When World War I ended in November, 1918, Germany’s economy was in a shambles. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Germany was obliged to accept defeat and agree to pay a huge amount of money for reparations primarily to France and Belgium, owing to the great destruction and loss of life inflicted on those
INFLATION IN GERMANY AFTER WORLD WAR I Read More »
Ninety-three years ago on October 24, 1929, the U.S. stock markets went on a sharp decline that eventually fell by 89% of the all-time high of 381.17 reached on September 3 of that year. On July 8, 1932, the bleeding finally stopped as the Dow Jones Industrial Average bottomed out at $41.22, and didn’t reach
THE 1929 STOCK MARKET CRASH Read More »
In the early days of the United States, banking became a hot topic as some of the founding fathers were opposed to the establishment of a centralized national bank. Their reasoning came from Britain’s attempt to place the American colonies under the financial control of the Bank of England, that was seen as another act
CENTRAL BANKING IN THE UNITED STATES Read More »
After the American Revolution it became abundantly clear that a better form of democracy was needed for the new nation than what was supplied by the Articles of Confederation. But what type of democracy would this mean, and what could the framers go by? There was no suitable working model of democracy that could be
WHAT WAS NORTH AMERICA’S FIRST DEMOCRACY? Read More »
On December 7, 1941, U.S. naval and military bases at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii were attacked by Japanese Naval and Air Forces. The next day, Congress declared war, sending the U.S. headlong into World War II. But was the United States virtually at war before the attack? Neutrality Zone: Although hostilities were taking place
WAS THE UNITED STATES ENGAGED IN WORLD WAR II BEFORE THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR? Read More »
The United States Supreme Court has nine justices—one chief justice and eight associate justices. It was created by Article III of the U.S. Constitution that organized the judicial power of the Federal Government into “one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” However, Article
HOW DID THE SUPREME COURT GET SET TO NINE JUSTICES? Read More »
When the words “American Revolution” come to mind, so do the names of the major heroes of the time—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine, and so on. But there are many other participants who played very significant roles in the revolution who history has nearly forgotten. One such revolutionary was Robert Morris Jr.,
THE UNSUNG HERO OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Read More »
It should come as no surprise that railroads played a crucial part of the economic growth of the western United States, especially in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth. Railroads carried passengers, cargo, and mail, back and forth from midwestern departure points to the west coast. The
THE SANTA FE RAILROAD’S IMPACT ON GROWTH IN AMERICA Read More »
Thomas Edison was the first inventor to patent an incandescent lightbulb that was feasible and durable enough to be manufactured and deployed in an electric system. This was at a time in history when many inventors were looking for an inexpensive way to replace gas lighting. In January, 1880, Edison was granted a patent for
WAS EDISON THE FIRST TO INVENT THE LIGHTBULB? Read More »
In the United States Senate, a filibuster is a tactic that is designed to prevent a measure on the floor of the Senate from being brought to a vote. How does it work? A group of Senators (usually in the minority) will simply block the vote on the measure by the entire Senate by continuing
SHOULD THE SENATE GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER? Read More »