Category: The Historical Muse

Thoughts on history and the historical profession. Clio is the muse of history–this category title is a play on that concept.

Constitution Day at SEU: Religious Liberty & Social Justice

  

On September 17, 1787, thirty-nine men put their signatures on a document intended to chart a course for the future of the fairly new United States of America. Each year, we commemorate that event as we celebrate one of the best set of by-laws ever created by a nation. At Southeastern, we always seek to use that commemoration to help students, faculty, and staff appreciate more fully what these men did, as they labored over the concepts and wording to… Read more »

Obama’s Syria vs. Reagan’s Grenada & Libya: The Differences

  

I agree with President Obama. Now, get up off the floor and read the rest. I know the first sentence was a shock to your system, but it is a limited agreement with all kinds of cautions. On what do we agree? His decision to turn to Congress to debate what action should or should not be taken in Syria was the correct decision. I have no illusions as to why he finally decided to do so—it had far more… Read more »

Snyderian Truisms #4 & #5

  

Some of my truisms are generated in the classroom. They aren’t always things I’ve sat down and considered beforehand; at times, they pop out unexpectedly. For instance, a number of years ago, I was teaching about the founding of Jamestown and was relating the fact that the first ships that arrived had no women in them. The investors in the company who sent over the ships were primarily interested in trade, so they concentrated on setting up a trading post… Read more »

Snyderian Truism #3

  

Some of my “truisms” come from personal experience in the classroom. As I embark upon my twenty-fifth year of teaching at the college level, I can attest to the accuracy of Snyderian Truism #3, which states, Ignorance can be corrected, but apathy makes learning impossible. The word “ignorance” sometimes gets an undeserved image. To be ignorant is not to be immoral or foolish or stupid or anything necessarily negative with respect to character. It simply means to be uninformed. I… Read more »

Booker T. Washington: Model Christian & American

  

During this Independence Week, I think it highly appropriate to mention I recently finished reading Booker T. Washington’ s fascinating autobiography Up From Slavery. As with the Coolidge biography I noted on Monday, I had given a thumbs-up to Washington’s personal reflections in an earlier blog. Now, having completed reading his thoughts on life and how God wants us to live it, I can enthusiastically endorse it unconditionally. Washington was an impressive man. His devotion to the principle of self-government… Read more »

Today Is Independence Day

  

Some might be confused by the title of my blog today, but it’s true that independence for the fledgling United States was declared on July 2, 1776. That’s the day the Continental Congress voted decisively to separate from Great Britain. John Adams, in writing to his wife Abigail, exulted that July 2 would be the great day of liberty celebrated by future generations. He was correct as to the day we ought to celebrate, but July 4 became the focal… Read more »

Coolidge: Humor, Humility, & Faith

  

A few weeks ago, I gave an endorsement to Amity Shlaes’s biography of Calvin Coolidge, even though I had only read half the book at that time. I’ve now completed it, and my endorsement not only holds but is greater than before. She presents Coolidge from all angles, inspecting both strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and disappointments. Along the way, she gives many insights into the character of the man himself. He took office as president upon the death of Warren… Read more »