The Most Democratic Bond Issue of the War    |   By David K. Thomson
  Following on the wild success of the 5-20 loan drive, the federal government attempted to maintain that success, but without one key person—Jay Cooke. When the question of an exclusive agency for the next major drive (the “10-40” loan, […]
September 22, 2022

The Tale of the White Horse: The First Slave Trading Voyage to New Netherland    |   By Dennis J. Maika
  The first direct shipment of enslaved Africans arrived in New Amsterdam in 1655. The voyage of the White Horse came in the wake of significant changes in the Dutch Atlantic. In this blog, American historian Dennis Maika outlines how […]
September 18, 2022

International Bond Sales During the American Civil War    |   By David K. Thomson
  It is a mistake to talk about the American Civil War in a vacuum. While by definition a war that was not against a foreign power, the conflict still proved of great consequence and interest around the world, but […]
September 15, 2022

The Rise of Jay Cooke    |   By David K. Thomson
  In October 1862 the federal government found itself in dire straits on virtually every front. Militarily, 1862 had been a year of mixed results. While General Ulysses S. Grant had made some headway in the Western Theater, the more […]
September 8, 2022

The Threat of a Thousand Dollar Breakfast    |   By David K. Thomson
  Slavery stood at the center of the American experience prior to the Civil War. From the arrival of the first enslaved individuals in colonial Virginia in 1619, the issue of slavery gradually tore the nation apart. In particular, the […]
September 1, 2022

John Romeyn Brodhead’s Hunt for History    |   by Jaap Jacobs
Over the centuries, numerous American visitors to the Netherlands produced travel accounts, filled with their fresh insights and observations as they viewed the familiar from a foreigner’s perspective. John Romeyn Brodhead is no exception, but he was not a regular […]
August 23, 2022