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American History and Heroes
70 posts, newest first (page 3 of 3).
The 54th Massachusetts at Fort Wagner and the Soldiers Who Proved Doubters WrongHow a regiment of free Black volunteers, a young colonel and a pay strike answered the question of whether Black men would fight for the Union. The Gettysburg Address Read Closely Sentence by SentenceTen sentences, about 270 words, and the whole American creed: a close reading of the Bliss copy against the orator who spoke first and the nation that listened. Gettysburg in Three Days and the Charge That Failed on July 3, 1863A three-day account of Gettysburg, from Buford's cavalry to Little Round Top to Pickett's Charge, and why the battle marked the high tide of the Confederacy. Antietam Was the Bloodiest Day in American History and It Changed the WarOn September 17, 1862, more Americans fell in one day than on any other, and the battle gave Lincoln the victory he needed to announce emancipation. The Amistad Captives Won Their Freedom at the Supreme Court in 1841Africans who seized a Spanish schooner were claimed as property; a former president argued they were free. The facts and holding of The Amistad. The Underground Railroad and the Quakers Who Broke an Unjust Law in the OpenThe conductors of the Underground Railroad show when conscience may defy a law and how to do it openly, accepting the cost. Six principles, one fair objection. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July and Why Douglass Kept the ConstitutionDouglass's Rochester speech of July 5, 1852 indicts slavery without mercy, then calls the Constitution a glorious liberty document. Read it closely. Harriet Tubman Led Rescues, Spied for the Union and Raided the Combahee RiverShe escaped slavery, went back for about seventy people, scouted for the Union and helped free more than 700 on the Combahee River. The Alamo in Thirteen Days and Why Texans Still Remember ItA day-by-day account of the siege from February 23 to March 6, 1836, and the Goliad and San Jacinto weeks that gave the defeat its meaning. The Star-Spangled Banner Read as a Document of Survival, All Four StanzasFrancis Scott Key's poem is the prayer of a nation that nearly lost. Read all four stanzas, the flag behind them, and the argument over the third. The War of 1812 Gave America a Burned Capital and a Second IndependenceA young republic fought the world's greatest navy over impressment and trade, lost its capital to fire, and came out of the war more united and more respected. The Northwest Ordinance Banned Slavery From a Territory Bigger Than FranceThe 1787 ordinance made new states equals, listed rights before the Bill of Rights and barred slavery north of the Ohio. Read its articles closely. Why July 2 Was Independence Day and Other Fourth of July Questions AnsweredReal questions about the Fourth of July answered from the record: the Lee Resolution, Adams's prediction, the signing, the broadsides and the fireworks. Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold Show Two Ways an American Officer Could ChooseTwo Connecticut officers faced the same war and chose oppositely, Hale dying a spy at twenty-one and Arnold selling West Point, and character decided each fate. John Adams Defended the British Soldiers Who Fired in the Boston MassacreIn 1770 the patriot lawyer John Adams defended the soldiers whom Boston wanted hanged, and proved the cause of liberty was the rule of law. George Washington Gave Up Power Twice and Changed What Leaders Could BeWashington's greatness lay in what he refused: the Newburgh temptation, the resignation at Annapolis, a third term and a warning in the Farewell Address. Paul Revere Never Shouted the British Are Coming and Six More Revolution MythsSeven things Americans half-remember about the Revolution, tested against the record, and a defense of the truth, which is better than the legend. Thomas Paine's The Crisis and the Words Read Aloud to a Freezing ArmyA close reading of Paine's first Crisis essay of December 1776, said to have reached Washington's troops before Trenton, and why it still steadies us. Yorktown in October 1781 and How a French Fleet Helped Trap CornwallisYorktown was won by a march of hundreds of miles, a naval battle few remember and a textbook siege, and it shows why alliances need clear aims. Crossing the Delaware on Christmas Night and the Ten Days That Saved the CauseAfter losing New York in 1776 the Revolution was nearly finished, until a ten-day gamble at Trenton and Princeton brought it back to life. Valley Forge Was a Winter of Hunger That Turned Farmers Into an ArmyThe Continental Army entered Valley Forge starving and untrained and left it disciplined, thanks to Steuben, Greene and Washington's patience. Why Lexington Green and Concord Bridge Started a War on April 19, 1775General Gage sent troops to seize the colonists' powder and cannon, and farmers who had drilled for months answered at Lexington and Concord.
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