U.S. Military Expansion under the Empire of Slavery

This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy BY MATTHEW KARP HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 368 PAGES, $26.95 – The Antebellum South has traditionally been portrayed as regressive and sectional, defensively focused on preserving slavery in the… Continue Reading

British Terror Bombing and the Road to American Independence

British Terror Bombing and the Road to American Independence

Scars of Independence: America’s Violent Birth BY HOLGER HOOCK BROADWAY BOOKS, 576 PAGES, $13.89 – It was a deceptively lovely Autumn day in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, but the residents desperately trying to evacuate had little time to appreciate… Continue Reading

Patriots vs. Anglicans in Revolutionary America

Patriots vs. Anglicans in Revolutionary America

Scars of Independence: America’s Violent Birth BY HOLGER HOOCK BROADWAY BOOKS, 576 PAGES, $13.89 – While the American Revolution was not necessarily a religious war, adherents to particular religious denominations often fell more predominantly on one side of the conflict… Continue Reading

When Abolitionists Argued for States’ Rights and Secession

When Northerners argued for States' Right and Secession

Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War BY JEFFREY ROGERS HUMMEL OPEN COURT, 448 PAGES, $29.95 – States’ rights and secession haven’t always been synonymous with the South. In fact, in the lead up to the… Continue Reading

“The Great Tax Wars” and the Origins of the Income Tax

The Great Tax Wars

The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln-Teddy Roosevelt-Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America BY STEVEN R. WEISMAN SIMON & SCHUSTER, 432 PAGES, $25.99 – Wars naturally consolidate and centralize government, leading to a greater flow of wealth to those in power.… Continue Reading