US History – Page 19 – General History

American assassins

Booth, an undistinguished actor / findagrave.com

John Wilkes Booth

Acting professionally on the stage is not a normal introduction to the art of murder, but Wilkes is the man who killed President Abraham Lincoln of the United States. His brother Edwin was an actor, too, of considerable reputation as a tragedian. Both were sympathisers with the Confederacy. Edwin was not, like his brother, a participant in the small conspiracy to overthrow Lincoln’s victorious government in the closing stages of the Civil War (qv). (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-09-27T08:39:58+00:00 September 27th, 2011|US History|0 Comments

Native American tribes

Warriors in the film Dances with Wolves / landercasper.com

The original inhabitants of North America migrated from Asia around 30,000 years ago. Famine, constant wars and disease counted for many Indian settlers, and by the time the Europeans arrived the whole indigenous population was probably less than a million. They traded, farmed and fought, principally along the coasts, instead of the barren interior, where they were eventually forced to live after the successful rebellion of the colonists. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-09-09T16:38:23+00:00 September 9th, 2011|US History|0 Comments

New York, New York

Views over Central Park, Manhattan, New York / worldbeautifulplaces.blogspot.com

This extraordinary town has been, and still is, called a number of different things. For some it was Albany, while for others it was New Amsterdam. For a hundred years or so it has borne the odd nickname of the Big Apple. There is a State, and a City. The state borders Canada in the north-eastern section of the United States, and the city is mainly built on an island called Manhattan. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-08-09T12:51:43+00:00 August 9th, 2011|US History, World History|3 Comments

Watergate

Nixon not playing the flute / handresearch.com

This American scandal rocked the Presidency until it toppled, as well as adding an over-used suffix to almost anything journalists wish to give a reverberating name to. Irangate, EREgate and SGAEgate are recent examples. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-07-25T12:34:45+00:00 July 25th, 2011|US History|0 Comments

The American Empire

It would be best to establish from the start that the present writer is not anti-American: quite the opposite in fact; but this proven fact does not prevent said writer from managing to see things clearly, and he is thus able to put them into historical perspective. This is not as easy as it sounds, indeed it seems most difficult, as not a single American historian with tenure in a respectable University in the United States is able, either by conviction, or because of fear of losing that tenure, to reach the same conclusions as mine. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-03-27T18:19:40+00:00 March 27th, 2011|US History|3 Comments

History of the Bible

The Bible is the sacred book of Christianity. There are many Christian churches, but all accept the two sections of it: the Hebrew scriptures, which we know as the Old Testament, and the Christian writings, known as the New Testament. Roman Catholics, among other Christian churches, accept a third section known as the Apocrypha. This was included in the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint).

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By Dean Swift| 2011-01-31T11:44:53+00:00 January 31st, 2011|African History, Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Greek History, Italian History, Jewish History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments

Winter of discontent followed by glorious summer?

We are now well launched into the year two thousand and eleven – eleven years after a change of century. As the infamous 20th gradually diminishes in our memory, with its two World Wars, the tentacles of Socialism and the mostly blind grasp of Capitalism dulling our minds, it is satisfying to know that according to U.N. statistics, 200,000 persons will be lifted out of extreme poverty during each day of 2011. What is classified as extreme poverty? Living on $1.25 or equivalent per day. Which is all very well for the rest of Europe and the world, but what about a country where more than a million and half people have no income whatsoever?

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By Dean Swift| 2011-01-11T13:24:42+00:00 January 11th, 2011|African History, Asian History, English History, French History, German History, Greek History, Spanish History, US History, World History|2 Comments

The Battle of Arnhem 1944

General Browning, husband of novelist Daphne de Maurier / homeusers.brutele.b

Arnhem is the sixth largest city in the Netherlands. It was the scene of fierce and remorseless fighting between 17 and 26 September, 1944, following the successful invasion of Normandy in June, by allied troops, ships and airforces.

The idea for a parachute/glider-mounted attack in the Dutch Netherlands is said to have been General Montgomery’s, though it was backed by General Eisenhower, supreme commander of the allied forces, and Winston Churchill, Britain’s prime minister. The idea was a very good one, strategically speaking, but it failed to take heed of local advice about cleverly hidden German tank regiments between Nijmegen and Arnhem. In fact the allies decided to take no notice whatever of clear and accurate intelligence. Clearly, in the minds of the planners lay the idea that if Arnhem should prove successful, it would raise the morale of the inading allies tremendously – as indeed it would have – had the Arnhem plan worked.

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By Dean Swift| 2014-04-01T14:24:38+00:00 January 3rd, 2011|African History, Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Greek History, Italian History, Jewish History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments

Anticlericalism

Anti-clericalism is not the same as anti-Christian movements. Most Roman emperors tried to stamp out Christianity from the death of Christ under Tiberius until Constantine the Great decided to adopt Christianity as an official religion within the Empire, thus ceasing the practice of pitting Christians against lions and other wild animals, such as hyenas, in the ring.

The name anti-clericalism applies in modern times to any policy bent on destroying the moral and political power of the Christian Church, and subordinating its non-spiritual functions within the State. Though there have been many instances of anti-clericalism at the expense of the Orthodox Church (Russia and Turkey), and even now in Moslem countries (see recent massacres of Christians in Iraq and Afghanistan), the term is usually restricted to aggressive hostility towards the Roman Catholic Church, its Pope, bishops, priests, monks and nuns. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-01-03T12:07:38+00:00 January 3rd, 2011|African History, Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Greek History, Italian History, Jewish History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments

The Ancien Régime: what was it and did it work?

Countless times as you read books and learned pamphlets on history, you will meet the French words Ancien Régime. It is an easy bet that many of us only half know what these two simple words signify. The translation is easy: in English – traditional method of government by royalty; in Spanish – el antiguo regimen.

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By Dean Swift| 2010-12-16T13:32:43+00:00 December 16th, 2010|African History, Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Greek History, Jewish History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments