryland Catholic appointed by Andrew Jackson, was also pro-Southern. Southerners, however, feared the “Black Republicans” and their party platform calling for free soil status in the territories. Popular Sovereignty, Stephen Douglas’ Holy Grail, would shortly be obliterated by the Dred Scott v Sandford holding.

Buchanan’s patronage shone toward the South; indeed, most of his Cabinet appointments were Southern. It was a pro-slavery government, but happy endings cannot take root when the realities of other viewpoints claiming their own sense of morality challenge the status quo. Fremont may have lost the 1856 election, but many disenchanted Democrats saw it was a success. Senator John P. Hale, a fringe party candidate in 1852, reminded his listeners of the “handwriting on the wall.”

The next three years proved difficult for Buchanan. The 1857 tariff caused a panic – an economic downturn, and negatively affected iron manufacturing in Pennsylvania. Economic historians note that the economic state of affairs in Pennsylvania helped the Republicans carry the state in 1860. Lincoln won that general election without appearing on any southern ballot.

Buchanan’s Ineptitude

In 1859, John Brown attempted the capture of the Harpers Ferry federal arsenal in an attempt to ferment a general insurrection. Brown’s actions reminded Southerners that the North could not be depended upon to protect the South and its right to maintain the Slave Power. A year later, Lincoln won the 1860 election and South Carolina left the Union. Throughout it all, Buchanan dithered.

Buchanan had been in St. Petersburg, Russia during the nullification crisis. But President Jackson wrote him a long letter, detailing how he had stopped the secessionists almost three decades earlier. Buchanan must have forgotten the letter and the advice.

The Homosexual Theory

David Eisenbach’s book, written with Larry Flynt, suggests that Buchanan’s inability to reign in the South was tied to his relationship with William Rufus King. According to Eisenbach, “James Buchanan, the only bachelor president, fell in live with Alabama politician William Rufus King.” Eisenback states that, “Buchanan’s sexuality has long baffled historians.” Andrew Jackson ostensibly called Buchanan “Miss Nancy.”

Eisenbach’s theory is that Buchanan’s relationship with King tied him to a pro-Southern course of action, even though he was a Northerner from Pennsylvania.

Regardless, the four years of Buchanan’s administration might have either confronted heads-on any calls for secession, as Jackson had done earlier in South Carolina, or worked – as his inaugural address promised, to find a centrist position much as Martin Van Buren had accomplished, thereby avoiding the start of the nation’s bloodiest and most divisive war.

References

James Buchanan, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1757

Larry Flynt and David Eisenbach, PhD, One Nation Under Sex: How the Private Lives of Presidents First Ladies and their Lovers Changed the Course of American History (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2011)

Page Smith, A Nation Comes of Age: A People’s Historybof the Ante-Bellum Years, Volume Four, (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981)

Kenneth M. Stamp, America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink (Oxford University Press, 1990)

Published 4/12/2012 by M. Streich for Suite101

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

The Ill Fated March of General Braddock

The start of the French and Indian War hardly achieved the grand objectives envisioned by England in an attempt to dislodge the French from the colonial frontier. Instead, the war began with the spectacular defeat of General Edward Braddock’s army composed of two regiments, assorted militia, and a handful of Indian scouts within a mile of their destination, Fort Duquesne in Pennsylvania. Braddock’s is often maligned for his role in the disaster, yet other factors may have contributed to the defeat in a more direct manner.

Braddock Arrives in Maryland

Braddock was appointed by the Duke of Cumberland, second son of the king. Known as the “Butcher of Culloden,” Cumberland and his protégés relied on the efficiency of continental military strategy, never considering the geographical differences of colonial America or the mindset of the colonial peoples.

Braddock, according to Simon Schama, was a “…unsentimental administrator and a stickler for discipline.” Like many commanders sent to America, Braddock viewed colonial militias and officers with contempt. Expecting to find supplies for his campaign, neither Virginia nor Pennsylvania provided food or transportation until Benjamin Franklin, almost at the last minute, arrived with 150 wagons obtained from Pennsylvania farmers as well as large amounts of food.

Virginia had no surplus food. Virginia agriculture was dominated by tobacco. In Pennsylvania, the colonial Quaker proprietors, clinging to the pacifism, refused to grant funds for a military operation, relenting in the end to support the endeavor with food supplies.

Ironically, it was the wagons and 500 pack horses that slowed his column as the army hacked a trail through the wilderness to Fort Duquesne. Braddock’s colonial aide-de-camp was Virginian George Washington, whose past experience fighting the French and their Indian allies would be valuable. Washington had written to Braddock, requesting consideration as a member of the general’s staff.

Also assisting Braddock was the experienced and highly trust frontiersman George Croghan who brought with him several Indian guides to scout the path. According to Dale Van Every, Braddock respected the Indians, giving gifts to friendly Indians he encountered on his trek, yet smarting that the Catawba and Cherokee had not come to assist him, as had been promised.

Braddock within Sight of Fort Duquesne

Having divided his force, Braddock led 1700 of his best men toward the French outpost. Vastly outnumbered, the French commander, Pierre Contrecoeur, contemplated surrendering his position. Excessive drought had lowered river levels, making resupply virtually impossible.

Contrecoeur’s second in command, Captain Daniel Hyacinth Beaujeu, however, convinced the commander to allow him to attempt a daring ambush as Braddock’s troops were crossing the Monongahela. Beaujeu caught Braddock after the river had been forded. Although killed in the ambush, Beaujeu’s Indians began to slaughter the English, firing into the disciplined ranks from the safety of the dense forest. Braddock lost two thirds of his command and would die during the retreat from a bullet wound. The French lost 23 men.

Washington would write in a letter, “we have been most scandalously beaten by a trifling body of men.” As the war continued, new leadership in England, learning some lessons from the initial disasters, appointed commanders willing to adapt to wilderness fighting and willing to share fully with colonial officers and militias.

Braddock Assessed

Edward Braddock was a product of European military experience. The colonial war was an entirely new experience. His antipathy for “backwater” provincials inclined him to disregard advice. Practically, he was hindered in movement by his supply train and the necessity of creating a path to the destination. Additionally, the strategic aims had been laid out by the Duke of Cumberland; Braddock was obliged to follow orders even if a more prudent policy appeared to promise more successful results.

Sources:

Fred Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 (Vintage, 2001)

Walter R. Borneman, French and Indian War: Fate of North America (Harper, 2007)

Dale Van Every, Forth to the Wilderness: the First American Frontier 1754-1774 (Mentor Book, 1961)

Simon Schama, A History of Britain, Volume II, The Wars of the British 1603-1776 (Hyperion, 2001)

Published January 23, 2009 by M. Streich in Suite101