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I think one of the most interesting things to do with history is each states significance to the build up of America, and what each state is famous for..etc...Even though my state of Maryland has become a Socialist state , it still has a ton of very interesting history. I agree about Virginia too...so much history there.
That's so true ... every time I'm in Maryland (and I'm down there a lot ... it's only about 50 miles from my house) I noticed all the red hammer and sickle flags, all the local industries were nationalized, private property abolished, only one political party is allowed, and Hugo Chavez was invited to address the State House - oh excuse me, the Commissariat - in Annapolis. When did they replace "Maryland, My Maryland" with "The Internationale"???
I'd lean to New York. The, French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Industrialist Movement, New York City development, its just very historical.
Most boring: Kansas? Nebraska? Oh... Ohio, probably.
I find the horror of Bleeding Kansas to be extremely interesting. Don't know much about the history of either Nebraska or Ohio, though.
I think New Jersey's history is the most interesting, but that's because it's my home and I know a lot more about its history than any other state. I imagine a lot of people feel the same way about where they live.
NJ was settled very early compared to a lot of others states. Lots of Revolutionary War battles took place here, so there are a lot of historical sites. It was the only northern state not to vote for Lincoln and was a southern-sympathizing state before the Civil War. As a matter of fact, there were still slaves in the state in the 1960 census. On the other hand, the NJ Quakers and other abolitionist types were running sections of the Underground Railroad.
And of course, our famous political corruption goes back to the 19th century.
John Holland of Paterson invented the submarine, and the town of Edison is named after that other inventor.
Henry Hudson, Captain of the Dutch schip Halve Maen was the first man to discover the Hudson River area. The Dutch were near Fort Orarnge at what is now Rensserlwijk as early as 1623 and were beginning to migrate iinto the Province of East New Jersey before the turn of the century. I think it shares equally with Louisinana and its French, Creole, Cajun, Mediterranian, Spanish and African history.
If you believe Professor Gates, the first captured African slave was in the colonies before 1600.
South Carolina, and more specifically Charleston, has a lot of interesting events that have taken place there. So I think that deserves a mention, not to mention you feel like you went back in time when you walk the streets of that city.
If not for Cleveland's health he would have ran again for president in 1904. He was widely considered the front runner until he got too sick. Granted, any Dem candidate in 1904 would've lost in a landslide to TR, and the party at that point was thinking "anyone but Bryan" (which is why Alton Parker, the most obscure of any nominated major party candidate for the presidency in the 20th century, got the slot.)
Didn't know that....I thought he just kind of faded away.....
Yes. Given the times that he lived in, he could never have admitted it. But he definitely had some black ancestry, and perhaps on both sides. There were black Hardings in that part of Ohio who were his relatives.
Amazing that no one made a bigger case of that during this last election. It would have just given America a great historical perspective as few, knew/know about this in Harding's past. I believe this technically makes him the first President with African American Heritage, albeit small? Journalists missed an excellent opportunity at setting the record straight.
Stewart and Colbert made jokes about Harding during the 2008 election...
I didn't see that but, I am sure I would have loved those gems!
True. Although virtually any Republican would've won that election, given that the end of Wilson's administration was a trainwreck (Wilson by that time was too sick to perform his duties, and his enemies like Sen. Lodge looked into ways to impeach him but didn't because there's nothing in the constitution authorizing the removal of a president for incapacity brought on by illness) and the economy was bad.
Yep, Wilson pretty much shot his wad on the peace initiative, the League of Nations. People should study that. It showed all that can be good in man while displaying the evil backroom deals that were cut and ultimately what set us on the course to WWII....the sequel. Either he was very forward thinking or, quite naiive. Regardless, things weren't so great after the war and influenza epidemic. Stuff like that tends to stick with the guy that's sitting it the office at the time. He was visibly worn down by the war and you could see that it in the photos of his last 2 years.
There's been a great documentary on WWI playing on the history channel these last few months that go into fair detail about the end of WWI and how the moves of other countries were made to create most of what we now know as Eastern and Western Europe. The formation of Iraq, the dispute over Austria, the birth of Czecholslavakia (sp?). Interesting.
Beat Wilson to pieces......And we think WE live in interesting times???
The most historic State has to be Pennsylvania. Philly the first nation's capital, Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, Liberty Bell, The Constitution, Gettysburg, Revolutionary War, French & Indian War, War of 1812, the Underground Railroad, the US Marines, Valley Forge, the Conestoga Wagon, the Pennsylvania Long Rifle, Washington's Crossing, Erie Canal, and so many firsts like the first Radio and TV station, first slavery protest, first steam vessel, first library, first daily newspaper, first stock exchange, first covered bridge, first suspension bridge, first steel plant, first zoo, first World's Fair, first limited access highway, first airport, first medical school, first baseball stadium, first little league game, first license plate, first nuclear electric plant, first taxi, first escalator, first electrically lit city, first oil well, first World series, polio vaccine, root beer, banana split, the Big Mac, Ferris Wheel, pencils, Daylight Savings Time, typewriter, Zippo lighters.
I could actually name many more less notable, but those are ones most people know.
