Category: Diplomacy & War
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40 Acres and a Mule
It was on this date in 1865 when General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order #15. The phrase, “40 acres and a mule” has become permanently tied to this wartime occupation order. Sherman issued the order after consultation with Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, the latter having met with a group of prominent…
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The Battle of Horseshoe Bend – March 27, 1814
Much of what we learn about Andrew Jackson and the War of 1812 centers almost exclusively around the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. However, what is now the Lower South was the site of some of the most sanguinary fighting of the war. It was on this date in 1814 that militia forces under the…
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OTD in 1860 – the Crittenden Compromise is introduced
It was on this date in 1860 that Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden introduced the famous compromise legislation he and others hoped would head off a civil war. Too much, too late The doomed Crittenden Compromise called for six new amendments to the Constitution that would essentially revive the Missouri Compromise borders for slavery, strip…
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Why the Japanese government surrendered
Why the Japanese government surrendered As with some aspects of science, many facets of history are not definitive. Over time, new evidence is discovered, reviewed and verified, altering past understandings in ways that seldom go so far as to disprove a detail, but rather result in a more nuanced appreciation. The surrender of Japan underscores the…