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10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel Presents) [Paperback] Steven M. Gillon (Author)
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Book Description
Series: History Channel Presents | Publication Date: April 4, 2006
A companion book to The History Channel? special series of ten one-hour documentaries
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America pinpoints pivotal days that transformed our nation. For the series and the book, The History Channel challenged a panel of leading historians, including author Steven M. Gillon, to come up with some less well-known but historically significant events that triggered change in America. Together, the days they chose tell a story about the great democratic ideals upon which our country was built.
You wonĄŻt find July 4, 1776, for instance, or the attack on Fort Sumter that ignited the Civil War, or the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. But January 25, 1787, is here. On that day, the ragtag men of ShaysĄŻ Rebellion attacked the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, and set the new nation on the path to a strong central government. January 24, 1848, is also on the list. ThatĄŻs when a carpenter named John Marshall spotted a few glittering flakes of gold in a California riverbed. The discovery profoundly altered the American dream. Here, too, is the day that noted pacifist Albert Einstein unwittingly advocated the creation of the Manhattan Project, thus setting in motion a terrible chain of events.
Re-creating each event with vivid immediacy, accessibility, and historical accuracy, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America comes together as a history of our country, from the first colonistsĄŻ contact with Native Americans to the 1960s. It is a snapshot of our country as we were, are, and will be.
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A companion book to The History Channel? special series of ten one-hour documentaries
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America pinpoints pivotal days that transformed our nation. For the series and the book, The History Channel challenged a panel of leading historians, including author Steven M. Gillon, to come up with some less well-known but historically significant events that triggered change in America. Together, the days they chose tell a story about the great democratic ideals upon which our country was built.
You wonĄŻt find July 4, 1776, for instance, or the attack on Fort Sumter that ignited the Civil War, or the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. But January 25, 1787, is here. On that day, the ragtag men of ShaysĄŻ Rebellion attacked the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, and set the new nation on the path to a strong central government. January 24, 1848, is also on the list. ThatĄŻs when a carpenter named John Marshall spotted a few glittering flakes of gold in a California riverbed. The discovery profoundly altered the American dream. Here, too, is the day that noted pacifist Albert Einstein unwittingly advocated the creation of the Manhattan Project, thus setting in motion a terrible chain of events.
Re-creating each event with vivid immediacy, accessibility, and historical accuracy, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America comes together as a history of our country, from the first colonistsĄŻ contact with Native Americans to the 1960s. It is a snapshot of our country as we were, are, and will be.
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About the Author
Steven M. Gillon is the resident historian of The History Channel and host of HistoryCENTER. Having taught at both Oxford and Yale, he is currently a professor at the University of Oklahoma.
Excerpt. ? Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1
May 26, 1637
Massacre at Mystic
On the moonlit night of May 26, 1637, Puritans from Massachusetts Bay Colony attacked a large Pequot village at a place called Missituck, located near the Mystic River in Connecticut. The assault began on May 25 with an all-day march through solidly held Pequot territory. As dusk approached, the seventy English, seventy Mohegans, and five hundred Narragansetts warriors led by Major John Mason and Captain John Underhill reached the outskirts of the Mystic settlement, where they decided to rest for a few hours. By 2 A.M. on the morning of the twenty-sixth, the English were poised to put an end to the war that had been raging between them and the Pequot for more than a year.
With the aid of clear skies and a brightly lit moon they began their final assault. Mason and Underhill divided their forces into northern and southern contingents and attacked through the two entrances to the village. According to their own accounts, Mason led his men through the northeast gate when he "heard a Dog bark, and an Indian crying Owanux! Owanux! Which is Englishmen! Englishmen!" After removing piles of tree branches that blocked their approach, Captain Underhill led his men through the other entrance with "our swords in our right hand, our carbines and muskets in our left hand." The Pequots, initially startled by the attack, quickly regrouped and pelted the invaders with arrows. Two Englishmen were killed and twenty others wounded. Some were shot "through the shoulder, some in the face, some in the legs."
