Professor Walter's History Lessons

If your work is done, why wait?

2012-01-13T00:18:50-05:00

On July 12, 1854 George Eastman was born in Waterville, New York. He would grow up to become the creator of the modern film camera industry with the founding of the Eastman Kodak Company and the invention of roll film. Eastman remained involved with the company throughout his life, but preferred to stay out of the public spotlight. He shunned the camera while other millionaires of the era took great effort to get pictures taken. Eastman enjoyed being able to walk down the streets of Rochester, New York without being recognized, even though he was one of the greatest philanthropists of his era.

He had a philosophy of, "What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are." He made yearly visits to Europe, spending significant time touring museums and expanding his personal art collection. But in 1930, he began to suffer from severe pain in his back. He was diagnosed with a degenerative disorder affecting his spine, and he set out to put his affairs in order.

For two years he endured the pain while depression took hold. He had watched his mother spend the last two years of her life in a wheelchair, suffering from the same condition. On March 14, 1932 George Eastman took his own life with a single gunshot to the heart. He left behind a note which read, "To my friends, my work is done. Why wait?"

-Professor Walter

A question of Constitutional power

2012-01-10T21:50:47-05:00

France was in a series of major conflicts in the last years of the 18th century, finally ending in 1802. They declared war on Great Britain as well as the bulk of the rest of Europe. The fledgling nation of the United States of America was put in a position where they had to either pick a side or declare neutrality. Due to the slow transfer of messages at the time, President George Washington did not receive news of the conflict until April 1793, though it began in February. Washington, who had been at his Nephew's funeral at Mount Vernon, immediately called his cabinet together and left for Philadelphia. After much discussion it was decided that neutrality was essential, going against the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France. On April 22, 1793, Washington delivered the Proclamation of Neutrality, threatening legal action against any American who aided either side in the conflict.

Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson thought that America should sell their allegiance, while Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, declared that neutrality was not negotiable. Further, there was a serious question of constitutional power: who had the right to declare neutrality, the legislative branch or the executive branch? As we do today, they turned to the Constitution for guidance. But there was a problem. The Constitution wasn't fully completed yet. It had been ratified unfinished.

The debate between the Hamilton and Jefferson was so heated that Jefferson resigned. Jefferson and James Madison took the debate to a series of pamphlets, which tested and shaped the new country's government. These pamphlets were known as the Pacificus-Helvidius debates, and they offer us an invaluable insight into the Founding Fathers' thoughts on constitutional power.

The debate continued but one year later the Neutrality Act of 1794 passed, making it illegal for any American to wage war with a country at peace with the United States, lending some congressional legitimacy to Washington's proclamation.

Today, adherence to the Constitution is at the forefront of public consciousness, but it is important that we look to the past as well. The Founding Fathers encountered problems with interpretation, just as we do today -- and they were the authors! So we must tread carefully before we declare any one interpretation as correct.

-Professor Walter

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands of the one part and France on the other, and the duty and interest of the United States require that they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers:
I have therefore thought fit by these presents to declare the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid toward those powers respectively, and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever which may in any manner tend to contravene such disposition.
And I do hereby also make known that whosoever of the citizens of the United States shall render himself liable to punishment or forfeiture under the law of nations by committing, aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the said powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles which are deemed contraband by the modern usage of nations, will not receive the protection of the United States against such punishment or forfeiture; and further, that I have given instructions to those officers to whom it belongs to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons who shall, within the cognizance of the courts of the United States, violate the law of nations with respect to the powers at war, or any of them.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 22d day of April, 1793, and of the Independence of the United States of America the seventeenth.
GO. WASHINGTON.
By the President:
TH: JEFFERSON

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

2011-12-26T23:17:56-05:00

The classic A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first Peanuts animated television special. It became an instant Christmas classic, winning both an Emmy and a Peabody award. Done on a shoestring budget, it became a holiday staple which has been shown every year since its initial release in 1965. It also defined the classic theme song for all Peanuts specials thereafter, when Vince Guaraldi's classic jazz music became the Peanuts theme song.

Charles Shultz, creator of Peanuts, was not a fan of jazz and objected to Guaraldi's song in the original production. Despite Shultz's personal opinion, Guaraldi's song would become synonymous with Peanuts and with Charlie Brown.

