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Livius, Titus. The History of Rome, Vol. I

Titus Livius (59 BC – AD 17)  was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people.  “Chapters from the Foundation of the City,” covers the period from the earliest legends of Rome  through the reign of Augustus in Livy’s own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian family, advising Augustus’s grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 BCE in a letter to take up the writing of history.

Feeling ambitious? Then read our most valuable (?) written source on Rome.

How Tacitus' Germania became the bible of German nationalism

It is no wonder, then, that the sense of being “not-Rome,” for good and ill, did so much to shape modern German identity. But the great irony, as Christopher Krebs shows in A Most Dangerous Book: Tacitus’s Germania From the Roman Empire to the Third Reich, is that it was a Roman who did most to define and crystallize that proud German otherness. Cornelius Tacitus, best known for his grimly disillusioned history of Rome’s wicked emperors, was also the author of a short ethnographic treatise on the German tribes, known as the Germania. This book, written in 98 A.D., was almost lost during the Middle Ages. But when it was rediscovered and disseminated in the 15th century, just as the Renaissance and Reformation were gathering force, it became something like the bible of German nationalism.

Read more of this book review at Slate

Here are some well-culled excerpts from Germania from the Modern History Sourcebook.

One Nation Indivisible?

Nationalism refers to an ideology, a sentiment, a social movement, and an approach to governance that focuses on the nation. It fosters a collective identity. In the specific case of the U.S., nationalism refers to devoting primary loyalty to the United States as opposed to a region or a state. As a corollary to this, the U.S. government, according to nationalists, should reign supreme over state and local governments.

Sectionalism refers to an ideology, a sentiment, a social movement and an approach to governance that focuses on the sovereignty of one section of a country. In the specific case of the U.S., sectionalism refers to devoting primary loyalty to one’s state or region as opposed to the “United” States. As a corollary to this, state governments, according to sectionalists, should wield considerable powers vis-à-vis the national government.

Directions:

Throughout the Antebellum Era (1789-1861) numerous events took place which led to struggles between advocates of nationalism and advocates of sectionalism. In most cases these are complex issues which can only be properly understood in the context of the antebellum milieu.
Your task is to, describe and analyze each issue:

  1. Describe the issue: tell the story. Describe the basic facts: who, what, when, where, and why.
  2. Analyze the impact of this issue: thoughtfully explain how this event contributed to nationalism, sectionalism, or both. Your explanation requires an argument about whether this event contributed primarily to nationalism or sectionalism.

You may bullet point your responses to the summary in part A; you must explain your analysis in part B in full sentences.
You may use your textbook and/or the internet.
This will be a time consuming endeavor which, if done carefully and methodically and thoughtfully, will give you a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by the new nation and the causes of the Civil War.

Here is you assignment. Take your time. Stop and think. Enjoy.

George Orwell: You and the Atomic Bomb

This George Orwell piece was originally published by the Tribune on October 19, 1945 within two months after atomic bombs were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan by the only country ever to have used them to kill people and destroy cities, viz., the U.S.A. Orwell had written enough about the same (re: A. Bomb) but this particular piece was exceptional for the insights it shared about the world dispensation that lay ahead in the age of atomic weaponry. In addition, it was clear that the groundwork for his novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four had been completed by this writing.

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 110–Chile

President Richard Nixon acknowledged that he had given instructions to “do anything short of a Dominican-type action” to keep the democratically elected president of Chile from assuming office, according to a White House audio tape posted by the National Security Archive today. A phone conversation captured by his secret Oval Office taping system reveals Nixon telling his press secretary, Ron Zeigler, that he had given such instructions to then U.S. Ambassador Edward Korry, “but he just failed, the son of a bitch…. He should have kept Allende from getting in.”

Peruse the recently released NSA files on Pinochet