Americans were shocked when the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. military facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. Our two nations were not at war, and the Japanese attack was unprovoked and came without warning. The crisis was a severe test of American resolve and the nation steeled itself for the struggle ahead, as urged by the following editorial. read more...
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Speaking to a solemn joint session of Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made this famous declaration: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Although the Japanese attack was a stunning example of military planning and execution, and resulted in a smashing victory, it was indeed smeared with infamy—for the two nations were not at war, and the attack was completely unprovoked and came with absolutely no warning. read more...
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It is not easy to say when a historical era actually ended. For many people, however, the counterculture of the 1960s came crashing to a stop when the decade ended with the disastrous and tragic free rock concert held at California’s Altamont Speedway on Dec. 6, 1969. read more...
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To ensure that the Emancipation Proclamation was not a temporary wartime measure and to expand its scope, President Abraham Lincoln urged Congress to propose an amendment to the Constitution permanently banning slavery everywhere in the United States. It had been 61 years since the last constitutional amendment, when the 12th Amendment was ratified in 1804. On Jan. 31, 1865, the 38th Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution containing this text: read more...
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James Polk, the nation’s 11th president (1845–1849), was a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it was America’s divine right to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. read more...
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When the Compromise of 1850 was passed by Congress in September 1850, one of its provisions was a strengthened Fugitive Slave Act that denied legal rights to any black person accused of being a runaway slave. The slave catcher simply had to make a sworn statement that the accused was a fugitive slave—and the hapless victim had no means of defense. Anyone helping a runaway slave could be thrown in prison for six months and fined $1,000. read more...
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There have been many strange tales about ships, sailors and the sea, but perhaps none quite as puzzling as the true-life story of the mysterious ghost ship Mary Celeste. This strange case baffled the world when it occurred in 1872, and we are no closer to understanding it today. The Mary Celeste remains a mystery, with secrets the ocean has never revealed. read more...
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On Dec. 3, 1818, the young United States of America expanded when the Union admitted Illinois as its 21st state. Though some slavery existed in the area before the Illinois Territory was established on Feb. 3, 1809, slavery was banned by the time Illinois gained statehood.
The American & Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore, Maryland) announced the news by publishing this resolution on Dec. 15, 1818: read more...
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The 1960s are remembered as a time of protests and demonstrations, especially in support of civil rights and against the war in Vietnam. One of the galvanizing events of that entire era occurred on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley on Dec. 3, 1964. Hundreds of police officers surrounded Sproul Hall, the university’s administrative building, where nearly a thousand demonstrators were staging a sit-in to support free speech and political rights. Shortly after 3:00 that morning, the police moved in and began emptying Sproul Hall. read more...
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Perhaps no figure was more controversial in nineteenth-century America than John Brown, the radical abolitionist who led a raid on the United States Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, (West) Virginia, on Oct. 16-18, 1859—a failed attempt to use the Arsenal’s 100,000 muskets and rifles to lead an armed rebellion to free slaves throughout the South. Brown’s execution on Dec. 2, 1859, sparked a debate that is unsettled to this day: was he a martyr for the cause of freedom and the ending of slavery, or was he a terrorist who broke the law and murdered innocent people? 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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