It is now 2012 and those of us with a passion for history are enjoying the fact that it is both the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the sesquicentennial of the U.S. Civil War.  While I hope to be writing more about both events throughout the year, today I want to mention the Battle of Williamsburg.

1862 was a busy year with the battles of Forts Henry and Donelson (see a previous post of mine on Fort Donelson here), Pea Ridge, Shiloh, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Stones River, and many more.  It was also the year of McClellan’s failed Peninsula Campaign.  During that campaign Union and Confederate armies clashed just outside the old colonial capital of Virginia, Williamsburg.

When most people think of Williamsburg they think of colonial history and Colonial Williamsburg, a subject for many possible future blog posts.   However, as we enter the 150th anniversary of the battles and campaigns of 1862, Colonial Williamsburg is taking a look at Williamsburg’s role in the Civil War.

In May of this year there will a commemoration of the Battle of Williamsburg (see the link here).  I will reserve writing a more detailed description of the battle for a post closer to the anniversary, what I would like to do here (in addition to promoting the May commemoration) is give the reader interested in the battle a few resources to look at.

The Colonial Williamsburg’s own website offers a few resources here and here. 

For those who are interested in a general history which highlights the town during the war I would recommend, Civil War Williamsburg by Carson O. Hudson, Jr.

For those interested just in the battle itself, I recommend A Pitiless Rain by Earl C. Hastings, Jr.

A detailed account of the battle can be found in Carol Kettenburg Dubbs’ Defend this Old Town.

 

 

I’ll close by encouraging you to check out the local history where you live, no matter where that is.  You might be surprised by what you find exploring your local history.

 

Happy New Year (a little over a week late)!  I am starting out 2012 with a review of a work of historical fiction (sort of).  This is a first for USHistoryFiles as all the reviews we have done so far have been works of non-fiction.

Fighting Bob, tells the story of Robert F. Stockton, Commodoe in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Senator, and early proponent of steam-powered naval vessels.  The book was written by his great-great-great grandson, Bob Stockton, who also served his country with a career in the U.S. Navy. 

Fighting Bob, is written in an interesting style where the Commodore engages the reader with stories of his exploits.  One almost forgets that one is reading fiction as the author does an excellent job in breathing life into the character of his great-great-great grandfather.  Whether fighting pirates in the Mediterranean or leading American forces in the California Territory during the Mexican War, the stories are told with a real passion that brings the action to the reader.  Overall, Fighting Bob in an entertaining and educational read that covers a time period little written about in American History. 

The book also tells the story of an important individual in American History that has largely been left out of the textbooks.  The Stockton family includes the Commodore’s father Richard who served in the House of Representatives and as a U.S. Senator, his grandfather (also Richard) served in the Second Continental Congress and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.  The Commodore has been honored by having naval ships (USS Stockton) named for him as well as the cities of Stockton, California and Fort Stockton, Texas. 

Look for an upcoming post where we get to meet the author Bob Stockton and get the author’s insights into writing, Fighting Bob.

            In total there are twenty-seven Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.  The first ten are known as the Bill of Rights and were adopted shortly after the adoption of the Constitution.  As the United States has grown as a nation, the Constitution has been amended over the years until there are currently twenty-seven Amendments.  Some of them can be grouped together such as the amendments related to Civil Rights, the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th or with voting rights such as the 19^th, 23^rd, and 26^th.   But no Amendment has been held in as much disdain as the 16^th Amendment which gives the Congress the power to lay and collect taxes.[1]

            Funding the U.S. Government through some sort of revenue was indeed necessary.  Prior to the Civil War, the government funded itself largely through import duties and excise taxes.[2]  It was during the Civil War that the U.S. Government needed a further source of income to help finance the war effort.  In fact, in the years leading up to the Civil War, the U.S. Government ran a deficit four consecutive times.[3]  So in 1861, Republicans proposed an income tax of 3 percent on incomes over eight hundred dollars.[4]  This is not surprising as Abraham Lincoln and the Whig Party, which was absorbed by the Republican Party on the 1850s, “thought in terms of an integrated nation” where the different classes could be “harmonized in economic complementarity” allowing for, “individual autonomy” to flourish.[5]  In 1862, the Revenue Act of 1862 would see an even more progressive structure with a tax of 3 percent on incomes of ten-thousand dollars after a six hundred dollar deduction with the rate changing to 5 percent on incomes over ten-thousand.[6]

