Category Archives: Uncategorized

What do Dickinson College history majors and Bernie Sanders have in common?  Lately, they’ve both been involved (albeit indirectly) in a pretty bitter academic debate over whether or not the original US Constitution should be considered pro-slavery or anti-slavery.   … Continue reading →

Not every student in a course like History 117 realizes that they are entering a political battleground. Party factions and interest groups have always lobbied to influence the way the national past gets taught, but this fight has erupted again … Continue reading →

By Devon Caldwell Dated only eleven days after the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, this “never sent, or signed” letter by President Abraham Lincoln voiced his displeasure with General George Meade, the commander of the Army of the Patomac. The Union was … Continue reading →

George Read had many political strengths and used them in his quest to rise and become a leader in the development of the United States.  However, his name is not recognized by most. In fact, only his contemporaries and Delaware residents recalled … Continue reading →

By Jake Phillips Elizabeth Willing Powel is a name that has been omitted from history books for far too long. She is in fact the epitome of the unsung hero. Her unusual correspondence, and friendship with those considered the founding … Continue reading →

By Carolyn Goode I know the voice of Fame to be mere weathercock, unstable as Water and fleeting as a Shadow. Yet I have Pride, I know I have a large portion of it.  –Abigail Adams Abigail Adams was unlike … Continue reading →

By Jordan Forry Roger Sherman represents one of the most underappreciated founding fathers of the United States. This fact is lamentable, given Sherman’s immense contributions to the founding of this country.  In addition to holding the distinction of being the … Continue reading →

Who declared American Independence?  The answer is not quite as simple as it appears.  Gordon Wood relates how some observers remarked later that Sam Adams of Boston had at least decided on independence as early as 1768, following enactment of the Townshend … Continue reading →

In his short book on The American Revolution, historian Gordon Wood offers a series of powerful insights about the nature of the British Empire in the eighteenth century.  First, it was about much more than the so-called thirteen colonies along the … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving myths?  Say it ain’t so!  Yet in History 117, students are reading a handful of short, insightful essays by Edward O’Donnell and Charles Mann that help situate the traditional story of Thanksgiving into a more complicated narrative borne in the shadows … Continue reading →