demanding apologies, demanding history

334 years after King Philip's War, a war which killed 3,000 natives (or 15% of the population) and was the beginning of the end of a forced expulsion of the natives from Massachusetts land, some residents of Middleboro are demanding apologies from local Native American tribes.  The demand is over a casino building plan in Middleboro.  For a few years now, the casino planners have been going back and forth on deciding whether or not to have a casino in Middleboro.  Residents are apparently fed up and don't care either way if the casino goes up or not – they just want a decision. 

Now they are demanding an apology from the local tribe responsible for the casino development.  It takes great audacity to demand an apology from a group of people that were forced off their own land.  But nevertheless, some residents have neglected and ignored the past and are demanding it. 

This is just another reason why history is important and has such an impact in today's society.

iraq and the middle east: part I

I’m not sure who is winning the war on terrorism. In 2003 the U.S. decided they would enter Iraq and bring “freedom” to the people. Six years later a few thousand U.S. (UK and other countries) soldiers have been killed. And this doesn’t include the ongoing war that is next door in Afghanistan. The number of casualties seem to keep climbing each month despite the claim for change and peace proposed. Hey! And, what about the people of Iraq or Afghanistan?

In the end though, Bush (or maybe better put Cheney and Rove) or the Obama Administration can’t be accused alone for starting a war or continuing a war. Like anything, the blame cannot be put on one person or country, or ideal for that matter. I recently just finished Three Cups of Tea and am in the middle of Power, Faith, and Fantasy (a history of the U.S. and the Middle East). I’ve still got to learn about the U.S. relations with the Middle East, but like anything there is history behind the U.S. relationship with Iraq. For example we can’t really understand racism in the U.S. without understanding how the history of slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights era, and all the history in between have affected racism is today.

There is a lot of history with the Middle East. And amazing as it was to me, it is not all that bad. In Power, Faith, and Fantasy author Michae B. Oren does, however, string along a common theme – America’s desire to bring the same freedoms, liberties, democracy, and Westernization that they won in 1776 to the Middle East. In the book it really doesn’t seem that bad. I mean who wouldn’t want freedom, right? Well, in 1900 the freedom sounds a whole lot better than the imperialist ideals that other countries were trying to impose in the Middle East.

It is interesting to learn that oil and power were not always a means for war for the U.S. Even when the U.S. finally entered WWI they never declared war on Turkey. A peaceful means by President Wilson. I can only imagine a different outcome if Roosevelt was still president. As I finish the book I will have a second reflection on the U.S.’ involvement in the Middle East.

and then there's....

There’s Thanksgiving and then there’s Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving seems to be one of those holidays were we and by we I mean everyone just don’t know where it comes from. Traditionally of course the first Thanksgiving was in 1621 in Plymouth, MA, with a few pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe (who in years to come would not be so thankful for the pilgrims). This seems to be the most celebrated version today. We can see it in arts and crafts in elementary schools, in parades, and television.

There are of course other first Thanksgivings. British colonists gave ‘thanksgiving’ in 1619 in Virginia. There are even apparent records that say that the first ‘thanksgiving’ celebration was done in 1565 in St. Augustine, FL.

At the website history.com it states that, “Although this feast [between the pilgrims and Wampanoag] is considered by many to be the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops.” It seems that Europeans and Native Americans alike have been having ‘thanksgiving’ for hundreds and probably thousands of years around the harvest of crops.

The Pilgrims didn’t have Thanksgiving each year, and not until Abraham Lincoln in 1863 was Thanksgiving declared a holiday. The holiday was set on an ideal that the pilgrims had a bountiful harvest in 1621. Without the good harvest (and the Wampanoag, of course) the Pilgrims probably would not have survived another winter.

To me the harvest between the pilgrims and Wampanoag showed great hope that Europeans and Native tribes would get along in the years to come. Instead, it would be a temporary alliance at the outset of a troubled and broken relationship between the two people groups.

Thankful source: History.com

Further reading:
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

what's in a name?: independence day

The Independence Day holiday is spent most of the time eating burgers and brats and watching fireworks explode in the night sky. It is the time where people stake out seats and set out their lawn chairs the night before for the parade. It is a time where people dust off their American flag and hang it outside for the week. Much of the holiday is spent with family and friends who are glad to have a day off of work.

I like the idea of spending time with family and friends. The idea of fireworks is a great way to celebrate Independence Day. Or is it Fourth of July? On July 4, 1776, (or around that time) it was not the end to the tyrannous hold of Britain - but a declaration of independence. It was the beginning! Thousands of men (and women) free and slave lost their lives over the next years for the glorious cause.

It was a war for freedom. It must have been bizarre to be in an era where towns were split between rebels and Tories, when towns were pillaged, and where militia were born. Soldiers fought for freedom with barely the clothes on their back and sometimes not even that. Medical care was even worse than it is for the soldiers that come home wounded from Iraq or Afghanistan. There was no assurance of victory and it was against the biggest and the best in the world: the regulars of the British (and Hessian) army.

