Desperate Sons

We don’t run a lot of straight reviews at this blog, but every now and again a publisher asks us to … and so we do. Here is a review of Les Standiford, Desperate Sons: Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock and the Secret Band of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War by blog…

History in the Classroom

I just stumbled on this webpage out of New York University about teaching American history, called, funnily enough, History in the Classroom.  It’s got some great links, some wonderful videos, and an image of Jesse Lemisch speaking at an anti-Vietnam rally in 1966 (see left).  What could be better? Historian Robert Cohen direct “The Classroom…

Teaching Topics at the AHA

Did you know that history professors spend about four times as many hours teaching as opposed to researching? There was a panel at the AHA in New Orleans on Teaching US History (TUSH!), and, in light of President William Cronon’s presidential address asking us all to make ourselves relevant by becoming better teachers and recognizing…

What’s cooking for the new semester?

There’s nothing quite like returning from the winter holidays still preoccupied by culinary endeavors!  This term, I’m providing historical recipes to students (via our LMS) in a vague attempt to introduce a practical element of American social history.  What people ate, what they considered important enough to write down and publish, and suggestions for serving…

History Now

The second half of the US survey, at least in our course catalog, goes “to the present.” How many of us actually get there in a typical semester? Be real. My last unit tends to emphasize a particular theme (this time: immigration and demographic change), but rarely gets into much detail about recent events. I…

Christmas Has Come Early to TUSH.0

As some Christians celebrate Christmas, we at TUSH.0 celebrate historical scholarship. We believe it should be spread far and wide, that the nights should be silent (so we can read and write) and that the study of history can bring peace on earth and good will to humans (well, that may be a little extreme). But if…

False capitlization is a national epidemic

Grading is fun.  Grading is fun.  Grading is fun.  And if you say it loud enough, you’ll always sound precocious. In addition to learning about “bottomless opportunity” and a “delusion of honesty,” I’m also now about to burst into anti-retardant grading flames with the epidemic that is affecting our nation: incorrect and even implausible capitalization.…

Re-Constructing the Reconstruction Lecture

Since the early twentieth century, it has been a common phrase among Reconstruction scholars to say something to this effect: “the North won the war, but the South won the peace.” I remember first reading that in Nina Silber’s amazing book The Romance of Reunion (still one of my all-time favorites). But, of course, we know…