Articles written by Theodore Douglas

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About me - Theodore Douglas

Ever since I was little, I've had a fascination with history and its power to affect the present and future. In my meandering years through college, I found that what fascinated me most was how people came to learn about the world around them, namely the media.

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Arts & Humanities > History (Other) Why history can never be objective: 1 of 23
If historians had held tight to the myth of objectivity since the beginning to time, could we ever have learned from the past? If history is really a study of the past, and, to be more explicit, an attempt to understand the present and future through the past, objectivity is neither possible nor desirable. Look back at so... More..
Arts & Humanities > 20th & 21st Century US History Has Martin Luther King's vision been fulfilled?: 1 of 15
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's speech, given as Lincoln's massive statue sat silently in the shadows of the March on Washington on August 20, 1963, has been largely ignored by history. We remember his famous line that one day he hoped his "four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by t... More..
Arts & Humanities > Internet Writing & Blogging Should bloggers be held to the same code of ethics as professional journalists?: 1 of 13
When Paul Revere took to his horse the night of April 18th, 1775 to warn the Boston countryside that the British were coming (let us excuse how history exaggerates the tale), we don't read about how each family who heard Revere's cries asked him to stop and produce his credentials before they took up his call to arms. Most kn... More..
Arts & Humanities > History (Other) Why we should study history: 1 of 10
The most common answer to this question is that one should study history because those who do not learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat it. While the point is well-taken, cliches like this, perhaps calling it the motto of textbook history is a good way of thinking about it, make it easy to do just what one should... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US Politics (Other) The politics of outrage: 3 of 20
Turn on the television, radio, or survey the multitude of political blogs out there and it seems there's little other than outrage out there today. What happened to civility in America? What happened to informed debate? Politics has always been a dirty game. Back in 1804, when founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Bur... More..
Society & Lifestyle > North American Culture The legacy of the 1960s in today's American culture: 2 of 8
Americans have a curious memory of the 1960s. Look at the 2008 election. Commentary that sought to link domestic terrorists from the late '60s and early '70s to Barack Obama indicates just what we remember from the period. The 1960s are often portrayed as a time of rebellious youths who violently attacked the system or engage... More..
Arts & Humanities > 20th & 21st Century US History The role of the media in the Vietnam War: 1 of 2
"It seems now more certain than ever," said renowned CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite as he closed his newscast on the night of February 27, 1968, "that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate." His comments were in response to the Tet Offensive, the moment most scholars take as the turning point in the med... More..
Arts & Humanities > Colonial & Early American History Comparing the battle tactics of European settlers and Native Americans: 1 of 1
When European colonists first set foot in North America, they encountered primitive savages filled with an irrational hatred for the civilized white settlers who appeared on their shores. This is the image popular media tends to embrace when depicting the settlement of North America by Europeans, feeding into the mythology... More..
Arts & Humanities > 20th & 21st Century US History Origins of the Cold War: The challenges of postwar demilitarization: 1 of 1
Historian Howard Zinn once said that "War is the health of the state." When considering the relationship between warfare and society after World War II, the phrase is particularly apt. The demilitarization of the US military, in the face of perceived communist aggression, never quite happened. Not only did it make the cold... More..
Arts & Humanities > US History (Other) Does American history need to be re-written?: 1 of 1
To say American history needs to be rewritten implies it is somehow wrong, as if there is a way to be wholly "right" in writing history. Such an argument hinges on the belief that history is universal and based on objective truth. It is not, and never has been. Whether you're reading a Homerian epic, a medieval chronicle, Ch... More..