Amidst the brats and parades that barely resemble anything about liberty and freedom, remember the legend of Washington and the brave soldiers under his command, the farmers and families who lived and died for their country and for generations to come.

midwest love: gateway to freedom

Many people see the United States as the gateway to freedom. Canada was freedom for many African Americans during pre-Civil war times, to which Detroit was a gateway. Today in Detroit along the Detroit River there is a statue to commemorate the people who gained freedom to Canada. (For more information on the sculpture’s history and meaning click here.)

It wasn’t enough for a runaway slave to be in a free state. The north was not a stopping point, but the first on a long journey to Canada where runaway slaves would not be bound by US law. The fugitive Slave Act (1850) passed by U.S. Congress basically enforced the southern law of slavery in the north, therefore making a runaway slave in free-soil anything but free.


It’s an amazing story of thousands of people who sought freedom. In Michigan many home are preserved in such cities as Kalamazoo, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and Saline, my hometown. Michigan routes vary (as seen on this map), but evidence shows that many routes were north of Jackson and Detroit. Historical writings and houses are along routes three and four of the map along Old Sauk Trail and Old Territory Road Trail. These same trails that brought slaves to freedom were first created by area Michigan tribes that were pushed out of the territory a generation earlier.


There is a lot of history about the underground railroad. I would encourage you to go beyond the typically reading of Harriet Tubman and check out your local library. There you can look into the history on the underground railroad such as journals of first-hand accounts of people who made the journey, or writings of people who had stations along the route.

washington’s crossing review

I’ve recently read Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2005. After reading the book, it would be no surprise to me if it has won other awards. Fischer is also known for his book Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (1989) and Paul Revere’s Ride (1994) among others.

The book covers a moment and a man. The moment is when a small, defeated continental army in the winter of 1776 crossed the Delaware on Christmas night to defeat and change the momentum of the war and eventually history itself. The person is non-other than George Washington. The book itself is not a light read, but Fischer’s style of writing keeps you interested in every moment. Fischer begins the book by comparing and contrasting the British and Hessian regulars with the diverse farmers and pheasants of the continental army. The book itself encompasses the winter of 1776-77. Fischer not only goes into great detail about the historical battles, but other pivotal moments, people, and events that changed history during that cold winter.

The myth of George Washington comes alive in Fischer’s book. This can be seen in many aspects. Washington leads and defeats a ragamuffin army against the biggest and best army in the world. Washington demonstrates strong, egalitarian, smart leadership with his officers, army, and ordinary people. Lastly, Fischer inspires the reader with the inspiring leadership of Washington on the battlefield.

The book is thrilling and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Revolutionary War or George Washington.

smc: 5/25/08

Cartoon by Jeff Parker of Florida Today

No more walls.

reflections on election 08

Over the summer I read An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy by Robert Dallek. It’s a great book about Kennedy’s life and presidency. If you have ever read the book or seen it you know that it is a monstrosity of a book, and no light read. What also is great about the book is that Dallek stays as close to the facts about Kennedy as he can. He doesn’t gossip about the what-ifs or the conspiracy of who assassinated Kennedy in 1963. Dallek, in fact does not write much on the actual assignation in the book. The fact that the author has decided to leave this out attributes the idea that what is important about the life of Kennedy is who he was and what he did as president not the conspiracy.
Kennedy won the 1960 presidential election. There is now less than a year before the presidential elections in 2008. There are many candidates running such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and many more. This election has received much more hype than most usual elections. I think much of that hype is because there are so many people that are ready for a new president. Some of these people are joining for good reasons others just because they like to be on the bandwagon. In the midst of all the election talk and reading this book on Kennedy I could not help but think that Barack Obama has more than a little in common with JFK.
The first thing that made me compare the two was a news broadcast claiming that Obama did not have enough tenure in politics to run for president. Experience is a valued virtue. (Although the way older generations are treated in the United States it would not seem as though experience is all that important.) Obama however has only been a U.S. senator since 2004. Before that he served in the Illinois State Senate for eight years. Before he was an Illinois Senator you may want to check a bio about him. Kennedy gained a Senate seat in 1953 before becoming president in the 1960 election. Although Kennedy has more years as a U.S. Senator, Kennedy was also younger when he became president. There are other comparisons to make as well, such as that both went to Harvard at some point in their life. And that both men are dynamic speakers.
The last comparison I want to make is that each man, Kennedy and Obama, had to battle against criticism because of a society-inflicted stigma that marked him as being “different”. Please bear with me as I compare apples and oranges. Obama is African American. Kennedy was Catholic. Although both are very different, they both were/are road blocks to their presidency. I hope you notice the importance of Kennedy being Catholic. He was the first Catholic president. To this day he still is the only Catholic president. The second thought here, and the real comparison I am trying to make, is that a majority of people during Kennedy’s campaigning had to be convinced that a Catholic was capable of being president. This same comparison can be made about Obama. First people must realize that an African-American can be elected and that an African-American is more than capable. I note this because it was a great battle for Kennedy to convince the public of this and once he was elected the rest is history.
This country is a place that likes to root for the underdog, the Cinderella story. Barack Obama certainly is an underdog running against such people as Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time someone overcame a giant to win.