-Professor Walter

He was the orignal Ironman

2011-11-16T20:47:35-05:00

Edward "Ned" Kelly was born in 1854 or 1855 in Victoria, Australia, the son of an Irish convict. Kelly would become a symbol of the Irish-Australian resistance against the British ruling class, an Irish-Australian Bushranger who gained a reputation as a hero as well as a villain. A bit of a then modern-day Robin Hood, Kelly robbed banks, burning mortgages in the process. He wasn't just content with robbery and freeing homeowners from debt, however. His robberies, committed on horseback, were outlandish. At one point his gang performed horseback riding tricks for the captives inside a bank.

Kelly's downfall would come on June 27, 1880, though not in a typical fashion. During a holdup, in which he and his gang had taken seventy hostages, they had damaged some nearby railroad tracks. This should have caused a derailment of a train loaded with police, but one clever hostage convinced them to release him. Using a lantern, he waved down the train, averting disaster. A bit peeved with Kelly for the attempted murder, the police arrived in force to apprehend the outlaws.

Upon arrival they discovered that four members of the gang were outfitted with homemade armor. The baffled police were amazed to find that bullets bounced off of the 96 pound protective gear. No one is sure who fired first, but in the gunfight that ensued, terrified police watched as Kelly walked towards them in what they described as a "lurching motion."

It didn't take long for police to realize that their direct head shots were failing to stop him. Shifting tactics, they instead fired at his vulnerable lower limbs. All of the gang members died in the hotel that day, but Kelly survived to stand trial.

On November 11, 1880 Kelly was hung for murder. His folk-hero status helped him garner as many as 30,000 signatures on a failed petition to spare his life.

-Professor Walter

The world's most radioactive cookbook

2011-11-14T00:01:00-05:00

Marie and Pierre Curie have advanced the field of science beyond measure. Their collaboration led to discoveries throughout the field of radiation, including coining the term radioactivity itself. At the time it was assumed that anything as energetic as radiation had to be a good thing, and radioactive materials found their way into countless household goods. In one experiment, Pierre tied a chunk of radium to his arm for ten hours noting the burns it left -- and felt confident he had found a cure for cancer.

As we now know, long term exposure to radioactivity is dangerous, and may be fatal. The Curies would carry glass bottles of polonium and radim in their pockets, storing them in wooden drawers. Unwittingly they both became living guinea pigs in the effects of long term exposure. Pierre would die in a street accident in 1912. The distraught Marie would live until 1934, when radiation poisoning claimed her life.

Their papers were exposed to the same lethal doses of radiation that the Curies were, and as such have been stored in lead lined boxes ever since. Even Marie's cookbook requires the donning of protective gear -- and signing of a waiver -- to be seen.

-Professor Walter

They almost made it through the war unscathed...

2011-10-28T02:00:00-04:00

Throughout the course of the Civil War, most large cities in the Confederacy were reduced to smoking ruins. Mobile, Alabama survived mostly intact, surrendering to Union forces on April 12, 1865 as the end of the war neared. The city quickly returned to being a bustling seaport, with thousands of bales of cotton filling the warehouses awaiting transport to northern cotton mills. Additionally, approximately 30 tons of Union and captured Confederate munitions were stored in a nearby temporary brick warehouse until they could be moved into underground magazines.

May 25th was a very hot day. A number of recently paroled confederate soldiers and freed slaves were hired to unload a munitions train into the warehouse. The men were untrained, unsupervised, and went about the work in a "happy-go-lucky" manner, as reported by an observer. At 2:15 p.m., a massive explosion shook the city. A witness would later speak of the event:

"Suddenly, as if by some great volcanic upheaval of the earth, a black mass sprang into the quiet sky, and spreading its lurid wings, dealt death and terror for miles around. It seemed a writhing giant--gaunt and grim--poised in midair, and from its wondrous loins sprang bursting shells, flying timbers, bales of cotton, balls of rosin, bars and sheets of iron, bricks, stone, wagons, horses, men and women and children commingled and mangled into one mass."

Nearly eight city blocks were obliterated, as were several steamers in the river. An estimated 300 people were killed, and damages are estimated to have been around $5 million. The crater remained for years, a visible reminder of the catastrophe. The exact cause was never determined. Although some northern newspapers blamed it on former Confederate officers, most accepted the theory that it was the result of simple carelessness by workers handling wheelbarrows full of live ammunition.

