“We all subscribe to preposterous beliefs; we just don’t know yet which ones they are.” Why do bad things happen to good people? Has there ever been a satisfactory answer to that question? The people of Salem thought they had one–bad things happen to good people because bad people–witches–make them happen. Cow suddenly dies? Lightning strikes your house? Child is stricken with a mysterious illness? Without a solid understanding of veterinary medicine, electricity, or germ theory these may well seem like magical events. Is it […]
I have seen Goody Proctor speaking with the Devil!
We’ve all heard of the Salem Witch Trials. In 1692, fourteen women, five men, and two dogs were convicted of witchcraft and put to death. Another man refused to confess and was crushed to death, probably within earshot of his wife, also imprisoned for witchcraft. In his classic “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller referred to this time as the “coming madness,” a warning to us of the chaos that can envelop a community when paranoia and persecution intersect. It started with the kids. Puritan children in […]
Spoiler Alert: The Union wins the war
One of the hazards of reading a nonfiction book, especially one about a well-known subject, is that you know what happens in the end. Every time I got to a section about the Confederates, I was just thinking, “Oh, sweetie, this is not going to turn out well for your side.” Be that as it may, there were plenty of things I didn’t know going into this, especially as I can by no means be called a history buff. I knew that Lincoln was President, […]
Women Behaving Badly (i.e., like men): The Scarlet Sisters
Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee (Tennie) Claflin were two sisters famous/infamous in American social and political circles starting in the 1870s. While most would think of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony when it comes to women’s rights, suffrage and reform, these sisters were renowned orators whose lifestyle fascinated and irritated the general public, especially men in power. They were from the wrong social class and espoused scandalous (for the time) views on sex, women, the poor and wealth. And they were linked to one […]
Confederates in the Attic
Quick Synopsis: A writer travels through the south to explore attitudes about the Civil War Quick Review: A well-written account of southern uniqueness and Civil War history, worth it for anyone with an interest in the war or just southern quirks in general
Cruel Humanitarians
In Polemical Pain: Slavery, Cruelty, and the Rise of Humanitarianism, Margaret Abruzzo examines the contested origins of the idea of humanitarianism by investigating the proslavery and antislavery debates over the meaning of pain. This is an excellent book for understanding not only the intellectual development of the pro and antislavery positions, but also for breaking apart the concept of humanitarianism, to understand it as a contested and not static term. Read more at my blog…