Posts tagged #longform
The Christmas Truce of 1914 and the Remembrance of War
The Christmas Truce of 1914 and the Remembrance of War

100 years ago, the guns stopped. After months of bloodshed, soldiers on the Western Front had a moment of peace. They opened packages sent from home. Letters and sweets were passed back and forth.

Not only did hostilities cease, but along sections of the front lines, opposing forces emerged from the trenches to meet each other in no man’s land.  Some groups sang carols and decorated trees. Others held religious services. Still others played football together. This was the famous Christmas Truce of 1914, the culmination of many weeks of unofficial ceasefires between opposing camps.

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Blog PostsJason Kelly#longform, #WPlongform, ceasefire, Christmas, history of war, primary document, soldiers, trench, trenches, truce, warfare, WWIComment
The Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and Antislavery among Manchester Textile Workers
The Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and Antislavery among Manchester Textile Workers

British support for the Union was no guarantee when the U.S. Civil War broke out in 1861. In fact, British neutrality did little to hide the fact that large segments of the population favored an alliance with the Confederacy.  The cotton manufacturers of Lancashire, for example, had strong ties to the southern plantocracy and the slave system it had established.  After all, cheap American cotton fed their textile mills and made them rich.  When the North blockaded southern ports, their cotton supplies were threatened. In turn, they invested in ships and crews to run the blockade….

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Blog PostsJason Kelly#longform, #WPlongform, Abraham Lincoln, antislavery, blockade, britain, Civil War, Confederacy, freedom, labor, Manchester, Union, United States, workersComment