On a sweltering summer day, the nine elected magisterial archons of Athens waited breathlessly for news, surrounded by a restless crowd of citizens. Their army, along with a small number of allies, had engaged with a larger force of Persians in the small bay of Marathon — desperately hoping that the claustrophobic landscape would prevent …
The United States was formally born in 1776 when it declared itself independent from Great Britain. But when dealing with international diplomacy, there is no time for a learning curve — it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. This was something the United States learned early in its infancy when its friendly relationship with France was …
Read moreThe XYZ Affair: Diplomatic Intrigue and a Quasi-War with France
I had the pleasure of getting to spend time with my great-grandma when I was just a young kid. I have a vivid memory of studying the deep lines carved into her face as I dribbled a strawberry down the front of my sweater, and concluding, with all the hard-earned wisdom my 4 year old …
In the stifling Philadelphia heat of 1787, while most of the city’s residents were on holiday down at the shore (not really — this is 1787), a small group of wealthy, White men were deciding the fate of a nation, and in many ways, the world. They had, knowingly or unknowingly, become the chief architects …
Read moreThe Great Compromise: Definition and Impact on US History
Throughout the 19th century, during the period known as the Antebellum Era, Congress, and American society as a whole, was tense. Northerners and Southerners, who never really got along anyway, were engaging in a White-hot (see what we did there?) debate over the issue of slavery — specifically, whether or not it should be permitted …
In 1767, the king of England, George III, found himself with a situation on his hands. His colonies in North America — all thirteen of them — were terribly inefficient at lining his pockets. Trade had been severely deregulated for many years, taxes were not collected with consistency, and local colonial governments had been left …
Read moreTownshend Act of 1767: Definition, Date, and Duties