-Professor Walter

The Reluctant President

2011-10-26T08:00:00-04:00

The United States was in a critical state. Factions from the South were calling for secession. During this tumultuous time in 1857, Mexican-American war hero Jefferson Finis Davis won the senate seat in Mississippi (the second time he was elected for this position). These tensions came to a head in January 1861, when Mississippi voted 84 to 15 to join South Carolina in the fledgling Confederacy. Senator Davis gave his farewell address to congress on January 21, 1861, and returned home to await what he believed would be an appointment as a high-ranking military official.

As Davis was cutting roses in his garden on February 10, a messenger arrived with a telegram. What he saw made his face go so pale that his wife, Varina, felt certain that some cherished family member had died. Thankfully that wasn't the case, though the announcement was no less shocking. Davis informed her that the provisional Confederate government had, instead of that high-ranking military position, appointed him the new nation's first president. Hoping the position would be temporary, and feeling a great sense of public duty, he took on the burden. Davis would lead the Confederacy throughout the war.

-Professor Walter

Jefferson Davis's Farewell
to the U.S. Senate
January 21, 1861

I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of announcing to the Senate that I have satisfactory evidence that the State of Mississippi, by a solemn ordinance of her people, in convention assembled, has declared her separation from the United States. Under these circumstances, of course, my functions are terminated here. It has seemed to me proper, however, that I should appear in the Senate to announce that fact to my associates, and I will say but very little more. The occasion does not invite me to go into argument; and my physical condition would not permit me to do so, if it were otherwise; and yet it seems to become me to say something on the part of the State I here represent on an occasion as solemn as this.

It is known to Senators who have served with me here that I have for many years advocated, as an essential attribute of State sovereignty, the right of a State to secede from the Union. Therefore, if I had thought that Mississippi was acting without sufficient provocation, or without an existing necessity, I should still, under my theory of the Government, because of my allegiance to the State of which I am a citizen, have been bound by her action. I, however, may be permitted to say that I do think she has justifiable cause, and I approve of her act. I conferred with her people before that act was taken, counseled them then that, if the state of things which they apprehended should exist when their Convention met, they should take the action which they have now adopted.

I hope none who hear me will confound this expression of mine with the advocacy of the right of a State to remain in the Union, and to disregard its constitutional obligation by the nullification of the law. Such is not my theory. Nullification and secession, so often confounded, are, indeed, antagonistic principles. Nullification is a remedy which it is sought to apply within the Union, against the agent of the States. It is only to be justified when the agent has violated his constitutional obligations, and a State, assuming to judge for itself, denies the right of the agent thus to act, and appeals to the other states of the Union for a decision; but, when the States themselves and when the people of the States have so acted as to convince us that they will not regard our constitutional rights, then, and then for the first time, arises the doctrine of secession in its practical application.

A great man who now reposes with his fathers, and who has often been arraigned for want of fealty to the Union, advocated the doctrine of nullification because it preserved the Union. It was because of his deep-seated attachment to the Union -- his determination to find some remedy for existing ills short of a severance of the ties which bound South Carolina to the other States -- that Mr. Calhoun advocated the doctrine of nullification, which he proclaimed to be peaceful, to be within the limits of State power, not to disturb the Union, but only to be a means of bringing the agent before the tribunal of the States for their judgement.

Secession belongs to a different class of remedies. It is to be justified upon the basis that the states are sovereign. There was a time when none denied it. I hope the time may come again when a better comprehension of the theory of our Government, and the inalienable rights of the people of the States, will prevent any one from denying that each State is a sovereign, and thus may reclaim the grants which it has made to any agent whomsoever.

I, therefore, say I concur in the action of the people of Mississippi, believing it to be necessary and proper, and should have been bound by their action if my belief had been otherwise; and this brings me to the important point which I wish, on this last occasion, to present to the Senate. It is by this confounding of nullification and secession that the name of a great man whose ashes now mingle with his mother earth has been invoked to justify coercion against a seceded State. The phrase, "to execute the laws," was an expression which General Jackson applied to the case of a State refusing to obey the laws while yet a member of the Union. That is not the case which is now presented. The laws are to be executed over the United States, and upon the people of the United States. They have no relation to any foreign country. It is a perversion of terms -- at least, it is a great mis-apprehension of the case -- which cites that expression for application to a State which has withdrawn from the Union. You may make war on a foreign state. If it be the purpose of gentlemen, they may make war against a State which has withdrawn from the Union; but there are no laws of the United States to be executed within the limits of a seceded State. A State, finding herself in the condition in which Mississippi has judged she is -- in which her safety requires that she should provide for the maintenance of her rights out of the Union -- surrenders all the benefits (and they are known to be many), deprives herself of the advantages (and they are known to be great), severs all the ties of affection (and they are close and enduring), which have bound her to the Union; and thus divesting herself of every benefit -- taking upon herself every burden -- she claims to be exempt from any power to execute the laws of the United States within her limits.

