Happy 4th of July!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Independence Day! Enjoy!

Update On the Possible Griffin Shipwreck

Remember when I posted on the possibility that the shipwreck, Griffin, had been found? Well, Brenda has posted an article that gives an update on the story. It will be interesting to see if this ship is the Griffin. Enjoy!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 8

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous seven books posted, this book was on the reading list for my history class.

The book I read this time was Washington County: Politics and Community in Antebellum America by Paul Bourke and Donald De Bats (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995). As you probably could guess from the book's title, the book focuses on the politics and society in Washington County, Oregon before the Civil War.

(October 15, 2009: I had originally planned to post my opinion on this book, but due to the amount of time that has past, I have chosen to post this review without my thoughts.)

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 7

Well, I have finished reading another book, and like the previous six books, the book I had to read was also on the reading list for my history class. This time, I read Reforming Men & Women: Gender in the Antebellum City by Bruce Dorsey (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2002).

This book deals with the history of gender ideology in the reform movements in the Antebellum North. The primary focus is on how white men defined their view of manliness against women, African Americans and European immigrants.

(Note from October 10: Since I waited too long to post this book review, I have decided to omit my opinion of the book so that I can post this review.)

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 6

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous five books, this book was also on the reading list for my class. The book I read this time was What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

The book is part of the Oxford History of the United States series, and as you can tell from the title, the book is focused on the history and growth of the United States from the time period of 1815 to 1848. Since the book covers over thirty years of history, it is quite large and detailed. The author focuses on in detail about the debate over slavery, the reform movements, the Mexican- American War, the Jacksonian Era, the technological growth and expansion of the United States. He also interweaves the contributions and experiences of Native Americans, women and African-Americans in the general history of this time period.

For me, the book not only reminded me of what I did learn in previous history, but it also included some new information and details that I did not learn in previous history classes. As a result, I felt the book enriched my knowledge of the history of the time period, and thus, I enjoyed reading the book. If you would like to learn more about the history of the United States during this time period, I highly recommend that you put this book on your reading list.

History Being Destroyed ...

Earlier today, I received an e-mail from Terry Thornton about a blog article on the destruction of a Native American burial site.

The site that is facing destruction is a mound burial site that was probably built by a Native American civilization known as the Mound Builders. From what I can remember from reading about this Native American group, the tribe was located in the Southeast and was, at one point, a major civilization. Of course, historians don't know why the civilization disappeared, and from what I can remember, I don't believe historians know much about the Mound Builders either. So, a burial site that could help historians and archaeologists better understand these people is being destroyed. Additionally, people were buried in that mound, and by destroying the mound, those developers are essentially desecrating a grave site. Can you see why this is wrong? Do I need to say anymore?

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 5

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous four books I read, this book was also on my reading list for my fall history class. This time, I read A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837 by Paul E. Johnson (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004).

As you tell from the title, the book is about the social history of the early years of Rochester, New York and the Evangelical revivals that occurred in Rochester in the early 1830s. The author explores the formation of political parties in Rochester, and examines which classes made up the parties. He also explores the Temperance and Anti-Masonic movements, and how those movements and the political parties created a climate that made the Evangelical revivals successful in Rochester.

The book is fairly short - under 200 pages - so it is a quick read. I enjoyed reading the book, and I found the information to be quite interesting. Obviously, if a genealogist has an ancestor who lived in Rochester in this time, he or she would probably find this book useful in trying to understand the society of Rochester at this time. I would recommend this book to others. I hope someone enjoys this book as I did.

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 4

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous three books I read, this book was also on my reading list for my fall history class. This time, I read Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty In The Civil War Era by Nicole Etcheson (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2004).

As you can tell from the book's title, this book is about Kansas' struggle to become a state before and during the American Civil War, and the civil war-like fighting that led to Kansas being called "Bleeding Kansas." The author argues that the fighting in Kansas was originally concerned with the rights of white people but that the fighting eventually resulted in concerns for the rights of African-Americans as well. She also argues that Kansas would led the way in the nation in granting rights to African-Americans during the Civil War. The author also ties in the fighting in Kansas with other events that occurred elsewhere in the United States during this time period.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would. The book was fairly easy to read, and I think the average person would be able to read and enjoy the book. Before I read this book, I only had a basic understanding of Bleeding Kansas from reading textbooks, but after reading this book, I have a better understanding of what occurred in Kansas in the mid-to-late-1850s. (I should note that although I will be working with the author in the fall, she did not ask me to read her book. I am reading this book ahead of time for my fall history class. I will be writing reviews of the other history books that I still have to read for the class.)

