Category: History and Civics

  • The Bitter Interregnum: How the Hoover-Roosevelt Transition Deepened the Depression

    The four months between Franklin Roosevelt’s election in November 1932 and his inauguration in March 1933 represent one of the most consequential—and damaging—presidential transitions in American history. During this period, the economy deteriorated dramatically while the outgoing and incoming presidents engaged in a political standoff that prioritized partisan advantage over immediate relief. Understanding this interregnum…

  • The Business Plot of 1933: When Wall Street Tried to Overthrow FDR

    In the Great Depression, Major General Butler exposed a conspiracy by wealthy industrialists to instigate a fascist coup against Roosevelt’s government, raising concerns about democracy’s fragility.

  • Using Comic Books to Explore Social and Historical Issues: Fall Semester in Review

    This fall semester, I took a deliberate approach to using comic books as teaching tools to explore critical social and historical issues that resonate with my high school students. Rather than treating comics as simple entertainment, I leveraged their visual storytelling power and cultural relevance to create engaging entry points for discussions about representation, identity,…

  • Book Review: Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer

    Ada Ferrer’s “Cuba: An American History” redefines US-Cuba relations, blending personal insights with rigorous scholarship, making it essential for understanding intertwined histories and contemporary foreign policy.

  • What If: The Caribbean Confederation

    A failed 1952 coup against Batista could have sparked Caribbean unity, leading to a confederation resisting imperialism and fostering democracy, transforming regional dynamics significantly.

  • King George III: The Monarch Who Shaped a Global Empire

    King George III, who reigned from 1760 to 1820, significantly influenced British history through military conflicts, imperial expansion, and personal struggles, shaping the pre-Victorian global order.