Erie Canal | Jane Takes On History

I recently stumbled on the fact that eight states, mostly in the Midwest, defaulted on their state bonds in the 1840s. Okay, that may not seem too exciting, but when I learned about it, I also discovered a realm of American history I had not come across before: “canal mania.”

Many of those states had spent a lot of money on canals, much of it borrowed money (bonds rather than taxes), which ultimately they could not pay back. Other problems also plagued these states such as investments in railroads and banks, but canals were big.

Most of these canal ventures were kicked off by one success—the amazing Erie Canal, which opened in 1825. A few canals had been built in the East before that, such as the 27-mile canal between the Merrimack River and Boston. But the Erie Canal ran from Albany, New York, across the state to Buffalo: 363 miles. The canal required 83 locks. Continue reading ““Canal Mania”—A Waste of Money?”

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News about History and Historians

Hornwinked? History Facts tells us that Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets, and explains why we think so.

Isaac Willour reviews a new book about an important but little-known abolitionist. On Law & Liberty.

Editors will love this list of five important typographical errors in history. One was on Abraham Lincoln’s monument; another was in a Bible, leading it to become known as the “Wicked Bible.” See History Facts.

Real Clear History provides two different views of what used to be called Columbus Day.

Christopher Columbus. Image from Pixabay.

“Columbus Day’s origins are much bloodier and more complicated than many realize,” writes C.W. Goodyear in the Washington Post.

Revisionists “have taken pains to denounce this event by exaggerating facts and creating others as they go along . . . while neglecting, suppressing or ignoring events which do not,” writes Miguel A. Faria from Hacienda Publishing.

The 18th-century polymath physician Benjamin Rush considered work as a cure for mental illness. Richard Gunderman discusses on Law & Liberty.

World War II led to changes in Americans’ everyday habits—from wearing T-shirts to taking a daily vitamin pill. Nicole Villeneuve compiles some of them on History Facts.

This month (October) marks the 250th anniversary of the “Edenton Tea Party.” Much like the Boston Tea Party, it was a rebellious act—and the colonies’ (and thus the nation’s) first known political action by women. I (Jane Shaw Stroup) write about it in the Carolina Journal.

Misguided Enlightenment ideas of progress lie behind the opposition to Israel by today’s progressives, says Richard Samuelson in Law & Liberty.

Victor Davis Hanson corrects the record about World War II. He is responding to the views of Darryl Cooper, a recent guest of Tucker Carlson on Carlson’s TCN show.

There was a brief blossoming of women literati in China in the 1920s and 1930s. Megan Yao describes what happened to it on humanprogress.com.

Did the decline of Christianity in the U.S. pave the way for socialism? Roger McGrath suggests that in an article in Chronicles.

If you like sports, you might like to learn how past U.S. presidents kept fit. Bennett Kleinman tells you about them in History Facts.

Why did the U.S. drop a second atom bomb? Sarah Pruitt of History.com explains the role it played in sending a message to Stalin. (The article is an updated version of a 2017 article.)

About 5,000 black soldiers from North Carolina served in the Union Army; one black regiment helped the Union take over Wilmington, the last remaining Confederate port. I (Jane Stroup) write about it in the Carolina Journal.

Is competition between the United States and China “eerily similar to the origins of World War I”? Ramon Bellin thinks so, writing in Law & Liberty.

Fifty Famous Assassinations

Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary.

In a reprise of an amazing past article, the BBC’s History Extra lists and discusses 50 assassinations that “resonated around the world.” (This image of Leon Trotsky is in the public domain. The Russian revolutionary, ousted by Stalin, was killed in exile in 1940.)

Current views about races have their roots in 17th-century concepts of “polygenism,” says Jacob Zellmer. He discusses the strange evolution of these ideas in Aeon.

Learn about major heat waves since 1858. Jennie Cohen describes the big ones in the U.S. and Europe.

Restrictive covenants are back: The Chicago school system is selling excess property but requiring the deed to include a statement that it won’t be used for a “K-12 charter school.” John F. Harnes discusses such covenants in his RealClearHistory article, “How Chicago Has Revived Its Legacy of Jim Crow.”

Yes, History and Fantasy Can Be Mixed

Mountain Folk, the first in John Hood’s series about the early United States.

On his blog, author John Hood discusses past examples of mixing history and folklore. He says doing so is
“nothing new.” He quotes a reviewer of Mountain Folk: “Sounds crazy — but it works!”

Why did Napoleon lose the Battle of Waterloo? To Graeme Callister, the surprise is how the brave but “makeshift” French army came as close to winning as it did. In War on the Rocks.

Lessons from the American Indian Experience

Image of Osage Indian woman and child, courtesy of DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

Paul Gottlieb considers the tragedy of the American natives and their cultures, and finds lessons for current American culture. On Chronicles.

History amateurs rediscover a long-lost Tudor palace in Collyweston, England, reports Megan Specia in the New York Times.

Egyptians were trailblazers in medicine, writes Jesse Greenspan in Inside History. Even the Greek poet Homer acknowledged their advances.

Yes, North Carolina has May 20, 1775, on its flag. But it may all be a big misunderstanding—even a hoax. I explain in the Carolina Journal.

In 1854, President Franklin Pierce vetoed the use of federal land to raise money for social welfare. A wise and courageous decision, says Lawrence Reed on the FEE website.