Today's Date:
January 15, 2025
Overview of the Reconstruction Era in American History
Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War that extended from roughly 1865-1877 in the span of American history immediately following the Civil War and involved the re-integration of states of the Confederacy. It was a highly volatile time because while many →
The Kansas-Nebraska Act Controversy
Before beginning a discussion about the Kansas-Nebraska controversy, it is useful to point out that there were sectional and other political problems brewing. For example, one cannot ignore the role played by Stephen Douglass nor the current economic situation in →
Analysis, Review, and Summary of Jesse James, Last Rebel of the Civil War by T.J. Stiles
It is impossible to consider the life, crime, and times of Jesse James without first considering the historical context within which he was situated. In a biography of Jesse James by T.J. Stiles “Jesse James, Last Rebel of the Civil War”, →
Discussion of Black Majority: Negroes in South Carolina From 1670 to the Stono Rebellion by Peter Wood
Peter Wood’s book, Black Majority: Negroes in South Carolina from 1670 to the Stono Rebellion,published in 1974 by Alfred Knopf (New York) details the history of black slaves in South Carolina. This history presented by Peter Wood in Black Majority: Negroes in →
The Emancipation Proclamation : Savior or Rhetoric ?
The Emancipation Proclamation was a prosaic statement by Lincoln that seemed like it was a revolutionary treatise on the future treatment and freeing of African Americans, but in fact, the Emancipation Proclamation was simply a politically inspired ruse. It did →
Jazz by Toni Morrison : The Symbolic Significance of the Title
Toni Morrison’s Jazz is a simply titled novel, but this simplicity belies the complexity of the narrative structure to which the word “jazz” alludes. Toni Morrison’s novel “Jazz” is experimental in that it challenges the conventions of the American canonical literary narrative. →
Comparison of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Up From Slavery, and The Interesting Narrative by Olaudah Equiano : Literacy, Freedom, and Slavery
An analysis of two seminal works from African-American literature, both drawn from the authors’ autobiographies, reveals that the processes of learning to read and write is conceptualized as the means of personal and social liberation. While Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to →
Poem Analysis of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes
Throughout Langston Hughes’ poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” the theme of roots is prominent and this theme gives rise to the ultimate meaning of the poem, even though the word “roots” itself is not used in the text. The →
The Incompatibility of Education and Slavery in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
In his autobiography, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass often lapses into assertions that the condition of slavery and education are incompatible for slaves. Throughout the text he is constantly oscillating between an intense desire to become more educated →
