Questions About Slavery Answered

"Why were most slaves in America from West Africa? Slavery has existed throughout history in various forms across the globe, but who became enslaved was almost always based on military conquest. So why did Europeans travel thousands of miles to enslave people from a particular geographic region?"

Click on the link below for the rest of the story:

Why Did Europeans Enslave Africans?

The History Of Slavery

"There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the institution of slavery, especially here in the United States. These myths often serve pernicious political purposes that can be highly detrimental to a proper conception of history. So here are 10 of those myths debunked in no particular order." 

Click on the link below for a fact-based presentation of the issue. Please note the racism this video stirred up to the point of the need to disable comments, SMH:

10 Common Slavery Myths

Examples Of Conservative Blindness

"It is better to be silent and to be thought a fool,

than to speak out and remove all doubt."

(multiple attributions)

Conservatives have disqualified themselves from the rest of us needing to take them seriously. The following videos are emblematic of their erroneous thinking processes:

Rick Santorum

Ben Shapiro

Dave Rubin

The Cruel History Of The USA National Parks

 "Treuer, who wrote the book The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 to the Present, says that Native Americans are too often precluded from using the land in culturally significant ways that go back millennia. In his essay for The Atlantic, he makes the case that the U.S. should return control of national parks to its Native people."

Click on the link below for a podcast delving into the racism and politics of our national parks.

The Problem With America's National Parks

Immigration's History In The USA

"Once you begin to notice examples of how the past is still present, they become difficult to ignore. Trump enacted the most stringent border closure of his administration by citing the threat of disease, even though COVID‑19 outbreaks were far worse inside the United States than just outside its borders (in fact, Americans were actively deporting the virus abroad). His persistent blaming of the Chinese for outbreaks in the U.S. helped incite violence against Asian Americans that continues today, mirroring similar attacks from centuries past.

"In moving toward the more inclusive system that some elected officials now say they want, the country would be not returning to traditional American values, but establishing new ones." 

Click on the link below for a humbling expose of the hypocritical history of immigration in the USA.

U.S. Immigration Policy Has Always Been Exclusionary

US Historical Fact Vs Fiction

"Today we take a look at the competing histories fighting for dominance in the minds of Americans; the mythologized and romanticized history as represented by the "patriotic" framing of history from the 1776 Commission report and the much more fact-based approach that doesn't skirt the issue of race from the 1619 Project."

The meme "History is written by the victors" has some truth behind it. However, as societies become more enlightened and science-based, valid minority opinions can and do emerge. In the US presently, this is represented by the 1619 Project. However, like most positive social movements, there is a backlash by the "mainstream" faction in the form of the 1776 Commission. Click on the link below for a podcast delving into this dynamic.

Myths are written by the victors, history by the scholars

Christianity Has No Moral Authority

Modern society generally is in agreement that owning another person (slavery) is immoral. How did humanity finally come to this consensus? Was it through the authority of the major religions of the world? What about Christianity? Click on the link below for an hour-long video exposing the immorality of Christianity regarding this topic, and how slavery was ended by humanistic thinking rebels from religious authority. 

I wonder how much human history would have changed if one of the 10 Commandments stated, "Thou shall not own another human." Of course, there are many other immoral aspects of Christianity, but that is for other posts.

How We Learned That Slavery is Wrong

The History Of US Oligarchy

 "Thom Hartmann, progressive radio host joins David to discuss his new book 'The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class.' Get the book: https://amzn.to/3pNdyzK"

An oligarchy is a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution. Click on the link below for a 17-minute video history lesson of a major societal problem that we are dealing with today in spades.

How Did America Become an Oligarchy?

Also: don't overlook social media within this topic (link), and how the Republicans need bigots to hold power (link).

A Look At "Reconstruction"

"Today we take a look at the often-overlooked decade of Reconstruction in the wake of the Civil War. After hundreds of years of slavery, Reconstruction was a brief moment of relative democracy and equality before the white power structure reasserted itself and instated the policies that would be known as "Jim Crow Laws" which would last another 80 years."