I well remember an occasion when Massachusetts was arraigned before the bar of the Senate, and when the doctrine of coercion was rife, and to be applied against her, because of the rescue of a fugitive slave in Boston. My opinion then was the same that it is now. Not in a spirit of egotism, but to show that I am not influenced in my opinions because the case is my own, I refer to that time and that occasion as containing the opinion which I then entertained, and on which my present conduct is based. I then said that if Massachusetts -- following her purpose through a stated line of conduct -- chose to take the last step, which separates her from the Union, it is her right to go, and I will neither vote one dollar nor one man to coerce her back; but I will say to her, Godspeed, in memory of the kind associations which once existed between her and the other States.

It has been a conviction of pressing necessity -- it has been a belief that we are to be deprived in the Union of the rights which our fathers bequeathed to us -- which has brought Mississippi to her present decision. She has heard proclaimed the theory that all men are created free and equal, and this made the basis of an attack upon her social institutions; and the sacred Declaration of Independence has been invoked to maintain the position of the equality of the races. That Declaration is to be construed by the circumstances and purposes for which it was made. The communities were declaring their independence; the people of those communities were asserting that no man was born -- to use the language of Mr. Jefferson -- booted and spurred, to ride over the rest of mankind; that men were created equal -- meaning the men of the political community; that there was no divine right to rule; that no man inherited the right to govern; that there were no classes by which power and place descended to families; but that all stations were equally within the grasp of each member of the body politic. These were the great principles they announced; these were the purposes for which they made their declaration; these were the ends to which their enunciation was directed. They have no reference to the slave; else, how happened it that among the items of arraignment against George III was that he endeavored to do just what the North has been endeavoring of late to do, to stir up insurrection among our slaves? Had the Declaration announced that the negroes were free and equal, how was the prince to be arraigned for raising up insurrection among them? And how was this to be enumerated among the high crimes which caused the colonies to sever their connection with the mother-country? When our Constitution was formed, the same idea was rendered more palpable; for there we find provision made for that very class of persons as property; they were not put upon the equality of footing with white men -- not even upon that of paupers and convicts; but, so far as representation was concerned, were discriminated against as a lower caste, only to be represented in the numerical proportion of three-fifths. So stands the compact which binds us together.

Then, Senators, we recur to the principles upon which our Government was founded; and when you deny them, and when you deny us the right to withdraw from a Government which, thus perverted, threatens to be destructive of our rights, we but tread in the path of our fathers when we proclaim our independence and take the hazard. This is done, not in hostility to others, not to injure any section of the country, not even for our own pecuniary benefit, but from the high and solemn motive of defending and protecting the rights we inherited, and which it is our duty to transmit unshorn to our children.

I find in myself perhaps a type of the general feeling of my constituents towards yours. I am sure I feel no hostility toward you, Senators from the North. I am sure there is not one of you, whatever sharp discussion there may have been between us, to whom I cannot now say, in the presence of my God, I wish you well; and such, I feel, is the feeling of the people whom I represent toward those whom you represent. I, therefore, feel that I but express their desire when I say I hope, and they hope, for peaceable relations with you, though we must part. They may be mutually beneficial to us in the future, as they have been in the past, if you so will it. The reverse may bring disaster on every portion of the country, and, if you will have it thus, we will invoke the God of our fathers, who delivered them from the power of the lion, to protect us from the ravages of the bear; and thus, putting our trust in God and in our firm hearts and strong arms, we will vindicate the right as best we may.

In the course of my service here, associated at different times with a variety of Senators, I see now around me some with whom I have served long; there have been points of collision, but, whatever of offense there has been to me, I leave here. I carry with me no hostile remembrance. Whatever offense I have given which has not been redressed, or for which satisfaction has not been demanded, I have, Senators, in this hour of our parting, to offer you my apology for any pain which, in the heat of discussion, I have inflicted. I go hence unencumbered by the remembrance of any injury received, and having discharged the duty of making the only reparation in my power for any injury offered.

Mr. President and Senators, having made the announcement which the occasion seemed to me to require, it only remains for me to bid you a final adieu.

