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The American Revolution

October 3, 2008

The American Revolution was a civil war between Loyalists to the British crown (aka Tories, about one fifth of the population), supported by British expeditionary forces, and Patriots (or Whigs) in the 13 colonies that constituted British North America.
About 20-25% of the populace in the colonies - c. 600,000 - were blacks. About [...]

Written by Michelle · Filed Under History 

Slavery in the Usa

September 21, 2008

Spanish settlements in the territory of the current-day USA owned slaves as early as 1526. Twenty one African chattel slaves were first brought to British North America ( to Jamestown, Virginia) in 1619. They joined white indentured laborers (servants) from all over Europe as well as Indian (Native-American) and Caribbean slaves. All the colonies legalized [...]

Written by Michelle · Filed Under History 

Thousands of Failures, but Thousands of Patents

August 22, 2008

Thomas Edison failed thousands of times before he revolutionized the world by inventing and patenting the incandescent light bulb. Because of his desire to create the incandescent light, he was one of the most persistent people in history. The invention in which Edison had the most failures, the incandescent light, was one of his most [...]

Written by Michelle · Filed Under History 

Terrorists And Freedom Fighters

June 16, 2008

“‘Unbounded’ morality ultimately becomes counterproductive even in terms of the same moral principles being sought. The law of diminishing returns applies to morality.” Thomas Sowell
There’s a story about Robespierre that has the preeminent rabble-rouser of the French Revolution leaping up from his chair as soon as he saw a mob assembling outside.
“I must [...]

Written by Michelle · Filed Under History