One of the most impactful events of colonial British North America was a 17th century rebellion led by a man named Nathaniel Bacon. What was the primary cause of Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 and how did it shape the colony’s history? At the time the Virginia colony was still in its infancy. The city of …
In the aftermath of the American Revolution the new United States faced many challenges and difficulties. Of all the difficulties, Shays’ Rebellion was perhaps the most important. The Articles of Confederation was the first form of organized federal government the United States employed following independence. The Articles made the federal government extremely weak and left …
There were many different events that contributed to the American Civil War. John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 is a well known event leading up to the Civil War, but just what was its goal and what exactly did it accomplish? Tensions between the northern and southern states over the issue of slavery …
The Primary Goal of John Brown’s 1859 Raid at Harpers Ferry Read More »
One of the earliest known civilizations in Mesoamerica is that of the Olmec. The mysterious collapse of the Olmec civilization has left historians puzzled for years. Mesoamerica is well-known for being one of the regions where the domestication of agriculture occurred independently. In the aftermath of the development of agriculture, polities and kingdoms gradually arose …
The Plague of Justinian was a terrible event in the mid-6th century CE, the death toll of which is among the highest in world history. In actuality the Plague of Justinian was a particularly severe outbreak of the bubonic plague. The outbreak in the 6th century lasted for nearly 200 years before ending, and is …
By the mid 18th century the institution of slavery was firmly entrenched in the American South. In a potential response to worsening conditions, a group of enslaved people formed what is now known as the Stono Rebellion in 1739, the significance of which reverberated through the colonies. The first slaves in British North America were …
In the mid-19th century thousands of pioneers made the journey west along the Oregon Trail to popular destinations such as the California and Oregon Territories. This journey was often treacherous and there is no better example of this than the story from the Donner Party survivors. The Donner Party was a group of families that …
The Tragedy of the Donner Party: Survivors and Cannibalism Read More »
The Irish Potato Famine, or Great Famine as it is sometimes called, was a terribly deadly event in the mid 19th century. It was one of the last major famines in Western European history and perhaps most surprisingly happened next door to the world’s dominant power of the time. The famine was brought upon by …
The Panama Canal was one of the most important and impactful construction projects in the history of the modern age. The basic premise of the canal was to build a waterway that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The isthmus of Panama was the ideal spot, located between the North and South American continents. It …
One of the largest peacetime migrations in US history occurred between the 1840s and 1870s. During this time hundreds of thousands of people headed west to the newly acquired lands of the US. Most of these people were in search of new opportunities and the American west was an area with the climate to provide. …
The History of the Oregon Trail: Destinations & Disease Read More »
In the 1840s the land now known as California was a Mexican territory with ~8,000 non-natives living within its realm. Eventually, the treaty ending the Mexican-American war would cede the territory of California over to the US in 1848. However, before signatures had even been placed, the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill completely changed …
The Great Depression was a worldwide economic crisis in the early 20th century that lasted for over a decade. There is no consensus among historians and economists over what exactly caused the event. Instead, it’s widely believed that a variety of factors combined together to form the crisis and its devastating impacts. One of the …
