After the Battle of Shiloh, General Braxton Bragg took over the southern armies in the west. Bragg devised a plan to clear Union troops out of Nashville. He moved his forces first to Chattanooga and joined up with Kirby Smith, then the two moved behind the Union lines into Kentucky. Bragg hoped for two outcomes. … Continue reading Class Notes →

The Gilded Age is often considered the boring part of political history. It is tempting to just treat all the presidents as the same person, they are all quite similar. I like to refer to them as the bearded presidents. During this time the elections were always close, even though the Republicans almost always won. … Continue reading Class Notes →

Lincoln had many difficulties when he took over the presidency. To begin with, 60% of the population had voted against him. His biggest problems came from the peace Democrats or so called “Copperheads.” They were against the war in every way and opposed everything Lincoln tried to do to win.

 No matter what you think about labor unions today, in the decades after the Civil War something was needed to help the growing labor force. Bosses held all the power and workers lived in conditions that were not fit for humans. Unions were needed. The first ones were regional or based on certain trades. The … Continue reading Class Notes →

After the Battle of Shiloh, General Braxton Bragg took over the southern armies in the west. Bragg devised a plan to clear Union troops out of Nashville. He moved his forces first to Chattanooga and joined up with Kirby Smith then the two moved behind the Union lines into Kentucky. Bragg hoped for two outcomes. … Continue reading Class Notes →