(As a side note, this post happens to be the 1,000th post since I started this blog!)

74th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 74th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

“Justice and Independence. Since our beginnings as a nation, the United States
of America has seen changes with every year, every decade, and every century.
Each generation adds growth to our lives, our communities, and our nation. One
thing that has never changed, however, is our desire for Justice for those who
wrong us and Independence from those who try to oppress us. This month’s COG
asks you to relate to these concepts of Justice and Independence in one or all
of three ways: 1). Tell a story of an ancestor(s) who fought for freedom. 2).
Tell a story about how Independence Day was celebrated by your ancestors. Did
any of their celebratory traditions get passed down for your own family to
continue? Or 3). Post the lyrics of a song that exemplifies how Justice and
Independence have worked in the lives of your ancestors and/or family. Include
photos! This edition of the COG will be hosted by Colleen at OMcHodoy (thanks Colleen!). Deadline for submissions is July 1."

Enjoy!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 3

I have finished my third book for this reading challenge! The book I read this time was Soul By Soul: Life Inside The Antebellum Slave Market by Walter Johnson (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999). Like the two previous books I read and reviewed, this book was on the reading list for my fall history class.

As you can tell from the book's title, the book focuses on the slave market in the South between 1810 and 1865. Most of the focus is on the New Orleans slave market, but the author does focus on the internal slave trade between the Upper and Lower South. The author also focuses on the slave masters and slaves thoughts and experiences with the slave trade and slavery. Additionally, he also explores how slave traders were able to convert human beings into items, and the beliefs of those who bought the slaves.

Although I have read about slavery in the United States before, I did not have a complete comprehension of the evils of slavery. I knew slavery was evil, but I did not realize or comprehend how bad it was until I read this book. For me, this book brought the experience of slavery to life more than anything else I had read before, and I was able to picture what life was like to live in a society with slavery, either as a slave or someone who was free. This book brought an aspect of history to life that I had read before and thought I understood. If you want to learn more about slavery in the United States, I highly recommend that you read this book.

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 2

I have finished reading another book for this summer's reading challenge, and like the previous review, the book I read was also on the reading list for my fall history classes. And like the previous book, this book is a social history of Early American history, but it focuses on the south only.

Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt by Christine Leigh Heyrman (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997), focuses on the early Evangelical churches in the Southern United States and how the South became to be the center of Evangelical Christianity in the U.S. The time period of the book stretches from 1740 to 1840, but the primary focus of the book is on the years between 1790 and 1830. The Evangelical churches explored in this book are the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian churches, but most of the book focuses only on the Methodists and Baptists. For me, the most interesting thing to learn about was that prior to the American Revolution, the Evangelical churches were rejected by Southerners, and thus, the author's exploration into why that was so, was the most interesting part of the book for me. As for the later and greater acceptance of the Evangelical churches. Although, I disagreed with some of the author's conclusions in the epilogue, I would still recommend this book for others to read as I found it to be quite interesting, so much so, that I would like to read about the Evangelical movement occurring in the Northern part of America in the same time period. I hope that other people will find this book as interesting as I did. Enjoy!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 1

As I mentioned yesterday, I have decided to join a reading challenge, and I have already finished reading my first book for this challenge!

The book I chose to read was Inheriting The Revolution: The First Generation of Americans by Joyce Appleby (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000). As the book's title implies, the book is on how the culture of the United States was formed and created by the generation of Americans after the Revolutionary War generation. The author explores how that generation changed American colonial society and recreated that society. She also describes how those Americans interpreted the legacy of the Revolutionary War, and carried on the ideals of the revolution. In short, the book is a social history of American life between 1787 and 1824.