Secession Fever

2011-10-24T08:00:00-04:00

In April 1861, Virgina brought together its delegates to vote on whether the state should secede from the Union. Of the 31 delegates from western Virgina, only 5 voted to secede. However, the majority of the remaining delegates statewide voted for secession, and Virginia separated from the United States, joining the Confederacy.

Unionist meetings were held throughout the western region, working toward an ultimate goal of setting up a capitol in Wheeling. Then, just as Virginia had seceded form the Union, they would secede from Virginia.

The US Constitution allows a portion of any state to secede into a separate state only with the existing state's legislature's blessing. The new territory, which was dubbed "Kanawha", was able to circumvent this rule by declaring that the Virginia state government was illegal, since secession from the Union itself was not legal under the US Constitution.

In July 1861, the United States accepted Kanawha into the Union. The statehood referendum passed in October 1861, despite protests by pro-confederate residents. The Union Army quickly established a presence within the new state. On June 20, 1863 full statehood was granted, though under the name of "West Virginia" not Kanawha -- with the stipulation that all slaves must be emancipated.

-Professor Walter

For every revolution in technology, there has to be a first step

2011-10-11T21:45:52-04:00

Today we live in the era of the smart phone with touch screens and flip keybaords. But all of these devices can trace their heritage back to IBM. In 1992, at COMDEX, IBM introduced the Simon, made in partnership with Bellsouth. By removing the keypad and incorporating a touch-sensitive LCD,, it broke the mold in what was expected in a mobile phone. With a DOS OS, it also included an array of applications, such as a calendar, calculator, address book and world clock. It even had the capabilty to send faxes!

All at a price of $899, with a Bellsouth cellular service activation, and $1,099 without.

With a brick like shape reminicient of the 1980s and weighing in at a pound, the smartphone had limited commercial appeal, especially considering its price. In the end only about 2000 were produced. Yet this primitive device is the great-great-great grandfather of every smartphone on the market.

-Professor Walter

The finest alternative cancer treatment from Yugoslavia

2011-10-06T07:27:08-04:00

Promoted by Yugoslavian physician Stevan Durovic, Krebiozen was touted as a miracle cancer cure. It's chief U.S. advocate was Dr. Andrew Ivy, who referenced studies showing amazing recoveries in patients who injected the drug. Announcing the drug at a press conference in 1951, Ivy claimed that of the 22 treated patients, 14 were still alive and that those who had died had died of unrelated causes. Independent researchers, however, were unable to confirm any of the claims and published their concerns in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Ivy claimed that there was a conspiracy against the drug and dismissed the report. Afterward, the Krebiozen Research Foundation was founded by Durovic, with Ivy as president.

In 1959 Ivy began to sell his version under the name Carcalon and by 1963 some 5,000 patients were being treated with the drug. Many were convinced that they would have died without the medication, leading some politicians to begin promoting it. At the time the U.S. Government did not monitor the effectiveness of drugs and, despite mounting evidence that Carcalon was, at best, ineffectual in fighting cancer, they were powerless to take action. Until, that is, the 1961 Thalidamide scare prompted the passage of the U.S. Kefauver Harris Amendment, or "Drug Efficacy Amendment," an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This new law required drug makers to provide proof of effectiveness and safety of drugs and regulated advertising.

The newly empowered FDA set their sites on Carcalon. Despite congressional hearings and cries from the public of the government overstepping their authority, an investigation began. Initial attempts by the National Cancer Institute to procure samples were met with resistance from Durovic, who proposed selling Krebiozen to them for $170,000 per gram. Eventually samples were released for free. Analysis determined that Krebiozen contained mineral oil and creatine monohydrate. Examinations of samples collected prior to that point found that in some the creatine monohydrate was not even present.

As the evidence that the drug was ineffective mounted, public sentiment began to change. Criminal charges were brought against Ivy and others. After eight days of deliberation the defendants were acquitted, though the decision was a legal one and not based on medical facts.

-Professor Walter

Professor Walter's History Lessons

If your work is done, why wait?

A question of Constitutional power

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

He was the orignal Ironman

The world's most radioactive cookbook

They almost made it through the war unscathed...

The Reluctant President

Jefferson Davis's Farewellto the U.S. SenateJanuary 21, 1861

Secession Fever

For every revolution in technology, there has to be a first step

The finest alternative cancer treatment from Yugoslavia

Jefferson Davis's Farewell
to the U.S. Senate
January 21, 1861