"The Lines Between Justice and Injustice Are Crisscrossed"

"'The Star-Spangled Banner' nevertheless shares its conceptual DNA with the United States as a whole. It is a product of a time when the stain of slavery was clear on the nation and part of US law. To understand the anthem and its legacy, we need to know more than just Key's words. We need to understand their author's feelings and actions about slavery."

Mark Clague in a 2016 CNN article defends "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The Father of the Civil Rights Movement

Susan Parker at DelmarvaNow describes how Maryland is marking Frederick Douglass's bicentennial birthday.

"A Nearly Successful Slave Revolt Was Intentionally Lost to HIstory"

"The suppression of the extent of the rebellion kept the uprising from historical attention for decades. Hall calls it a kind of 'historical amnesia' in the Times-Picayune piece. However on the 200th anniversary of the revolt, area museums and historical sites in Louisiana organized a year-long commemoration of the event. In time, the uprising may gain the recognition it deserves, thanks to the efforts of historians willing to sort the fiction from the reality."

In a 2016 Smithsonian article, Marissa Fessenden discusses the 1811 Louisiana slave revolt.

"We're Not Good Because We're Old, We're Old Because We're Good."

"An entrepreneur credited with introducing the ready-to-wear suit to the American market, Mr. Brooks also laid the groundwork for innovations—sack suits, navy blazers, reverse-striped rep ties, button-down shirts, patchwork madras, seersucker suits—now so familiar we tend to forget they were ever new. 'He was a disrupter and influencer,' Mr. Del Vecchio said of Mr. Brooks. 'And we're ready to start the disruption again.'"

Guy Trebay at The New York Times discusses the bicentennial of Brooks Brothers.

And Matthew Walther at The Week praises the company.

"American Slavery Could No Longer Be Hidden From the Rest of the World"

"This was a rhetorical device, however, used to set up the glaring contrast between what the founders did for themselves and the condition of black people at that time. In 1776, he noted, many people viewed George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the others as dangerous subversives and insurgent upstarts despite British tyranny.
"However, with the hindsight of 1852, he said, it was no longer problematic to see 'that America was right, and England wrong.'
"Likewise, Douglass noted, in 1852, abolitionism was considered a dangerous and subversive political proposition. The implication here was that future generations would consider his anti-slavery stance patriotic, just, reasonable—and necessary."

Herbert Dyer, Jr., in Counterpunch discusses Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro."

Christopher Wilson in Smithsonian investigates "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the life of Francis Scott Key.

And Robert G. Parkinson in The New York Times looks at slavery, Native Americans, and the Declaration of Independence.

James Livingston reponds to Parkinson at Politics and Letters.

"Hard to See and No Less Difficult to Imagine"

"The countless victims and occasional beneficiaries of Tambora's fury were oblivious to the volcanic roots of their circumstances, Dr. Wood noted, making the challenge of writing about it formidable and 'occasionally mind-bending.'

"More generally, he said, the revelation of global volcanic ruin—a portrait 200 years in the making—offers a kind of meditation on the difficulty of uncovering the subtle effects of climate change, whether its origins lie in nature's fury or the invisible byproducts of human civilization."

William J. Broad in The New York Times discusses the worldwide impact of the 1815 eruption of Mt. Tambora, "the most powerful volcanic blast in recorded history."

"The Last Time Britain Fought America"

"The British sustained 2,042 casualties; the Americans 71. To make things worse, the battle was unnecessary. The Treaty of Ghent, ending the 1812 War, was signed on Christmas Eve. News of the treaty didn't reach Washington until February 17."


Harry Mount at The Spectator marks the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans.

Thru the Perilous Fight

"Historians of the period and of the war may resent Hofstadter’s summary dismissal, but it offers some clues as to why neither is the subject of much popular interest. The very things that put Hofstadter off—the bumbling diplomacy, the bitter infighting, the ineptly executed war effort—force us to confront a vision of the United States that doesn’t generally fit our understanding of its origins. The war plays out as a disappointing second act to the Revolution, with the nation suddenly at the whim of Europeans and Indians and riven by internal dissent, and the heroes and heirs of 1776 acting without the pluck and ingenuity that we expect of them. How are we to commemorate that?"

In Slate, James M. Lundberg observes the War of 1812's bicentennial.

"It's a Much Bigger Deal Up Here"

"Britain doesn't seem to be planning much, probably because the War of 1812 was viewed as a distraction for a country focused on defeating Napoleon, historians said. Some Canadians worry that if they make too big a deal about repelling the American invaders, it could offend their southern neighbor.
"Then again, Americans may not notice."

Richard Simon in the Los Angeles Times reports on upcoming commemorations for the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

The Legend of Black Ajax

"So ended the life of a man who—for a brief moment—was as famous as Napoleon but, thanks to the trickery and prejudice of his ­opponents, died forgotten and alone."

In a December 2010 Daily Mail article, David Leafe recounts the story of boxer Tom Molineaux.

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative?

"While it will celebrate historical icons such as Isaac Brock and Laura Secord, the government is preparing to play up the relative lack of conflict with the United States since. In more than one news release on remembering the war, the Tories also mention 'two centuries of peaceful co-existence with the United States' that followed.
"Canadian military historian Jack Granatstein predicts anti-American sentiment will nevertheless be stirred up–through no fault of the Harper government.
'I think this is going to turn into an anti-American festival, no matter what the government does.'

Steven Chase in The Globe and Mail reports on the Canadian government's upcoming efforts to mark the War of 1812's two-hundredth anniversary.