According to the Preamble to the Constitution, the Government has three things to protect, domestic tranquility, common defense, and general welfare. In the Gilded Age, the government only had one function it performed for domestic tranquility. When workers had strikes, the government would send in the army to put it down. That was basically the … 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
If you are worried about Amy Coney Barrett’s limited time as an actual judge here are some numbers that should help. There have been 114 Supreme Court Judges. Of that, 40 had never been judges before, including famous ones like William Rehnquist, Earl Warren, Louis Brandeis, Charles Evans Hughes and John Marshal. Of the 114, … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
As the Middle East moved into the 20th Century, they were inspired by the West to start to reform and modernize. What stopped most of their reform efforts were European nations that felt better when the Ottoman Empire was united and stagnant. The last thing they wanted was the Ottomans to fall and separate nations … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
I was listening to a duet this morning and thought to myself this must be the most famous country duet ever. Of course that sparked my interest and so I came up with my Mount Rushmore of country duets. This is history right? 4. Whiskey Lullaby by Allison Krauss and Brad Paisley. The song I … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
The largest and longest lasting Muslim empire was the Ottomans. During their reign, they divided their subjects up into religious communities called Millits. Each of these Millits had autonomy over their own people. They had their own schools, looked out for their own needs, and most importantly followed their own laws. In other words, Sharia … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
When it comes to the history of American music possibly the most forgotten name is James Reese Europe. Born in 1881 to freed slaves, Reese is one of the founders of what we call American music. Before this time period we had American literature and art, but not really anything uniquely American in music for … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
Sharia law for Muslims is made up of four parts. First the Quran, which is the word of God as spoken by the Prophet Muhammad. Second are the Hadiths, the saying of the Prophet. These come from different men who knew him. Not all Muslims agree with the same Hadiths. Think of them like books … Continue reading Class Notes
Historical Boycotts
It is often said that words matter. Historically speaking, this is often seen by using a particular word to connect to the past. The Whig Party chose that name because in the 1830s everyone knew that the Whigs in England were the ones who had opposed the King. By calling themselves the Whigs, they were … Continue reading Historical Boycotts
Class Note
If you want to understand how hard life was in the Gilded Age think about this. When the government finally passed child labor laws for factory workers it said children younger than 12 could not work and children over 12 can only work for 10 hours a day. If these laws were meant to help, … Continue reading Class Note
Supreme Court
First, I want to say thank you for the service of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She served with honor. She was only the second female justice on the Supreme Court and championed the causes of women and all Americans. What I will remember the most about her was her pop star status. Few justices become famous. … Continue reading Supreme Court
