By Nancy Spannaus Oct. 2, 2021—Have you ever heard of Hinton Rowan Helper? Neither had I until this summer, when a friend who knew I was working on the persistence of American slavery called it to my attention. Yet the North Carolinian Helper played a prominent and some say decisive […]
Part II of a series {Sept. 13, 2021–The following is a draft chapter from my upcoming book, Why American Slavery Persisted.} By Nancy Spannaus It may be hard for even Georgians to believe, but the colony of Georgia was the only North American colony to prohibit slavery at its founding. […]
By Nancy Spannaus Part 1 of a series Sept. 5, 2021—In-depth historical research always brings surprises, and my ongoing work on my upcoming class series and book on Why American Slavery Persisted is no exception. This short post will review one of them: the Carolinas colonies were the only British […]
By Edward Spannaus July 9, 2021–Editor’s note: The following article was previewed on this blog in 2019, in a post entitled “New History Bulletin Introduces the ‘Readjusters,’” and subtitled “History Does Not Come in Black and White.” However, at that time, the article, published in the Bulletin of Loudoun County […]
By Nancy Spannaus June 25, 2021—As the Whig Party geared up for the presidential elections of 1840, the United States was mired in a deep depression. While that depression had been brought on by the Jackson Administration’s dismantling of the Second Bank of the United States, there was not broad […]
By Nancy Spannaus June 14, 2021—One of the common questions I am asked during my classes of Alexander Hamilton’s American System is: Where did Hamilton get his ideas? In a one-and-a-half-hour presentation on June 6, I addressed that question at some length. My power point presentation was entitled “Cameralism, Leibniz, […]
By Edward and Nancy Spannaus May 30, 2021—In his Second Inaugural Address, which occurred only 41 days before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln concluded with an appeal for bringing the nation together: With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to […]
By Steve Douglas May 6, 2021–Americans are likely to recall Gen. Douglas MacArthur as the victorious World War II commander of American forces in the Pacific, and perhaps as the hero of the Korean War. If so, they will be shocked to learn that MacArthur became a fierce opponent of […]
by Edward and Nancy Spannaus May 5, 2021—In 2012, a delegation of descendants of Union soldiers and officers of the U.S. Civil War traveled to Puebla, Mexico at the invitation of the Governments of Mexico and the State of Puebla, to participate in the 150th Anniversary celebration of the Battle […]
By Nancy Spannaus Oct. 9, 2021—All four classes in my series on Why American Slavery Persisted are now available on americansystemnow’s You Tube channel. In them, I present the evidence to support my thesis that the success of the abolition movement depended on the implementation of Alexander Hamilton’s principles of […]
Sept. 26, 2021—While Congress continues deadlocked in a battle over inadequate infrastructure spending bills, support is growing for establishing a Hamiltonian Infrastructure Bank. A campaign by local officials determined to meet the full needs of the nation is spreading across the country. The focus of their efforts is H.R. 3339 […]
The Tragedy of Alexander Hamilton’s Death
By Nancy Spannaus July 11, 2021—For the second year in a row, ceremonies at the gravesite of Alexander Hamilton at Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan have had to be cancelled due to pandemic precautions. But that should not stop us from commemorating the life of this great man, and acknowledging […]