History Articles

Article / Updated 08-10-2023

From the beginning, the Trump administration was mired in scandals that have undermined his presidency. The constant wave of scandals has resulted in negative coverage of his presidency, overshadowing his economic and foreign policy successes. Instead of being able to focus on domestic and foreign policy, President Trump has constantly dealt with putting out fires often caused by his own actions. The two biggest scandals were the Russia and the Ukraine scandals. The Russia scandal Almost as soon as Donald Trump had assumed the presidency, the Russia scandal broke out. It involved some of the president’s closest aides, including his national security advisor. During the 2016 presidential election, Russian operatives hacked Hillary Clinton’s server and later also the server for the Democratic National Committee. U.S. intelligence would later find out that the Russian government was actively trying to interfere in the U.S. presidential election by creating dissent among the U.S. public and trying to undermine Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. In May 2017 Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into links between the Russian government and Trump associates. Comey later testified that he was fired after he refused to drop the investigation of President Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who had resigned after only 24 days in office after it was discovered that he had lied to Congress about meetings with the Russian Ambassador to the United States. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed in May of 2017 to investigate whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether the Trump campaign had attempted to obstruct justice. The findings of the investigation were released in April 2019 and stated that while there was clear interference by the Russian government in the 2016 presidential elections, there was no clear evidence that the Trump campaign had conspired with the Russian government. The report does note that while there was no evidence the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government, it clearly did benefit from Russian interference. The findings on obstruction of justice were less clear. Mueller concluded that he could not charge a sitting president with a crime because a sitting president cannot stand trial. Only Congress can charge and then impeach and even remove a president. According to the report: “The investigation does not conclude that the president committed a crime; however, it does also not exonerate him.” In other words Mueller took the easy way out and left it up to Congress to take the next or no steps. The Ukraine scandal After having weathered the Russia scandal, it looked like President Trump’s presidency was safe until the 2020 election. However, in September 2019, the Ukraine scandal broke out. The scandal involves President Trump’s alleged attempts to coerce Ukraine into providing information on his possible democratic challenger Joe Biden and his son Hunter. According to the charges, President Trump threatened to withhold $400 million in military aid from Ukraine, unless it reopened an investigation into Hunter Biden’s activities in Ukraine. An anonymous whistle blower brought this to the attention of Congress and the media, and in September 2019, the House of Representatives began hearings on whether President Trump solicited foreign intervention in the 2020 campaign. This would be an impeachable offense. Full impeachment hearings were started on October 31, 2019. These were open to the public and were nationally televised. On December 18, 2019, the House of Representatives voted 230 to 197 to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. President Trump was the third president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were the other two. After being impeached by the House of Representatives, the Senate started on January 16, 2020, to debate whether to remove President Trump from office. On February 5, 2020, the Senate acquitted President Trump by a 52 to 48 vote. It is now up to the U.S. electorate to decide whether he deserves a second term.

