Kenneth C. Davis's Blog, page 131

TODAY IN HISTORY: The "Monkey Trial"

It was the "trial of the century." On July 10, 1925, a courtroom in Tennessee was center stage in a contest pitting two courtroom titans against each other, arguing science versus religion on a grand scale, with the full cooperation of an enthusiastic pack of journalists more interested in a spectacle. In real fact, the trial began as a sort of small-town  publicity stunt. But the argument at its center, between the Bible and Charles Darwin, still isn't settled in many minds.

The drama began when

TODAY IN HISTORY: A Very Significant Amendment

I know. The mere mention of Constitutional Amendments automatically sends most of us for the snooze button. But this one is different.

On July 9, 1868, the state of South Carolina ratified the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing the necessary three-fourths of the states to adopt this very significant Amendment as part of the law of the land. One of the "Reconstruction Amendments" ratified in the wake of the Civil War, it had far-reaching consequences in American history, touching o

A Very Dignified Slave Owner

Writing on the op-ed pages of the New York Times on July 7, 2009, David Brooks clearly touched a nerve. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/opinion/07brooks.html

His column, entitled "In Search of Dignity," discussed the good manners, civility and dignity possessed by George Washington. These attributes, Brooks believed, could be traced back to Washington's boyhood, when he scrupulously copied out maxims from the "Miss Manners" of his day, a book called Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Comp

Robert McNamara and the Vietnam War: A Reading List

For many Americans, the news of Robert McNamara's death at age 93 on July 6th brought back the whole cascade of difficult memories about what the war in Vietnam meant to this country.

Here is McNamara's New York Times obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/us/07mcnamara.html?hp

But for many others, especially younger Americans, the Vietnam War has fallen into the "black hole" of American History and is as remote as the Peloponnesian War. For them and anyone else who needs a refresher course o

TODAY IN HISTORY: The Homestead Strike

As bedrock businesses, like the auto industry, are being transformed in the current economy, and American workers come under intense pressure, here's some "Hidden History" of another financial meltdown. In the late 19th century, labor and industry were fraught with conflict as American business soured. Only back then, the conflict turned deadly.  On July 6, 1892, 3,800 striking steelworkers fought with strikebreakers in a daylong battle that left ten men dead. Their story is a somber reminder of

Jefferson, Slavery and Nazis in Paris

Last evening, I had a thrilling experience. In a small, darkened room with the feel of a chapel inside the magnificent New York Public Library, I saw Thomas Jefferson's handwritten copy of his original draft of the Declaration of Independence. For me this was a "Grail Moment." Setting aside all of Jefferson's contradictions and human flaws, I found the experience of seeing these words in his own hand exhilarating.

We take them for granted, of course. But Jefferson gave full voice to the idea that

Independence Week: The Most Important Signer You Never Heard of

In the third installment of my Independence Week Refresher Course, I focus on a man who most of us never heard of. But the United States of America exists, in part, because of his efforts.

Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, a few names are familiar. Most Americans, if pressed, can probably name a true handful –Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John and Sam Adams, and John Hancock, he of the famous signature.

But among the other men who set their names on the Declaration –in essence,

Independence Week: Declaration 101

In the run-up to the nation's birthday, here are some more things you "need to know" about the Declaration of Independence and the men who created it.

-It's not a "piece of paper." The original version of the Declaration  was "engrossed" (a word for preparing an official document in a large, clear hand) on parchment (which is an animal skin, stretched and treated to preserve it). The Declaration was probably "engrossed" by Timothy Matlack, an assistant to Charles Thompson, the Secretary of the Co

"Self Evident Truths" –The Real National Treasure

As we work our way towards Independence Day on July 4th, here are a few fascinating facts about the document that created the United States of America and the day that the nation was born.

–First of all, we celebrate the wrong day –as far as John Adams was concerned. The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, actually voted on a resolution of independence on July 2d. John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail that this day would be a day of history that would be marked with bonfires, church bel

Today in History: Stonewall

There have been many remarkable changes in this country and the world over the past 40 years– an African American president, the woman's right movement, the end of the Soviet Union and South Africa's apartheid, to name a few. But as a person who has lived most of those 40 years in New York City's West Village, another shift I have witnessed is the change in attitudes about homosexuality.  I am sure it is not fast enough or sweeping enough for many people. But remember, it was not that long ago t