Representatives from six seceding states moved with dizzying speed in the spring of 1861 to establish a new country. The deputies from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana (listed in chronological order of secession) convened as the Provisional Confederate Congress in Montgomery, Alabama, on Feb. 4, 1861. Four days after the Congress opened, on February 8, they adopted a provisional constitution to formalize their new country, the Confederate States of America. read more...
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Janet Wood Reno achieved a historic first when the U.S. Senate unanimously approved her as attorney general on March 11, 1993—earning her the distinction of being the nation’s first female attorney general. President Bill Clinton’s first two nominees, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, both ran into controversies stemming from their use of illegal immigrants as nannies, but the sterling record and career of the Cornell and Harvard-educated Reno, who had been the state attorney for Florida since 1978, secured her the full backing of the Senate. read more...
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Battlefield annals are replete with incredible tales of bravery and cowardice, cool-headed resoluteness and wild, demonic fury, with strong doses of preparation, execution and adaptability. Most astonishing of all, perhaps, are the stories of chance and luck—heightened all the more in the context of life-and-death situations. read more...
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On March 8 the world celebrates International Women’s Day, an opportunity to honor and appreciate women as well as highlight and examine the ongoing struggle for women’s rights. The concept for this celebration came from feminists and political activists Luise Zietz and Clara Zetkin, who proposed it during a 1910 women’s conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The first official observance was held in 1911. read more...
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During his eulogy for Senator Ted Kennedy on Aug. 28, 2009, President Obama told this humorous story about the late senator: “A few years ago, his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time. Without missing a beat, Teddy replied, ‘What did Webster do?’” read more...
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Racial hatred was horribly on display in Selma, Alabama, when police attacked a peaceful march of African American demonstrators on March 7, 1965. The violent encounter injured dozens of protesters, 17 seriously enough to require hospitalization, earning the infamous day the nickname “Bloody Sunday.” The marchers were protesting both the police slaying of civil rights demonstrator Jimmie Lee Jackson on February 18, as well as the hostile conditions in Selma and the surrounding area that intimidated African Americans to prevent them from voting. read more...
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When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its infamous Dred Scott Decision on March 6, 1857, declaring that Blacks cannot be citizens of the United States and have no protections under the U.S. Constitution, the Court hoped to put the slavery controversy to rest. How wrong it was! The slavery issue only became more divisive, and instead of threatening to tear the nation apart it actually did just that four years later, when the Civil War began. read more...
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In one of the most controversial decisions in the nation’s judicial history, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857, ruling that Blacks could not be citizens in the United States and were not protected by the U.S. Constitution. The Court also ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories. For good measure, the Court stated that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional. read more...
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After a 13-day siege of the fierce Texians (American settlers in Texas) defending the Alamo, Mexican troops under General Santa Anna quietly prepared for a final assault at midnight, March 5. In the early morning hours of March 6, 1836, over 2,000 Mexican troops stormed the crumbling adobe mission where approximately 200 defenders awaited the attack, willing to give their lives for the cause of freedom and Texas independence. read more...
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A political drama unfolded in the U.S. Congress when, for the first time in American history, the Senate convened in a Court of Impeachment, on March 5, 1868, to try President Andrew Johnson. What the fight really concerned was Johnson’s policies of reconciliation towards the South (he was a former senator from Tennessee) versus the harsher demands made by the “Radical Republicans” who controlled Congress and wanted the Confederate states punished for their rebellion during the Civil War. read more...
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I understand that when writing a blog, it’s necessary to show a picture and say a few words about yourself, so that people don’t think a nameless, faceless committee or advisory board is running the show. Here I am, a real person. My name is Tony Pettinato, and I live in Deerfield, Mass. I did my undergraduate studies in English at Oberlin College, my graduate work in Journalism at UC Berkeley, and have been a reporter for six newspapers. For the past fourteen years I have worked at NewsBank, six of those as a managing editor for the U.S. Congressional Serial Set project – NewsBank’s acclaimed effort that digitized and indexed twelve million pages of primary source documents – that gratified my lifelong interest in American history. And that led me to editing this history blog!
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