According to a recent New York Times article, it was probably not pneumonia. In those days the nation’s capital had no sewer system. Until 1850, some sewage simply flowed onto public grounds a short distance from the White House, where it stagnated and formed a marsh; the White House water supply was just seven blocks … Continue reading What Killed William Henry Harrison?
Knowledge vs. Box-Checking
Chronicle poster polly_mer recently posted this assessment of the importance of a college education: This is why our responsibility in Gen Ed and even majors classes is to sell the benefits of knowing things instead of checking the boxes.For example, I tell my students that being able to fake interest in deathly dull material is … Continue reading Knowledge vs. Box-Checking
Jim DeMint: Historian Extraordinaire
Former South Carolina senator Jim DeMint doesn't let history get in the way of his argument that the U.S. government didn't end slavery: DeMint: This progressive, the whole idea of being progressive is to progress away from those ideas that made this country great. What we're trying to conserve as conservative are those things that work. … Continue reading Jim DeMint: Historian Extraordinaire
Books for Fall 2014 Courses
I was going to write a blog post about a dream I had last night (in which Jonathan Rees revealed that he was part of a superhero tandem intent on fighting corruption within the history profession), but instead I decided to write about my fall semester book choices. Early U.S. I've abandoned my idea of … Continue reading Books for Fall 2014 Courses
Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics 