Mr. Darrell's Wayback Machine » Core knowledge

Sinking of RMS Lusitania

Ed Darrell — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:29:36 +0000

We’re talking about the sinking of the Lusitania, and the role that incident played in getting the U.S. into World War I. The text book doesn’t do justice to all the implications.

Enlistment poster, after the sinking of the Lusitania

94 years ago, the German submarine U-20 sank the Lusitania, champion of the Cunard Line, on May 7, 1915.

World War I appears to have been a heyday for propaganda posters. Google up “Lusitania +poster” and you can find a wealth of recruiting posters and just plain propaganda posters. If only we had the time, there are a couple of lesson plans waiting in that search.

Note: Details on the poster: Artist, Fred Spear, 1915; “Enlist,” published by Sackett & Wilhelms Corp. Incidentally, this poster was pubished in Boston, in 1915 — two years before the U.S. entered the war; did this poster have much propaganda effect, do you think?

Other resources:

All Lusitania, all the time: Lusitania blog

Borrowed, mostly, with permission from Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub.

19th Amendment, women’s right to vote: August 18, 1920

Ed Darrell — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:08:50 +0000

Cross posted, with permission, from Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub.

Ouch! Almost missed it: Today is the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, on August 18, 1920. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify, pushing the total to three-fourths of the 48 states. (12 more states ratified later, including North Carolina in 1971, and Mississippi in 1984.)

The Amendment reads:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

One of the better moves our nation ever made, in my opinion. Abigail Adams was right; John should have listened to her.

Abigail Adams who urged the vote for women in the late 18th century; portrait by Benjamin Blythe, 1766 (Wikimedia and Millsaps College)

Word to know: Suffrage, the right to vote

And “Vox Day” and Ann Coulter are both idiots.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Reed Cartwright at De Rerum Natura.

On-line flashcards for history, and more

Ed Darrell — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:55:23 +0000

Studystack claims to have about a million different flashcards to use to review for tests, especially for the AP tests and graduate qualifying exams. Plus, it’s free. Good use of a computer, compared to most uses.

For example, here’s a page with more than a hundred different sets of study cards, all just for world history. Go enjoy.

Is Europe a country?

Ed Darrell — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:58:35 +0000

No. Europe is not a country.

Plus, you’d better know what country in Europe has Budapest as its capital.

Seriously — watch for this question on a quiz.

Also, see this story in the New York Times, “Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans hostile to knowledge?”