            The idea of an income tax was well debated through the 1870s and 1880s as the issues would be between higher or lower tariffs and/or an income tax of some sort.  There was general agreement that the inequalities of the tariff system needed to be replaced with a fairer income tax.[7]  The issue would come to a legal head when the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894 would reduce tariff rates and impose a 2 percent income tax on incomes over four thousand dollars.[8]  Farmers’ Loan & Trust Company, in accordance with the law, indicated that it would pay the tax on behalf of shareholders and report the names of the shareholders on whose behalf they were acting.  On Charles Pollock sued the company and the case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.[9]

            The U.S. Constitution prior to the Sixteenth Amendment was not silent on taxes.  Article 1, Section 2, states, “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers”.[10]  Article 1, Section 8, give the Congress the power to “lay and collect Taxes”, and Section 9 further defines that power including the provision that a direct tax must be in proportion to the census.[11]  It was this provision (Article 1, Section 9) that would have bearing in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co.

            The Court would rule, in 1895, that a tax on dividend income was indeed a direct tax and that under the Constitution taxes would have to be formulated “so that the amount collected from each state corresponded to that state’s population”.[12]  That would mean that the revenue collected from each state would have to be equal, so the rates that individuals would be charged would vary due to the population of each state: the higher the population the lower the rate.  This would create not only a convoluted tax structure, but also eliminate the progressivity of attaching a tax rate to income as now the rate would be attached to state populations.[13]

            In 1909, William Howard Taft, supporting the idea of an income tax, requested that Congress create a constitutional amendment rather than a law that might have to pass a Supreme Court test.  It would take nearly four years, but on February 3, 1913, the Amendment was ratified.[14]  Subsequent generations would argue over the fairness of the progressiveness of the tax, but the Sixteenth Amendment answered the question of its constitutionality.

---

[1] The Amendments to the US Constitution at: http://www.ushistory.org/documents/amendments.htm

[2] James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988),  442.

[3] Ibid., 442.

[4] Ibid., 443.

[5] Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 597.

[6] Arthur A. Ekrich, Jr., “The Sixteenth Amendment: A Historical Background,  The Cato Journal, v.1, no.1 (Spring 1981), 163.

[7] John D. Buenker, “The Ratification of the Federal Income Tax Amendment”, The Cato Journal, v.1, no.1 (Spring 1981), 186.

[8] Robert H. Wiebe, The Search for Order, 1877-1920, (New York: Hill and Wang, 1967), 92.

[9] Ekrich, 168.

[10] Linda R. Monk, The Words We Live By, Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution. (New York: Hyperion, 2003), 18.

[11] Ibid., 21-22.

[12] Akhil Reed Amar, America’s Constitution: A Biography, (New York: Random House, 2005),  406.

[13] Ibid., 406.

[14] http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html

Hey Gang, I know it has been a while since I have written.  This summer hiatus (plus a month give or take) was spent travelling to different places and I’ll have a bunch of trip reports soon.  However, I want to make my readers aware that tomorrow night on most PBS stations the documentary The War of 1812 will air (check your local listings). 

