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ABS's New Award

Parkington's Notes

ABS Rating - American Colossus by H.W. Brands

ABS Rating - Ulysses Grant in War and Peace by H.W. Brands

ABS Rating - Andrew Jackson: The Life and Times by H.W. Brands

Autobiography as a source

Current Book: American Colossus - H.W. Brands

We continue our quest to read history according to H.W. Brands with,  American Colossus:  The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900. Since this book was initially considered for the Oxford History of the United States but was - for an unknown reason - rejected by David Kennedy, it will very interesting to see how different this narrative is from Richard White's, Republic for which it Stands.

President Grant

Brief overview of Grant as president: Positive Hamilton Fisk as Secretary of State Appointed many African-Americans to federal positions Signed bill into law giving equal rights to AA and Jews 3/19/69 Saved bureau of Education from being defunded in order to educate AA Peace Policy with Indians ·           Create a board of Indian commissioners to oversee Indian affairs and fight corruption ·           Moved Indian affairs to war department because of corruption ·           Sent troops to protect Americans who moved west with Homestead Act and Railroads Broke the Gold Ring with sale of $5,000,000 worth of gold Generated support for KKK Act against significant opposition – enforced it, too. ·           With help of Ackerman, put down KKK Arbitration over USS Alabama led to strong r...

The Context of Andrew Jackson and Indian Removal

An important piece of Indian Removal is the understanding of the context of Andrew Jackson on the frontier.  Ultimately, his arguments for removal are constitutional, but the vigor with which he follows through with removal can be traced to his context in the frontier of Tennessee. The formation of the opinions of Native Americans by white frontier settlers can be seen in the constant perceived threat that was posed by Indian attack.  Before, moving on, it is important to note that this explanation will not address the origins of strained relationship between the two groups - that's for another time. Conflict with the Cherokee in late 18th Century Tennessee Region: ·           Cumberland area lost a man, woman, or child every ten days... “Jun2nd, 1791, the Indians killed John Thompson in his own cornfield within five miles of Nashville.    June 14 th , they killed John Gibson and wounded McCoon in Gibson’s field,...

Jackson's Finished

Andrew has finally returned to his love, which means we are finished with the Jackson biography.  Stay tuned for ABS rankings.

Rachel Jackson Slam

Rachel Jackson meets up with Andrew in New Orleans after the battle.  At a dinner party, another guest describes Rachel:  "she is explained by her enormous corpulence that French saying, ' She shows how far the skin can be stretched. ' To see these two figures, the general [Andrew Jackson] a long, haggard man, with limbs like a skeleton, and Madame la Generale, a short, fat dumpling, bobbing opposite each other like half-drunken Indians..."

Rachel and _____, sitting in a tree...

Rachel and Lewis sitting in a tree, K-I-S... ...er... Rachel and Peyton sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S... ...er... Rachel and Lewis (again) sitting in a... ...er... Rachel and Andy sitting in a tree, B-I-G-A-M-Y First comes love, then comes a marriage, then comes Peyton, then leaves love, then love comes back, then comes Andrew, then love leaves again, then comes marriage (again)... *sigh*

That sweet sound...

Jackson chose the name [ABS] as a word that had "as sweet a flavor on the tongue as hot corn-cakes and honey."

Franklin By H.W. Brands - Final Rating

The First American:  The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin  By:  H.W. Brands ABS Ranking: Cranky Burr     3.4 Burrs =  Full ABS Ratings

Book Stack Since March

These are the books the ABS read in-session since March.  Ratings are coming soon. Franklin: (Ratings pending change in rating system) Hartford Chester Cornelius Parkington Stalin II - Kotkin: Hartford Chester Cornelius Parkington Stalin I - Kotkin: Hartford Chester Cornelius Parkington Hitler - Kershaw Hartford Chester Cornelius Parkington

Welcome Back

Well...we've oiled all of the nations ponds and we are now back after a loud clamoring from all of our fan.  I know that many of you must feel like William Franklin, but alas, the father (ABS) has returned to it's prodigal son (our fan). There's a lot to cover and much more in the mix - stay tuned.

Book arrival yesterday...

New books for Cornelius and Hartford: stylish, elegant, beautiful...the books, not the person.  The ABS recognizes Chester's version of Stalin as pedantic. 

Scary Hitler Quotes

Page 179:  "The broad masses are blind and stupid and don't know what they are doing.  They were primitive in attitude.  For them, understanding offered only a shaky platform.  What is stable is emotion:  hatred." Page 631:  War was for Hitler the essence of human activity, "What meeting a man means for a girl, war meant for him." Page 697:  "I already stated on 1 September 1939 in the German Reichstag - and I refrain from over hasty prophecies - that this war will not come to an end as the Jews imagine, with the extermination of the European-aryan peoples, but that the result of the war will be the annihilation of Jewry.  For the first time the old Jewish law will now be applied: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...and the hour will come when the most evil world-enemy of all time will have played out its role, at least for a thousand years." Page 777:  Though not a Hitler quote, Heinrich Himmler expresses Hitler's mentality in...

Book Arrival

Per the amendment found in ABS House Bill 001, the first shipment has arrived. Chester A. Worthington has selected to purchase through the Kindle.  A future censure will be discussed in the next ABS meeting.