Category: Social History
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Were Confederate Soldiers Terrorists?
Rarely does one get to read something that is both vile and silly, but Roland Martin, a CNN political commentator, manages to prove in one column that he knows nothing about the Civil War, history, military history, or terrorism, which is quite an intellectual tour de farce. His column “Were Confederate Soldiers Terrorists” is a […]
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Short Takes
Will Ronald Reagan replace US Grant on the fifty dollar bill? A US Representative right here in NC, Patrick McHenry, thinks so: “Every generation needs its own heroes,” McHenry said in a written statement. “One decade into the 21st century, it’s time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan […]
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Short Takes
Our local bookmeister, Dale Neal, report a new Civil War book by a local author. James Rumley’s orderly world was changed forever when Union soldiers attacked New Bern in 1862 and occupied his hometown in nearby Beaufort for the following three years. Rumley recorded his thoughts about Union occupation, secession, slave ownership and other topics […]
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Currency and the Press
It starts with a fake article in a minor newspaper. The dollar drops, gold surges, and the administration panics. In the shadows someone who’s bought gold makes a bundle. Perhaps you’re thinking of a story earlier this week, when an article by Middle Eastern correspondent Robert Fisk in the British newspaper The Independent sent the […]
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Short Takes
The remnants of a blockade runner have come to light in Tampa, Florida. Chief researcher John William Morris said the dimensions of the wreck are within inches of that of the Scottish Chief, and it’s in a spot where the vessel was believed abandoned by Confederate troops after Tampa’s one and only Civil War skirmish. […]
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The Becker Collection
Another most amazing Civil War resource has recently become available at Boston College—The Becker Archive, an extensive collection of the original drawings of the special artists working for Frank Leslie’s Weekly. There’s a long article about in Boston College magazine. It is … an extraordinary cache of previously undocumented eyewitness depictions from the second half […]
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Fake Photos Revisited
The venerable New York Times carries a section today about fake photos, including Lincoln’s head pasted on John C. Calhoun’s body and a really elaborate paste-up of US Grant made from three photos. There’s an excellent web site devoted to this sort of fakery, The Museum of Hoaxes. Photo fakery started as soon as the […]