Article / Updated 08-04-2023

During the mid-1760s, America and Britain had managed to confine their differences to rhetorical battles and bloodless economic boycotts. But the conflict took a decided turn after the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773. In early September 1774, an extraordinary collection of American colonists gathered in Philadelphia. There were 56 of them, from all the colonies except Georgia (whose inhabitants were facing a war with Creek Indians, needed the support of British troops, and therefore didn’t want to irritate government officials in London). All of the 56 were males. About half of them were lawyers. Some, like John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, were among the wealthiest men in America. Others, like Sam Adams of Massachusetts, were so financially strapped friends had to chip in and buy him a decent set of clothes for the convention. There were well-known figures, such as George Washington, John Adams, and Patrick Henry, and men largely unknown outside their colonies. One (Benjamin Harrison of Virginia) would be the father and great-grandfather of future U.S. presidents. Another (Stephen Crane of New Jersey) would be bayoneted to death by German mercenary soldiers during the Revolutionary War. A third (Edward Rutledge of North Carolina) would be, at the age of 26, the youngest man to sign the Declaration of Independence. These men were delegates to what became known as the First Continental Congress. They had been sent by colonial assemblies to, in the words of the Massachusetts assembly, “a meeting of Committees from the several Colonies on this Continent … to consult upon the present state of the Colonies, and the miseries, to which they are, and must be reduced, by the operation of certain Acts of Parliament respecting America… .” Getting down to business The first order of business was to make it clear to British authorities that they were not immediately planning a revolution. Delegates wrote to General Gage in Boston to assure him they were trying to find “the most peaceable means for restoring American liberty.” After narrowly rejecting a conciliation plan proposed by Joseph Galloway that called for creation of an American parliament that would work with the British version, delegates drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances addressed directly to King George III. This was basically a laundry list of all the complaints America had made since passage of the Stamp Act nine years before. They asked the king to drop the Coercive Acts. Several delegates wrote essays suggesting the colonies deal only with the king and completely ignore Parliament. More ominously, they agreed to a mutual defense pact — if one colony should be subjected to violence by British troops, the others would come to its aid. They also endorsed a series of resolutions from Massachusetts (delivered to the convention via a Paul Revere horseback ride), known as the Suffolk Resolves. These called for completely ignoring the provisions of the Coercive Acts, establishing armed militias in each town, and requiring citizens to “use their utmost diligence to acquaint themselves with the art of war as soon as possible.” A serious boycott Finally, the congress approved a total boycott of British goods, in a united resolution called The Association. This boycott went far beyond previous boycotts. Under it, nothing from British sources — up to and including slaves — would be imported as of Dec. 1, 1774. Furthermore, no American goods would be exported to Britain — although after protests from their delegates, rice from South Carolina and tobacco from Virginia were exempted. The export ban was delayed until the following year so “as not to injure our fellow-subjects in Great Britain, Ireland and the West Indies.” Finally, British goods already in the colonies would not be bought, sold or consumed. “We do for ourselves, and the inhabitants of the several colonies, whom we represent, firmly agree … to abide by the agreements,” the resolution concluded. On Oct. 26, they went home, with the understanding they would reconvene in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, if necessary. It was. 'Let it begin here' It was Britain’s serve in the ping-pong political battle straddling the Atlantic. Hoping to preserve peace, William Pitt, now Earl of Chatham, proposed a sweeping rollback of almost every act that had angered the Americans. But mindful of a still-furious king, the House of Lords resoundingly rejected it. British Prime Minister Lord Frederick North (who served from 1770 to 1782) then offered a half-a-loaf Conciliatory Resolution, which said that if a colony would contribute to its own defense and pay for civil and judicial administrations within its borders, it would be exempt from paying taxes — except those necessary for the regulation of commerce. The proposal, approved by Parliament in February 1775, did not reach the colonies for several months, after the fighting had begun. It was summarily rejected when it got there anyway. Prodded by King George, North also pushed Parliament into declaring Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion and authorized more troops to be sent to the colonies. The so-called Restraining Acts limited trade between all of the British Empire and the colonies and prohibited New England fishermen from working in the cod-rich seas off Newfoundland. Parliamentary members sympathetic to the Americans warned that Britain might be biting off more than it could chew. “You cannot furnish armies, or treasure, competent to the mighty purpose of subduing America,” said Edmund Burke. “But whether France and Spain will be tame, inactive spectators of your efforts and distractions is well worthy of the consideration of your lordships.” Burke’s warning was echoed by General Gage, the Massachusetts governor who was also in command of His Majesty’s army in America. “If you think ten thousand men are enough,” he wrote Lord North, “send twenty; if a million (pounds) is thought to be enough, give two. You will save blood and treasure in the end.” Squirreling away supplies Meanwhile, in the colonies, efforts were being made to enforce the economic boycott — and prepare for war. To accomplish the first of these tasks, committees were appointed in every county to oversee adherence to the boycott, as well as discourage colonists from taking government jobs, particularly in Massachusetts. Names of those who were suspected of violations were publicized, and the offenders faced social ostracism, and sometimes worse. While the occasional tarring and feathering did take place, the threat of physical violence was usually implied more than employed. Shunning by one’s neighbors was usually enough. One Massachusetts man who had been appointed a councilor to the governor walked into a church service one Sunday, only to see all his fellow congregants walk out. He thereupon declined the appointment. While enforcing the boycott, the Sons of Liberty group and militia, known as Minute Men because they were to respond quickly to any call to arms, staged surprise raids on British supply depots and made off with arms and ammunition. They took care not to shoot, daring the British troops to fire first. The tactic followed the advice of Sam Adams: “Put your enemy in the wrong and keep him so. It is a wise maxim in politics as well as in war.” Riding with Revere The colonists also kept a constant eye on the movements of British troops. One of their most effective spies was the son of a French immigrant who had established himself as a master silversmith in Boston. Paul Revere also made false teeth and surgical instruments — and was good on a horse. In mid-April 1775, General Gage received orders from London to arrest the colonial dissident leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock and seize any arms collected by the colonists. Gage was also directed to use force, if necessary. So, on the evening of April 18, Gage ordered a force of 700 men to march from Boston to the village of Concord, about 20 miles away, arrest Adams and Hancock if they found them, and destroy a cache of arms suspected to be there. Revere, however, got wind of the plan, and set out to warn the countryside that the British were coming. It was a harrowing trek. After crossing the Charles River at night in a small boat, he outrode British pursuers and made it to the small town of Lexington, about seven miles from Concord. There he warned Adams and Hancock. With two other men, Thomas Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott, he then set out for Concord. The trio ran into a mounted British patrol. Prescott escaped by leaping his horse over a stone wall and made it to Concord, where the militia was able to hide most of the guns and ammunition. Revere and Dawes were briefly detained, but were somewhat inexplicably released after the troops took Revere’s horse. (Of the three riders, Revere is the one everyone remembers mainly because of a wildly popular 1861 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.) The 'shot heard round the world' At the village of Lexington, the British force was confronted by a group of about 75 militia under the command of John Parker. A farmer and veteran of the French and Indian War, Parker initially ignored the British officer’s command that the Americans put down their arms. Instead, according to the later account of a man under his command, Parker replied, “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” Outnumbered 10 to 1, Parker was in the process of changing his mind when a shot was fired — by which side is unknown — and a volley of gunfire followed. Eight of the colonists were killed and ten wounded. The British troops then moved on to Concord, where they destroyed several cannons that had been too big to hide. By that time, however, hundreds of militia had arrived, and as the British troops began moving back toward Boston, they fired on the Americans, who returned fire. What had been an orderly withdrawal by the British now became a somewhat disorderly retreat. “We retired for 15 miles under incessant fire,” a British officer recounted, “which like a moving circle surrounded us wherever we went.” Shooting from behind rocks and inside houses, the American militia killed or wounded more than 250 of the king’s soldiers, while suffering about 90 casualties themselves. The battle was immortalized in an 1836 poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, called “Concord Hymn:" “By the rude bridge that arched the flood, / Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, / Here once the embattled farmers stood, / And fired the shot heard ’round the world.” Stirring poetics aside, the long war of words between Mother Britain and her American children was over. The war of blood and death had begun.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 07-21-2023

