But first, coffee: The drink that energized the American Revolution
A consequential act of defiance secured tea’s place as perhaps the most iconic beverage of America’s colonial era. The Boston Tea Party became an essential ingredient in the recipe for revolution in the following years. But tea wasn’t the only hot...
The Fall of Vicksburg
When I was 19, I knew a much older man who’d grown up in 1930s Alabama. “We didn’t celebrate the Fourth of July,” he told me. “For us, it was the day Vicksburg fell.” Vicksburg, Mississippi, fell to Union troops on July 4, 1863. The...
News From Around the South, 6/29 to 7/6
SOUTH CAROLINA: SC militias fought for America’s freedom – who fights for their battlegrounds? As a boy, Rick Wise was hooked on military history from the beginning. But he was never told he lived mere miles from the pivotal spot where the backcountry’s “Swamp Fox,”...
July 4, 2026
“Which is better — to be ruled by one tyrant 3,000 miles away or by 3,000 tyrants one mile away?” — Rev. Mather Byles (1706-1788) Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? This conundrum,...
Nearly 250 years in the making, new Baton Rouge Revolutionary War marker vanished in 3 days
Three years of planning and fundraising to commemorate an obscure but major piece in America’s 250th celebration was wiped out in just three days. The story starts before the American Revolution. The British built Fort Bute at the confluence of Bayou Manchac and...Obiter Dicta
The Washington Post put it this way: Platner, before the latest allegation, faced scrutiny for old social media posts dismissive Read More
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SOUTH CAROLINA: SC militias fought for America’s freedom – who fights for their battlegrounds? As a boy, Rick Wise was hooked on military history from the beginning. But he was Read More