First, let me point out that there isn’t a lot of documentaries on the War of 1812 out there.  For a new one to come along on the eve of the bicentennial of the war is exciting.  It is exactly what one would expect from PBS; a well done documentary that is a pleasure to watch.  In addition, several supporting resources are being released as well.  There are the educator guides:  http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/classroom/, the mobile app: http://warof1812guide.com/, imformative essays: http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/, and more.  So check out the documentary tomorrow night and if you want more information you can drop in on their website here:  http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/

From an announcement on History Net (h-net)

The Future of Civil War History: New Methods and Frameworks for Understanding
March 30-31, 2012

Drew University in Madison, New Jersey

The History and Culture Program at the Caspersen School of Graduate
Studies, Drew University, is pleased to announce a two-day conference
exploring the present state and future potential of Civil War and
Reconstruction-era studies.
Possible topics include digital humanities and Civil War study,
digitization initiatives, transnational perspectives, memory and
contemporary American culture, pedagogy and the contemporary Civil War
classroom, emerging trends in the public history of the war, borderlands
and peripheries, challenging existing narratives and interpretations,
the war in the context of contemporary conflict studies and domestic
security concerns, leadership studies, science and technology, civilian
involvement, medicine, food, environment, manufacturing, and
infrastructure, and new perspectives on gender, race, sexuality,
ethnicity, and the role of the state. The conference aims to engage
multiple disciplinary perspectives including history, African American
studies, American Studies, literary studies, archival and digital
studies, archeology and anthropology, museum studies, political science
and more.

Graduate students, faculty, educators, and public scholars interested in
proposing single presentations or whole panels should send a 250-word
abstract (for panels: each paper and the panel as a whole) and a
separate 2-page CV in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format to cwconf@drew.edu by
no later than August 15, 2011. Questions may be addressed to:

Justin Causey
Student conference convener
jcausey@drew.edu
C. Wyatt Evans
Associate Professor and
Director, History and Culture Graduate Program
wevans@drew.edu

The good folks at Greenleaf Publishing sent me a review copy of Garland Tucker’s The High Tide of American Conservatism.  In it Tucker tells the story of the little discussed 1924 election between Calvin Coolidge, John W. Davis, and Robert La Follette.  Though he focuses mostly on the race (if you can call it that) between Davis and Coolidge.

Tucker’s main argument is that both mainstream parties (Democrat and Republican) were mostly conservative and that it was after the 1924 election that the Democratic Party became more “liberal” embracing progressive ideals.  He takes great pains to paint a picture of Coolidge’s Democratic opponent, John W. Davis, that shows him as qualified, conservative, and frankly quite the noble fellow.  Tucker goes on to point out that it is hard to unseat an incumbant when times are good - especially when there is not much difference politically between the two.  Tucker shows a President Coolidge almost not campaigning for reelection while Davis struggled to find a way to campaign against such a candidate.

Overall, the book is indeed a good read.  Tucker is not a historian but he writes historical narrative well.  My only complaint is with the Epilogue where Tucker tries to draw a parallel between Coolidge and Ronal Reagan.  On page 306 Tucker states, “Harding, Coolidge, and Reagan sharply cut taxes and simultaneously reduced federal domestic spending”.  Here is where Tucker’s conservative views and idolization of Ronald Reagan distort history.  Reagan in his first year did indeed cut taxes, but in subsequent years (1982-87) actually saw taxes go up, including increasing the gasoline tax.  He also grew the size of the Federal government as well as the deficit.  Tucker needed to stick to the historical narrative of the 1924 election and not try to draw greater parallels.  When he did his politics got in the way.

In sum, it is a good book for the 1924 election and Tucker seems to have done his homework.  However, one need not read the Epilogue as there are parts that are factually incorrect.

The good folks at the History Channel contacted me today about a new documentary on Gettysburg that will air on Monday, May 30 at 9 PM.  The documentary was produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, a couple of big Hollywood names. 

It figures that the 150th anniversary of the Civil War would garner some big name attention and I applaud the Scott brothers for their work.  (I know I will be tuning in on the 30th.) On the other hand, I would like to see some major attention paid to many of the other Civil War battles.  Gettysburg has indeed worked its way into our national story to almost mythic proportions.  Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of many other lesser known battles.  So while I will indeed be watching, and if you are interested I encourage you to watch as well, I hope you will use this as a stepping stone to learn more about the war.  If you think that Chamberlain’s defense of Little Round Top is heroic, discover the stand that George Thomas rallied saving the Union army at the Battle of Chickamauga.  Pickett’s Charge has gone down in memory as a gallant effort, but let’s not forget the Union advance up Missionary Ridge during the Battle of Chattanooga.  Or the Union attack on Lookout Mountain at the same battle.   Forgotten too is the Battle of Stones River fought largely over New Years Eve in 1862.  There are plenty of other battles that deserve to have their stories told so in the wake of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, let us remember them as well.