Scottish history is full of wonderful characters — some good, some not so good — and exciting events, from the bloodthirsty to scientific discovery. This Cheat Sheet gives you the lay of the land, and identifies the leaders and the turning points that made Scotland what it is today.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 07-19-2023

Ancient Egypt is famous for its history, architecture, religion . . . the list goes on! Here you’ll find a timeline detailing important periods that shaped this fascinating civilization.

Article / Updated 07-19-2023

Here’s an overview of periods of Egyptian history. Some of the dates and dynasties overlap, especially during the Intermediate Periods, because different kings ruled different parts of Egypt at the same time – all holding the title of king. Predynastic Period The Badarian period: 4400–4000 BC Maadian period: 4000–3300 BC The Amratian period: 4000–3500 BC The Gerzean period: 3500–3200 BC The Negada III period: 3200–3050 BC Early Dynastic Period Dynasty 0: 3150–3050 BC Dynasty 1: 3050–2890 BC Dynasty 2: 2890 –2686 BC Old Kingdom Dynasty 3: 2686–2613 BC Dynasty 4: 2613–2500 BC Dynasty 5: 2498–2345 BC Dynasty 6: 2345–2333 BC First Intermediate Period Dynasty 7 and 8: 2180–2160 BC Dynasty 9 and 10: 2160–2040 BC Middle Kingdom Dynasty 11: 2134–1991 BC Dynasty 12: 1991–1782 BC Second Intermediate Period Dynasty 13: 1782 –1650 BC Dynasty 14: Dates unknown. This dynasty is characterised by a few chieftains ruling one town, calling themselves kings. Dynasty 15: 1663–1555 BC Dynasty 16: 1663–1555 BC Dynasty 17: 1663–1570 BC New Kingdom Dynasty 18: 1570–1293 BC Dynasty 19: 1293–1185 BC Dynasty 20: 1185–1070 BC Third Intermediate Period High Priests (Thebes): 1080–945 BC Dynasty 21 (Tanis): 1069–945 BC Dynasty 22 (Tanis): 945–715 BC Dynasty 23 (Leontopolis): 818–715 BC Dynasty 24 (Sais): 727–715 BC Dynasty 25 (Nubians): 747–656 BC Dynasty 26 (Sais): 664–525 BC Late Period Dynasty 27 (Persian): 525–404 BC Dynasty 28: 404–399 BC Dynasty 29: 399–380 BC Dynasty 30: 380–343 BC Dynasty 31: 343–332 BC Graeco-Roman Period Macedonian Kings: 332–305 BC Ptolemaic Period: 305–30 BC

