While the 1939 movie Gone with the Wind is one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of all time, it also did more to push the Lost Cause Myth than any other movie ever made. In the movie the slaves were happy and loyal, and the Southern cause was just, even if that cause was slavery. … Continue reading Class Notes
Author: James Finck
Dr. James W. Finck was raised in the shadows of history in the great state of Virginia. Growing up it was difficult to travel too far without running into a monument or battlefield from the Revolutionary or Civil War. In this environment, Finck developed a love for studying the past and from his youth knew that he wanted to make it his life’s work. Finck received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He then studied under James I. Robertson and William C. Davis at Virginia Tech, while earning a Master’s degree. Finally, he received his Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas, under the direction of Daniel Sutherland. For five years, Finck taught at the University of Texas-Pan American before accepting his current position as American Historian at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 2011. At a small liberal arts institution, Finck considers himself a generalist in history, but his specialties are the Civil War and American Politics. Finck has established himself in Oklahoma with the creation of the Oklahoma Civil War Symposium, which has brought in leading Civil War scholars for the past eight years, and he has spoken at many venues around Oklahoma, especially working with the Honey Spring Battlefield. Finck is the author of Divided Loyalties: Kentucky’s Struggle for Armed Neutrality in the Civil War, as well as Images of America: Chickasha. Finck is also the author of the syndicated newspaper column “Historically Speaking.”
Class Notes
Shipp’s last chapter looked closely at the 1916 General Conference of the LDS Church. The prophet Joseph F. Smith, nephew of Joseph Smith knew that things were greatly changing for the Church. She wrote, “this was a sermon that the Saints very much needed to hear, since the behavioral boundary that had once separated the … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
JFK’s flexible response to the Cold War did not start strong. He inherited a plan from Ike that was supposed to take care of the problem in Cuba by having arming Cuban refugees and sending them back to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. JFK was told the Cuban people hated Castro and would … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
Today we tend to think of the Republicans as the more militant party, but in many ways during the Cold War it was the Democrats. It was under Truman’s administration that the Democrats lost China which led to many claiming that Democrats were soft on communism. No one questioned Ike’s stance against communism, or his … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
When comparing Mormonism with Alexander Campbell, Jan Shipps writes, “On the surface, the restoration claims advanced by Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints were not unlike those advanced, for example, by Alexander Campbell and the Disciples of Christ…The members of both groups believe that theirs was the true church, organized according to what they took … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
During the Eisenhower Administration there was a slight thaw in the Cold War as Nikita Khrushchev took over control of Russia after Stalin’s death. While Khrushchev was a ruthless, cold warrior, so was Ike and Khrushchev knew he was not someone to push too hard. Ike also would not take nuclear weapons off the table … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
Part of Jan Shipps argument about Mormonism is that it parallels Christianity as a new movement that grew out of an old one. Christianity out of Judaism and Mormonism out of Christianity. Shipps writes, “the past is a matter of fundamental importance to new religious movements. The assertions on which they rest inevitably alter the … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
In 1949 Elia Kazan, a director and member of the Communists Party was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He saved himself by naming other communists he knew in Hollywood. While most are familiar with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as an allegory of McCarthyism, Kazan also directed an allegory of McCarthyism called On the … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
Jan Shipps writes, “when Mormon history begins with the First Vision, the result tends to be an account of a religious movement which, even as it differs dramatically on basic theological and doctrinal issues from other sects and churches, is analytically yet one more sub-division of Christianity inaugurated through the efforts of a charismatic leader. … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
In 1950, Truman as part of his policy of Containment sent troops to South Korea to assist the South Korean army in defeating the North Korean Army. The goal was to push the Northern army back to the 38th Parallel. General MacArthur was able to get troops behind the North Koreans with an amphibious assault … Continue reading Class Notes
