Thanks to Adam, I have been able to begin reading That's Not in My American History Book. It is a great book that looks at some of the finer details of American history that we most often miss. I like the format because the stories are no more than 10 pages, unlike the info in Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. In that one there are just a few "stories" that have exhaustive details, which is good in its own right, but I was looking for more casual reading in this one and have found it.
Part one is Stories lost between the pages.
The Wright Brothers did not fly first, Gustave Whitehead did.
Ok, there are actually a handful of others that were all making advances at this time, but Gustave seems to have the most solid success at the earliest date. The brothers got their craft off the ground via a launch rail on December 17th, 1903 for a distance of 120 feet. On August 14th, 1901 Gustave launched his plane from bike wheels for a distance of 2,620 feet. Not to leave any confusion in the matter, Gustave flew twice on January 17th, 1902 for distances of 2 miles and 7 miles in Long Island Sound.
Articles from the time on the issue.
There was a 14th state when we only recognized 13.
Back in the day North Carolina was big. As settlers moved further west and got attacked, they demanded that they receive protection from the state. The state responded by lopping off the annoying part. The now stateless part formed the "Republic of Franklin," in honor of Benjamin Franklin. The new state went to the Continental Congress to apply for official recognition and just missed the 2/3 majority vote that was required. This visit made North Carolina mad, so the state draws up the Act of Oblivion that graciously pardons the non-North Carolina residents from back taxes if they will just come back home. The Franklin government says no. North Carolina sends a full copy of all public officials, like sheriffs, tax collectors, and governor. The citizenry gets confused and Franklin governor John Sevier entertains a treaty with Spain for help. Before the deal is signed, North Carolina sends police to arrest Sevier. He is almost immediately broken out of jail by his friends and then gives up the fight for the 14th state. The land is gobbled up by North Carolina again... then when all is calm on the western front, they chop it off again and the Feds form the Territory of the United States of America South of the Ohio River. On June 1st, 1796 the territory was made into Tennessee, with John Sevier as governor.
Communists settled Texas.
Between 1847 and 1856, communists from Germans and France came over to Texas to settle. The towns of Sisterdale and Utopia are still around.
2 comments:
Woohh, that's crazy stuff but really cool! Where did you get the book? I think that would be a good read.
I got the book from a friend who had it as a part of his course work in his history major. He pointed out to me, and is completely correct, that the book is more story than history, based solely on the fact that it does not cite sources.
Still, once the reader gets some footing, they can look up the new names and places to verify the contents.
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