Near the banks of the river, mosquitoes swarm, flying about your head, threatening to plunge into your skin. Standing where the slow slope of your eight-acre farm meets the Allegheny River, your eyes pass over the buildings your neighbors call home, searching. Your view of town — which, in the next few years, will be …
Read moreThe Whiskey Rebellion of 1794: The First Government Tax on a New Nation
The blazing South Carolinian sun beats down on your lash-scarred back. It’s noon, and the promise of shade and rest is hours away. You have little idea what day it is. Nor does it matter. It’s hot. It was hot yesterday. It will be hot tomorrow. There is less cotton clinging to the sharp plants …
Read more3/5 Compromise: The Definition Clause that Shaped Political Representation
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 of 1787: Roger Sherman (Connecticut) Saves The Day