When Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the provisional president of the newly-formed Confederate States of America in February of 1861, he told the assembled crowd: “We have resorted to the remedy of a separation [i.e., secession from the Union], and henceforth our energies must be directed to conduct our own affairs and promote the perpetuity of the confederacy we have formed. If a just perception of mutual interests shall permit us peacefully to pursue our separate political career, my most earnest desire will have been fulfilled. read more...
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On Feb. 22, 1819, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Spanish Foreign Minister Luis de Onis concluded negotiations and signed the Adams-Onis Treaty, whereby a weary Spain ceded to the United States all of Florida and the Gulf coastline west to New Orleans. After nearly three centuries of rapine and enormous profit, Spain’s New World empire was crumbling—revolutions would soon establish independence in Spanish colonies throughout Central and South America, and Spain knew it could not spare any resources to resist the Americans’ desire for Florida. read more...
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When the controversial Black activist and leader Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965, the news made the next day’s front page of the Aberdeen American-News. Included on that front page was another article providing some biographical details about Malcolm X. The final line of this article contains a quote from Malcolm X that presents a chilling premonition of his fate: he was in fact assassinated by Black Muslims—just as he warned. read more...
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On Feb. 21, 1965, as he began to address an audience of the group he founded (the Organization of Afro-American Unity), the Black activist and leader Malcolm X was assassinated by three men who rushed the stage carrying pistols and a sawed-off shotgun. It was a violent end for a man who scorned the nonviolent teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., insisting instead that violence was sometimes necessary for self-defense and in the fight against discrimination. Malcolm X was only 39 years old. read more...
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An important event in the U.S. space program’s history occurred on Feb. 20, 1962, when astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., became the first American to orbit the Earth. In Glenn’s nearly five-hour flight he circled the globe three times, seeing four sunsets as he traveled 81,000 mile while whizzing along at speeds of more than 17,000 miles an hour—nearly five miles every second. When he safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after his epic flight, the already-established American hero received international acclaim. read more...
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Missouri was one of the four slave-holding states (along with Delaware, Kentucky and Maryland) that stayed in the Union during the Civil War, deciding not to secede and join the 11 other slave-holding states that formed the Confederate States of America. However, the question of loyalty to the Union or the Confederacy embroiled Missouri in violence throughout the war, most of it in the form of ruthless guerrilla warfare. Abolitionist and pro-slavery forces raided one another, causing much destruction of property and loss of life. read more...
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On Feb. 19, 1963, a slow, quiet revolution picked up momentum and got louder with the publication of Betty Friedan’s seminal book, The Feminine Mystique, which spurred growth and interest in the feminist movement. This groundbreaking work grew out of a survey Friedan sent to 200 of her fellow Smith College graduates in 1957. She wanted to determine if her ex-classmates were feeling the same sense of dissatisfaction with domestic life that she was struggling with as an at-home mother raising three children. read more...
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Jesse James is one of the most colorful, controversial, and enduring figures in American history. Was he a loyal Confederate soldier who refused to surrender, continuing to defend his hard-working Missouri compatriots after the Civil War from marauding carpet-baggers and Northern humiliations, a nineteenth-century Robin Hood who robbed only the rich and supported the poor? Or was he a cruel, bloodthirsty guerrilla during the war who went on killing and plundering after the rest of Missouri was willing to accept peace and the war’s end? read more...
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The delegates from six seceding states who met in Montgomery, Alabama, on Feb. 4, 1861, for the Provisional Confederate Congress moved quickly to address the monumental task at hand: the formation of a new country. In four days they adopted a provisional constitution; the next day they unanimously elected their provisional president: Jefferson Finis Davis. read more...
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On Feb. 17, 1925, Florence Prag Kahn achieved a notable first when she was elected the first Jewish woman to serve in Congress, only the fifth woman overall. She was elected to represent California’s Fourth Congressional District in a special election to replace her husband, Congressman Julius Kahn, who had a distinguished 25-year career in Congress cut short by his death in San Francisco on Dec. 18, 1924. 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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