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How the Monroe Doctrine Turned into American Imperialism
When President James Monroe issued his Monroe Doctrine in 1823, he intended it to keep European colonial powers from dominating Latin American peoples or interfering in their political affairs. President Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the doctrine eight decades later, however, turned Monroe’s foreign policy legacy into a weapon of American colonialism, which still sours American relations with Latin America.
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Why Did the Royal Family Change its Name to Windsor?
Queen Elizabeth II's death renewed interest in the British royal family internationally. Outreigning Queen Victoria by seven years, she was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Something I learned from my personal increased interest is that the British Royals aren't originally Windsors. In fact, they aren't even originally British. So, why did this non-British British royal family take the name Windsor?
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Throwback to 1922 Midterm Elections
With the United States' midterm elections in less than a month, here's a Throwback Thursday post to revisit the midterms from a hundred years ago. By 1922, Senators had only been elected by popular vote in four elections, and it was the second election when women had the right to vote. The results were unusually brutal for the party that held the White House.
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David Moniac: West Point’s First American Indian Graduate
David Moniac graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1822. He was the academy’s first American Indian graduate and the first graduate from the state of Alabama. He lived as a civilian and died a soldier.
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How Would George Washington and Thomas Jefferson React to Lockdown Protests?
ould Washington and Jefferson have joined anti-quarantine protesters with AR-15’s on their shoulders, urged state governments to crush them mercilessly, or just ignored them and let Covid-19 sort them out? The Coronavirus hadn’t been a pandemic for three weeks before protests erupted in American cities over quarantine measures. How would America’s two most revered Founders have reacted to these demonstrations?
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The Battle That Made Francis Drake Spain’s Worst Nightmare
Drake contributed more than anyone to the war in which England famously defeated the Armada in 1588. But mere patriotism and fear of Catholicism didn't drive him to harass the Spanish. For Drake, it was personal. One battle drove him mad with vengeance and convinced him he could no longer trust or trade with the Spanish.
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Why Was England Late to Colonize?
No nation ever dominated global trade and geopolitics more than Great Britain from the mid 18th century until World War I. But the English arrived late to the scene of colonization. The Age of Discovery began in the early 15th century. But the English didn’t establish any permanent colonies until the early 17th century, at the close of this era. So, what delayed them? Why did they sit back on their island and watch Spain conquer the most advanced peoples in the Americas and take South America’s riches for itself? Why did they allow the Portuguese to gain the initial footholds in Africa and Asia?
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Lessons from 1917
Sam Mendes’s World War I drama, 1917, brings The Great War to modern audiences with raw ferocity. It makes no attempt to entertain, preach, tear-jerk, or inspire. It provides little context, but brings powerful lessons from the past from a war largely eclipsed by the Second World War and the passage of more than a century. The film centers entirely on two lance corporals, Blake and Schofield, commissioned to deliver a message to Colonel MacKenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch) of the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. The message orders MacKenzie to stand down, because his 1,600 men—one of them Blake’s brother—are walking into a trap. In a continual shot, Mendes takes…
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Why Did Western Europe Explore and Colonize?
Western Europe—beginning in the 15th century—succeeded in spreading its peoples, languages, and cultures across a greater expanse of the globe than any region in world history. But why exactly did Western Europeans explore and colonize to such an extent? Simply having the capability to explore and colonize doesn’t adequately explain why nations do it. Neither the Romans nor the Chinese felt the need to devote their resources to sea exploration as the Western Europeans did in the 15th and 16th centuries.
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Indian Tribes of the Northwest Coast: An Affluent Anomaly
The Northwestern Indian tribes differed from the tribes in the rest of North America. Rather than live in tepees, wigwams, or pits, these peoples took advantage of the abundance of natural resources they had and built large, comfortable houses of wooden planks. They also built, canoes, totem poles, and elaborate crafts. But perhaps the greatest anomaly of the Northwest Coast Indians is that they achieved such a level of wealth and technological and artistic advancement as hunter-gatherer societies.