Click on the link below for an enlightening podcast regarding why we still have a racial divide in the USA.

Our Second Founding (Reconstruction)

A History Of Political Change Within The USA

"In this episode of Stay Tuned, 'Revisiting Patterns of Change,' Boston College History Professor Heather Cox Richardson joins Preet to discuss the evolution of the Republican Party, the danger of false political imagery, and the lasting legacy of American racism."

Heather Cox Richardson is a noted historian whose writings are usually in-depth and important. This podcast is a good example of her work. (link below)

Revisiting Patterns of Change

Why The Electoral College Is Bogus

"Who thought the Electoral College was a good idea? In two of the last five presidential elections, the candidate who lost the popular vote still managed to win the White House. So why are we still electing the most powerful position this way and what are the alternatives? Jesse Wegman, author of the new book “Let the People Pick the President”, gives amazing insight into the slapdash construction of the Electoral College. Hear him make the case that the institution we ended up with is divisive and undemocratic and ought to be done away with once and for all.

Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College by Jesse Wegman

Intelligence Squared U.S."

Click on the link below for an enlightening podcast on the subject:

Abolish the Electoral College with Jesse Wegman

White Christianity: Its History, Sociology, And Demise

"America is no longer a majority white Christian nation. Journalist, author, commentator, and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne and Dr. Robert P. Jones, author of "The End of White Christian America," discuss this seismic change, its impact on the politics and social values of the United States, and its implications for the future."

An excellent video on the phenomenon in the USA.

The End of White Christianity

The True "Origin" of America

If you were like me growing up, you were only exposed to the colonist's point of view regarding the founding and expansion of America. This podcast presents "the rest of the story."

Native (Mis) Representation

A History Lesson

Trump forcefully caps off years of deterioration in European-American ties:

"Today, Europe and America face common perils and common problems — including the rise of ravenous strongmen who want to remake the world order. We’ve lost the bonds that might enable us to fight them together. Worse, the wolves are not only in the henhouse; they are in the Executive Mansion.

"Beware what happens when you walk away from your lineage."

(echeck.org)

A "CliffsNotes" Version Of The US Bill Of Rights

There are 10 "first amendments" to the US Constitution and all were radified by Congress together and labeled the "Bill of Rights." The FACT that addressing the role of religion in our country was the first SENTENCE in such should cause a pause in the religious fundies. But, you and I know where that goes. Oh, they conveniently overlook the FACT that the question of "establishment of _ religion" vs "establishment of A religion" was, and still is, hotly debated and, yet, we have what we have.

The Establishment Clause 

Bill of Rights 

 

Pre-Clovis America

"For more than a decade, evidence has been piling up that humans colonized the Americas thousands of years before the Clovis people. The Clovis, who are the early ancestors of today's Native Americans, left abundant evidence of their lives behind in the form of tools and graves. But the mysterious pre-Clovis humans, who likely arrived 17,000 to 15,000 years ago, have left only a few dozen sources of evidence for their existence across the Americas, mostly at campsites where they processed animals during hunting trips. Now a fresh examination of one such campsite, a 14,000-year-old hunter's rest stop outside the city of Tres Arroyos in Argentina, has given us a new understanding of how the pre-Clovis people might have lived."

14,000-year-old campsite in Argentina adds to an archaeological mystery

Can The USA Learn From Its Mistakes Leading Up To The Vietnam War?

The John Batchelor Show's podcasts recently had a rebroadcast of a 40 minute interview with Fredrik Logevall, the author of a 2014 book entitled "Embers of War:  The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam."

The History Of The First Americans Becoming Clearer

"A land bridge between Siberia and Alaska that now lies underwater holds vital clues to the story of the Americas’ first inhabitants. A new project bringing together archaeology, genetics, and molecular biology may rewrite the history books."

Searching for the Origins of the First Americans

An Objective Look At The History Of The USA's "Greatness"

Donald Trump's campaign slogan is "Making America Great Again."  On this day of celebration of the Independence of the USA, I think it is important to actually look at the truth of the history of the USA.