Cheat Sheet / Updated 07-05-2023

Many cultures create a mythology to help explain the workings of the world. Western civilization is most familiar with the gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology, who have comparable powers, but different names. And mythology is created often in response to human history, so a historical timeline can be a good reference to have.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 06-21-2023

This Cheat Sheet focuses on 50 key dates in the history of first ladies of the United States. These events mark the unique and continuing evolution of the office of First Lady and the first ladies themselves.

Article / Updated 06-20-2023

Prior to her accession to the throne on her 21st birthday, Elizabeth spoke to the nations of the British Commonwealth via radio broadcast, saying, "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong." This commitment to serve the people of the Commonwealth characterized her reign from the beginning to her death in 2022. Queen Elizabeth’s reign started in 1952 when she was just 25 years old. She reigned through decades of enormous social change and development within the United Kingdom and around the world. The reign of Queen Elizabeth II Traditionally, the head of the British Commonwealth takes no official stance on public policy and remains neutral on party politics. Being the traditionalist, Queen Elizabeth kept her views on political issues mostly private. It is considered "bad form" to repeat anything that the Queen says in private and British newspapers had a long-standing policy of not publishing the Queen’s private utterances. As a result, the Queen's public actions and words influenced the culture of her nation in ways that no elected official could. For example, in 2011, Queen Elizabeth made the first trip to the Irish Republic by a British monarch in over a century. The visit, in and of itself, carried significance, but to make sure the point was not missed, Queen Elizabeth arrived wearing an emerald green suit, surrounded by ladies-in-waiting also wearing shades of green. She publicly encouraged both sides of the English-Irish conflict "to bow to the past but not be bound by it." She visited the Garden of Remembrance, the sacred ground for Irish patriots who died battling for independence, where she bowed her head in reverence. She also visited Croke Park, the site of Bloody Sunday in 1920, where 14 Irish civilians died after British forces opened fire on them. Thus, without voicing a political position, Queen Elizabeth II set the stage for improved relations between the peoples and governments of these two Commonwealth nations over which she reigned. In 2013, the Queen publicly signed a Commonwealth Charter that opposes "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief, or other grounds." With the stroke of the pen, the queen made a symbolic pledge for equal rights for all people in the 54 countries around the world that belong to the British Commonwealth. Never in her years as monarch had she done anything like it before. The press speculated that the signing of the Commonwealth Charter signaled the Queen's support of gay rights. "The queen has to remain politically neutral," ABC News royal contributor Victoria Arbiter said. "While we won't hear her personal views on this, the fact that she is endorsing it publicly in front of television cameras, it really does speak volumes." Through the course of her reign, Queen Elizabeth introduced reforms to the monarchy. In 1992, she volunteered to start paying both income and capital gains taxes. She opened her official residencies to the public — including Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle — in order to finance their maintenance. She supported ending the rule of male primogeniture, meaning the eldest child can succeed to the throne, regardless of gender. On October 28, 2011, the 16 Commonwealth countries at the Perth Commonwealth Summit voted unanimously to scrap male primogeniture in the British royal family. Henceforth, the oldest child in the direct line would be heir, regardless of gender. Despite her reputation for being distant and aloof, Queen Elizabeth II brought a personal touch to the British monarchy, introducing more informal engagements and increasing the number of visits to both countries within and outside of the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth was said to be the most well-travelled British monarch in history. As a means of staying connected to the people she served, Elizabeth II also introduced the walkabout, in which she met and greeted large numbers of the public. In 1981, on one of the royal walkabouts, a British subject seeking fame and notoriety fired six blank shots at her. Despite the danger presented by these up close and personal appearances, she continued to do the walkabouts regularly. The Queen’s own service leadership works to encourage others to volunteer and serve their communities. Her Majesty was involved with more than 600 charities and non-profit organizations — she served to bring recognition to their achievements and contributions and to persuade other people to join. The personal side of Queen Elizabeth II It is said that when Elizabeth met Prince Philip, even though she was only 13 years old, she fell in love with him and they began exchanging letters. They were officially engaged on July 9, 1947 and they were married on November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abbey. They had four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. During the Queen’s reign she experienced personal tragedies, including the death of her father at 56, the breakdown of her children’s marriages — particularly that of Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales — and the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997. Her mother and sister also passed during her reign, both in 2002.