The most historic State has to be Pennsylvania. Philly the first nation's capital, Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, Liberty Bell, The Constitution, Gettysburg, Revolutionary War, French & Indian War, War of 1812, the Underground Railroad, the US Marines, Valley Forge, the Conestoga Wagon, the Pennsylvania Long Rifle, Washington's Crossing, Erie Canal, and so many firsts like the first Radio and TV station, first slavery protest, first steam vessel, first library, first daily newspaper, first stock exchange, first covered bridge, first suspension bridge, first steel plant, first zoo, first World's Fair, first limited access highway, first airport, first medical school, first baseball stadium, first little league game, first license plate, first nuclear electric plant, first taxi, first escalator, first electrically lit city, first oil well, first World series, polio vaccine, root beer, banana split, the Big Mac, Ferris Wheel, pencils, Daylight Savings Time, typewriter, Zippo lighters.
I could actually name many more less notable, but those are ones most people know.
Pa has a done of great history...dont forget how much influence the great Ben Frankling had in PA!
Cleveland after the presidency did retire to his estate in New Jersey, but the possibility of his running again in 1904 was due to a crisis within the Democratic Party.
The prevailing wisdom within the party in 1904 was "anyone but Bryan" considering what had happened in 1896 and 1900. However, Teddy Roosevelt was very popular (deservedly) and the odds were greatly against the Dems defeating him in 1904. Leading Democratic politicians were hesitant to seek the presidential nomination given that defeat was certain. So the thought was to run someone who had nothing to lose by running again. (I suppose also there was still a taboo against running a Southerner given the proximity in time to the Civil War. Wilson would be the first Southerner to gain the presidency since the Civil War.)
Hence the movement to draft Cleveland to run for a third term (permissable back then). As it was, Cleveland's health was failing to the point he could not run. The party chose New York judge Alton Parker, who AFAIK had never held elected office. Parker's only rival was William Randolph Hearst, a freshman Congressman at the time but because of his newspaper empire one of the most influential men in America. Neither had anything to lose. Parker appealed more to the conservatives who were influential in the party at the time, and who would have supported Cleveland had he ran. Hearst had also gained the enmity of Tammany Hall, and was suspect for having previously backed Bryan. Even Bryan backed Parker. (1904 was the last election to date in which the Democratic nominee was more conservative than the Republican nominee. )
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet
Yep, Wilson pretty much shot his wad on the peace initiative, the League of Nations. People should study that. It showed all that can be good in man while displaying the evil backroom deals that were cut and ultimately what set us on the course to WWII....the sequel. Either he was very forward thinking or, quite naiive. Regardless, things weren't so great after the war and influenza epidemic. Stuff like that tends to stick with the guy that's sitting it the office at the time. He was visibly worn down by the war and you could see that it in the photos of his last 2 years.
There's been a great documentary on WWI playing on the history channel these last few months that go into fair detail about the end of WWI and how the moves of other countries were made to create most of what we now know as Eastern and Western Europe. The formation of Iraq, the dispute over Austria, the birth of Czecholslavakia (sp?). Interesting.
Beat Wilson to pieces......And we think WE live in interesting times???
Wilson's health collapsed along with his presidency in 1919. He was not on speaking terms with his VP, Marshall, yet Marshall opposed any effort to remove Wilson from office. Wilson should have resigned as he was clearly unable to perform his presidential duties, but didn't - perhaps because of his personal dislike of Tom Marshall? His insistence in staying in office meant that no one was at the helm in 1920.
Wilson in my high school and college history classes was presented as "the most honorable of honorable failures", due to his war leadership, statesmanship, and internationalism, and his "philosopher-president" image. His less than admirable record on domestic issues - his blatant racism even by the standards of his time, segregation of the federal government, jailing of leftists and antiwar activists, spying on percieved "subversives" - was ignored. The British economist John Maynard Keynes, who was at the Versailles peace conference, referred to Wilson as a "half-deaf, half-dumb Don Quixote", and H.L. Mencken's anti-Wilson columns remain amongst the most vituperous, savage, and literate attacks on a sitting president. His vision of the world was often dismissed as naive or obsessively mad - Wilson was often compared to Captain Ahab in "Moby Dick". My grandfather remembered that when he went to high school, Wilson was viewed in a negative light (as he was then a "recent president"). FDR having served in Wilson's cabinet, and the events of WW2 and the postwar era, dramatically raised Wilson's reputation. His hostility to civil rights and support of segregation has caused his reputation to decline in recent years ; in addition, his institution of the Federal Reserve and the federal income tax, his hostility to civil liberties, his hawkishness, and his prohibitionism (although Wilson vetoed the Volstead Act and opposed national prohibition, thinking that it was an issue for the states) leave a bad taste in libertarians' mouths. OTOH, in neocon circles Wilson has become venerated for his belief in spreading democracy through military power, and the neocons refer to themselves as "Wilsonians". (I'm not going to talk about Glenn Beck's view of Wilson as a "fascist" because, while his domestic policy deserves severe criticism, the term "fascism" is inacccurate in an early 20th century American context, and I don't consider Beck to be a credible source.)
Last edited by majoun; 12-29-2010 at 02:06 AM..
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Now this, is good history...
