The Obits of William Walker, Filibustering President of Nicaragua
Born in 1824, Walker, who graduated summa cum laud at the age of fourteen from the University of Nashville, tried his hand at respectable professions such as medicine and law, but ended up as the embodiment of a mercenary movement to extend the realm of American empire south of the Mexican border.
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President Jackson Confronts France: The Spoliations Showdown, 1834-1836
For years the issue of unpaid indemnity – otherwise known as spoliations – caused consternation among successive U.S. diplomats in Paris as the French government refused to address it.
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Trojan War from Biblioteca Ambrosiana: The Secret of the ‘Bleeding Iliad’
The Ambrosian Iliad. This mysterious, illuminated manuscript circa 500 AD is an object of interest to many scholars, but also to art history lovers. Held today in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy, the Ambrosian Iliad is a real treasure, not only for historians and art historians, but also for every true art lover who appreciates the rare and the beautiful.
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Sparking a Third Anglo-American War: The Canadian Rebellion and Caroline Affair, 1837-1838
In 1837 former Toronto mayor William Lyon Mackenzie organized an insurrection among the farmers of Ontario in an attempt to wrest political control over Canada from colonial authorities. The rebellion received substantial sympathy and support from Americans living in the border region – particularly around the city of Buffalo – which used a local American ship the SS Caroline to ferry weapons and supplies over the Niagara River.
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Did Gothic Romanticism Criticize the Early 19th Century World?
Although escapism was in fashion, there was one interesting subgenre of Romanticism where the development was a source of inspiration for the story usually set in the past. That subgenre is Dark or Gothic romanticism.
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