Article / Updated 06-13-2023

On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill making June 19 an annual federal holiday in the United States. The day has come to be known as "Juneteenth," a mashup of "June" and "nineteenth," and has been celebrated as the end of legal enslavement in the United States. The holiday recognizes June 19, 1865, when Union army soldiers, led by Gen. Gordon Granger, told the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War was over and they'd been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln January 1, 1863. The unconfirmed story is that enslaved people held in that coastal city were the last to learn of the end of the war — and the end of legal enslavement. “Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments,” President Biden said during the signing ceremony at the White House. “They don’t ignore those moments of the past. They embrace them. Great nations don’t walk away. We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And in remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger.” Juneteenth is a second independence holiday The holiday's official name is Juneteenth National Independence Day, and it's the second annual celebration of independence in the United States, the first being July 4. That observance marks the day the 13 English colonies in North America ratified the Declaration of Independence, announcing their separation from English rule. Juneteenth National Independence Day commemorates when independence extended to everyone in the United States and freed nearly 4 million people from enslavement. With Biden's signature on the bill in 2021, Juneteenth became the 12th federal holiday — meaning all nonessential federal employees are given a paid holiday and financial markets are closed. It joins New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, and Christmas as fixed-date holidays, or holidays that are celebrated on either the same calendar date or the closest weekday if the date falls on Saturday or Sunday. The United States celebrated the first federal Juneteenth holiday on Friday, June 18, 2021, because June 19 fell on a Saturday that year. Since 2021, 49 states formally observe or celebrate the day in some way; eight states include it as a paid holiday for nonessential state employees. Recent events raised awareness of Juneteenth Although many Americans were only vaguely familiar with Juneteenth before it became a federal holiday, it's been celebrated for more than 150 years. But the day drew widespread public attention in 2020. Civil rights protests following the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020, raised awareness of Juneteenth. Also in 2020, public outcry over a campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma scheduled for June 19 by then-President Donald Trump, captured national media attention. Trump’s opponents argued that holding the event on Juneteenth in that city, where a massacre of Black citizens happened in 1921, would be disrespectful. Once again, the uproar and media attention raised awareness of Juneteenth among many more Americans. Trump rescheduled his campaign event. Major U.S. companies including Nike, Twitter, Target, and John Wiley & Sons (home of For Dummies) offered Juneteenth as a holiday for employees that year. The long wait for freedom and citizenship Although Juneteenth has traditionally celebrated the end of enslavement of Black people in the United States, slavery did not formally come to an end nationwide until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on December 18, 1865. Before that amendment abolished slavery, the Emancipation Proclamation had freed only enslaved people in the states that seceded from the country at the beginning of the Civil War. The legal status of people enslaved in states that didn’t secede but allowed enslavement — Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware — was unclear until the Thirteenth Amendment passed. Enslavement was not fully banned in the United States until 1866 when treaties with Native American tribes formally ended enslavement in territories controlled by those tribes. Finally, formerly enslaved people did not legally become US citizens with full protection under the law until ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment on July 28, 1868. There's still debate over the date when legal enslavement of Black people in the United States actually ended. But, whatever the actual date, Juneteenth now marks the end of that painful period of U.S. history.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 06-09-2023

One of the remarkable aspects of the American Revolution is the staying power of the basic structure of government the founding fathers laid down. That doesn’t mean, however, that the structure was either simple or perfect. To help you understand a bit more about the complexities — and flaws — in the governmental building blocks they used, here are “backgrounders” on three of those blocks: the Electoral College, reapportionment (gerrymandering), and amending the U.S. Constitution. Just for fun, check out the mini-biographies on two interesting Americans from the period, Noah Webster and John Jacob Astor, and enjoy some non-government trivia you can use to amuse your admirers and annoy your enemies.