How did I learn about this book? Well, I requested the reading lists for my fall classes from my professors, and this book was one of the books on the reading list. Although I would have had to read this book for my future history class in the fall, I still enjoyed reading it. Why? Well, for one, I enjoyed the author's writing style, and secondly, I have an interest in social history. As someone who has an interest in social history as a result of my genealogy research, I enjoyed this book for those reasons. Would I recommend this book? Yes, because this book illuminated several movements and life in America at this time period and because of this fact, I believe this book would be beneficial in giving historical social context for genealogists researching in this time period. I hope that other people might enjoy this book and find it interesting as I did.

67 Years Ago: A Day of Infamy

Sixty-seven years ago today Pearl Harbor was attacked, and on the next day, the United States entered the Second World War. (Obviously, I was not alive at the time the attack occurred, but some of my ancestors were. I wrote about where they were here.) I just felt that I just had to post something to commemorate that day.

Don't Forget To Vote Today!

Election Day is today for those of us who live in the United States. I just want to remind everyone to not forget to vote today. (As a side note, I did not forget to vote. I've voted by absentee ballot a few weeks ago, so I'm all set.) Enjoy the day!

Another History Book I'm Reading at the Moment ...

Last week, my school's chapter of Phi Alpha Theta (history honors club) had a book sale. The annual book sale is usually where I can buy history books fairly cheaply, and as in past years, I bought some more history books. One of the books I bought (and started to read) is Growing Old In America, expanded edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978) by David Hacker Fischer. I haven't finished reading the book yet, but from what I have read, this book looks at how Americans viewed the elderly in different time periods and how they treated the elderly in those time periods. In addition, the author explores how attitudes have changed in America from the colonial era to the present (which was the 1970s at the time of my edition's printing).

The book is essentially a social history book, and I thought I would mention this book because as genealogists we are always trying to figure out what our ancestors believed and how they lived. I believe this book will give genealogists an idea of how the elderly were treated and viewed in American history, and thus, possibly suggest what life was like for our ancestors, especially as they aged.

Speaking Of the Mississippi River Flood of 1927 ...

I could not help but notice the brief discussion on the Mississippi River Flood of 1927 that has occurred within the past day or so. Why? Well, one of the reasons is that this flood was talked about briefly in one of my classes a couple of weeks ago when the class was studying about floods. Plus, I read a book on the flood a couple years. But my interest was mostly sparked by a couple of blog posts. One of the two posts that I happened to notice was a post on West Carroll Parish, Louisiana. The other post was on The Ancestry Insider.

So, why am I writing this? I thought I would mention an excellent book on the 1927 Mississippi River Flood in case someone wanted to do some more reading on the flood. The book I read a couple years ago was Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America by John M. Barry. (This is the same author who wrote The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History, another excellent book.) The first half gives background on the different attempts made to control the flooding of the Mississippi River prior to the 1927n flood, while the second half of the book is on the flood and its aftermath. The author also writes about how the flood changed the policies of flood management of the federal government, and how it affected the 1928 presidential election. In addition, he also writes about how the flood changed the demographics of northern cities like Chicago. If you are interested in the history of the Mississippi River Valley, I believe this one book you should read.

My School's September 11th Memorial

In the years that I have been at my college, my school memorializes September 11th by putting flags, in the ground of the school's park, for each person that died on that day. Most of the flags are U. S. flags, but there are also flags from other countries that represent those who died who were from other countries. I did not take pictures of the flags this year, but I did take pictures from last year. To see what I am talking about, here are pictures from September 11, 2007:

I think there is a flag for every person that died, but you can't see them all since I was unable to capture of all of the flags in one picture. (I realize the quality of the pictures are poor, but I have a cheap digital camera. )

And Another Interesting Article on the Civil War ..

I just happened to notice this article about the surrender document that ended the U. S. Civil War, and I thought someone might be interested in it. You can read it here. Enjoy!

Here's Another Interesting Article ...

I just happened to notice this article today, and I thought I would post the link to it today. It has to deal with an issue in U. S. history, and you can read it here. Enjoy!

Here's An Interesting Article On Historical Research and the Civil War

I just happened to notice an interesting news article on the History News Network about a woman's discovery about her Civil War ancestor and his service. You can read the article here. Enjoy!