Gettysburg is a 2-hour HISTORY special that kicks off a week of History programming commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

Executive produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, this special strips away the romanticized veneer of the Civil War. It presents the pivotal battle of Gettysburg in a new light: as a visceral, terrifying and deeply personal experience, fought by men with everything on the line. Compelling CGI  and powerful action footage place viewers in the midst of the fighting, delivering both an emotional cinematic experience and an information packed look at the turning points, strategic decisions, technology and little known
facts surrounding the greatest engagement ever fought on American soil. 

The special begins in the high stakes summer of 1863, as the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia crosses into  Pennsylvania.   Trailed by the Union’s Army of the Potomac, Lee’s 75,000 strong army heads towards Harrisburg, converging instead near a quiet farm town, Gettysburg.  Known then only as a crossroads where ten roads running in all directions converge
like a wagon wheel, this small town would become site of an epic battle between North and South.  For three days, each side fought there for their vision of what America should be.

In collaboration with highly esteemed Civil War historians, HISTORY combed through hundreds of individual accounts of the battle to find the unique voices of struggle, defeat and triumph that tell the larger story of a bitterly conflicted nation.

The good folks at DaCapo Press sent me an advance reading copy of Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted.  Now I know what many of you are thinking, “who??”.  The truth is that few Americans have heard of Olmsted and probably fewer know anything about him.

Olmsted was indeed a “jack of many trades”.  Best known as a landscape architect (before there really was such a thing), who had his hands in such notable projects as New York City’s Central Park and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, Olmsted was also a writer and preservationist.  During the sectional crisis he traveled through the southern states reporting back to the New York Daily Times his impressions of slavery and southern life in general.  During the US Civil War he was the head of the US Sanitary Commission, though he left that post in 1863.

Olmsted’s early life can best be characterized as chaotic.  His mother died when he was four and his youth saw him bounced around between various schools.  He held a variety of jobs which included spending a stint as a seaman on board the Ronaldson for a trip to China.  After that he gave farming a try.  Until he hit upon landscape architecture (a field that he pioneered) he bounced from profession to profession.

Genius of Place is an excellent book.  Author Justin Martin (who has two other biographies under his belt) tells Olmsted’s life story in such a way as to bring the reader into Olmsted’s life.  It is an enjoyable read that flows smoothly.  A biography is enjoyable both because the subject has led an interesting life AND because the author has presented that life in a readable way.  Genius of Place has just that combination.  I highly recommend it.

Southern Cultures, a publication of the University of North Carolina’s Center for the Study of the American South, has a new website that looks at how we remember the Civil War.  It is definitely worth taking a look at.

http://www.southerncultures.org/content/read/read_by_subject/civil_war/

Two weeks ago today my friend and I stopped off at the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia on our way to a conference at Colonial Williamsburg.  (I must apologize to Colonial Williamsburg for not mentioning the conference here.)  I have mentioned the memorial once before here.  The last time I was there was several years ago in June so the flowers were in bloom and the water was flowing in the fountains on the memorial.  This time it was February and well, it was visually different.

This time we took a guided tour of the memorial.  Our volunteer guide took us to different sections of the memorial and discussed both the building of the memorial as well as the events of D-Day. 

The above picture is of a Piper L-4 Grasshopper.  A durable light observation aircraft, the map reader/observer sat in the back.  According to our guide, the fellow in the back had a desktop (for laying out the map) bolted in on top of him making getting out quite difficult.  This I cannot imagine. 

While I am at it, with the recession as it is the memorial has seen a drop in visitation.  I understand that they have asked the National Park Service if they would be interested in taking over the administration of the place as funds have gotten tight.  If you can, just drop them a note of encouragement.  I’m sure it would brighten their day.