The Influence of Native Americans on the US

The Iroquois Confederacy influences the Constitution!

Review of chapters on the late colonial period

The competition with the French, the drive for settlement beyond the Appalachians, and struggles with the British.

Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton

I’m not sure how historically accurate the legos are.

And then some music videos were just stupid. But we still loved them.

Thank you Alex, for polluting my eardrums again and finding this.

This was probably the inspiration for Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign against drugs.

Video: The attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan

A little over two months after his inauguration, Ronald Reagan was leaving a Washington hotel after addressing leaders of the AFL-CIO. John Hinckley Jr., hoping to attract the attention of the actress Jodie Foster, fired six shots, wounding four other men including Press Secretary James Brady, who was hit in the head; DC policeman Thomas Delahanty, who was shot in the neck; Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy was shot in the abdomen; and with the last shot Reagan was wounded by a ricochet which went through his armpit into his lungs near his heart. The .22 caliber ammunition Hinckley used was designed to explode and fracture upon impact for maximum damage.

Ever the joker, Reagan joked before being operated upon that he hoped that all of the doctors were Republicans.

No one was killed, although James Brady was permanently disabled, and he and his wife went on to found the Brady Foundation to try to limit the availability of guns for those with mental illness (such as Hinckley).  Their advocacy was instrumental in obtaining the passage of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1984, which mandated background checks of people attempting to buy firearms from gun shops.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and public outrage over this led to severe limitations on the use of the insanity defense. Hinckley has been confined to a mental institution since his conviction, although he is allowed to visit his parents’ home for ten days at a time.

Pictures from the Iranian Hostage Crisis

Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/04/middle_east_iran_hostage_crisis/html/1.stm

There is a good scrolling gallery about the Iranian hostage crisis from the BBC. It also has a good summary of the crisis, and includes pictures of the failed rescue mission launched by President Carter.

Controversies over photography in the Vietnam Era

Here is the story of the retouched photo from Kent State: http://petapixel.com/2012/08/29/the-kent-state-massacre-photo-and-the-case-of-the-missing-pole/

Here is a video interviewing a photographer who took a photo of an SVA colonel executing a prisoner of war, and discussing the fallout from the picture.

Kim Phuc, subject of iconic picture of the Vietnam era, speaks 40 years later

Go to this link: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-napalm-girl-photo-vietnam-war-turns-40-210339788.html

Remember, for more pictures of the Vietnam era, go to this post here: http://historyscoop.com/2014/04/14/images-of-the-vietnam-era/

Music of the 1960s and 1970s protest era

“Big Yellow Taxi”– Joni Mitchell wrote this song in response to environmental concerns such as those found in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring:

They paved paradise- put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot SPOT
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

They took all the trees And put them in a tree museum
Then they charged the people A dollar and a half just to see ’em
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Hey farmer, farmer Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples But LEAVE me the birds and the bees Please!
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Late last night I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi took away my old man
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

I said Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Ha ha ha ha.

“Blowin’ in the Wind”– written by Bob Dylan, performed by Peter, Paul, and Mary
(Written about the Civil Rights Movement, as well as war in general)

How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind; the answer is blowing in the wind

How many years must a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind; the answer is blowing in the wind

How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind; the answer is blowing in the wind

“Woodstock”– written by Joni Mitchell, performed by Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young
(This video contains footage from the Woodstock Rock festival)

Well I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road
And I asked him tell me where are you going, this he told me:
(He) said, I’m going down to Yasgur’s farm, going to join in a rock and roll band.
Got to get back to the land, and set my soul free.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Well, then can I roam beside you? I have come to lose the smog.
And I feel myself a cog in something turning.
And maybe it’s the time of year, yes, said maybe it’s the time of man.
And I don’t know who I am but life is for learning.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong,
And everywhere was a song and a celebration.
And I dreamed I saw the bomber jet planes riding shotgun in the sky,
Turning into butterflies above our nation.

We are stardust, we are golden, we are caught in the devil’s bargain,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

“Ohio”– written in response to the Kent State Massacre by Neil Young ( a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)

Te lyrics are embedded in the song, which uses footage from the protest.

Assassination attempts on Gerald Ford

Yes, there were TWO of them: one by a crazed housewife named Sarah Jane Moore, and another by a crazed follower of Charles Manson named Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. Here is the video:

And here is the background: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Ford-escaped-2-assassination-attempts-Both-2481771.php