Instead of engaging the Englishmen, many of the Pequots, especially women and children, stayed huddled in their wigwams. Frustrated that his enemy refused to fight by traditional European rules of engagement, Mason decided to burn the village. He lit a torch, setting fire to the wigwams. At the same time, Captain Underhill "set fire on the south end with a train of powder. The fires of both meeting in the center of the fort, blazed most terribly, and burnt all in the space of half an hour." Dozens of men, women, and children were burned alive. Mason observed that the Pequots were "most dreadfully amazed . . . indeed, such a dreadful Terror did the Almighty let fall upon their Spirits, that they would fly from us and run into the very Flames, where many of them perished." Another Englishman who saw the slaughter wrote: "The fire burnt their very bowstrings . . . down fell men, women and children . . . great and doleful was the bloody sight." After setting the fires, Mason ordered his men to "fall off and surround the Fort." From this vantage point, they slaughtered anyone trying to flee the flames. The carnage was so frightening that Uncas, a Mohegan sachem (chief) allied with the English, cried, "No more! You kill too many!"
The light of a late spring morning brought into full focus the carnage that had been perpetrated the previous night. The Pequot were reeling from the most gruesome act of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by European colonizers on American soil. Fort Mystic lay in smoldering ruins. Dwellings that once housed Pequot families were reduced to hot piles of ash, and the once formidable wooden palisade that surrounded Mystic was burning. Hundreds of Pequots were either dead or dying--mostly women, children, and elderly members of the tribe. The stench of burning human flesh filled the morning air. "It was a fearful sight to see them," observed William Bradford, who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620 and served as governor of Plymouth Colony, "thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink and scent thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise therof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an enemy."
Major Mason considered his actions that day to be righteous, and he went to his grave believing that the violence at Mystic pleased the English God in true Puritan form. "Sometimes," he wrote, "the scripture declareth that women and children must perish with their parents . . . We had sufficient light from the word of God for our proceedings." Mason, like most of the English commentators of the era, framed the conflict in terms of savagery and civilization; the "civilized" Protestants of the English empire were asserting their natural authority over "savage," pagan, and dark-skinned Indians. As the last fires at Mystic burned out, news of the tragedy spread throughout New England. A new and terrible era had begun.
***
The battle at Mystic had its roots in the initial contact in the early seventeenth century between English settlers and native peoples living in New England. The Pilgrims, who arrived in 1620, had the good fortune of encountering Squanto, a Wampanoag who helped the Pilgrims adjust to their new world. Within a few years, however, relations between the Pilgrims and local tribes soured. No matter how friendly the initial contact, it could not alter the English view of natives as untrustworthy savages. Indians, preached Anglican bishop John Jewell, were "a wild and naked people" who lived "without any civil government, offering up men's bodies in sacrifice, drinking men's blood . . . sacrificing boys and girls to certain familiar devils." Over the next few years the settlers stole native crops and acquired their land. In 1622, a militia captain killed eight friendly Indians, impaling the head of the sachem on top of the fort at Plymouth as a clear signal of their power. The Indians had a word for the white settlers: wotowquenange, which meant stabbers or cutthroats.
Both sides were already deeply suspicious of each other by the time Jonathan Winthrop and the six hundred Puritan settlers arrived on the shores of Massachusetts in June 1630. Unlike the mostly male crews of fortune seekers and laborers that landed in Virginia more than a decade earlier, the Puritans who founded the Plymouth Colony came as families--husbands, wives, children, and servants--seeking to locate permanently. They came to America determined to create a "Citty on the Hill," a utopia where individuals would work in common struggle to serve God's will. Winthrop wanted to escape a decadent England, with its Catholic queen, beggars, horse thieves, and "wandering ghosts in the shape of men." The Puritan mission was to tame the wilderness so their commonwealth would "shine like a beacon" back to immoral England.
The Puritan families wanted land and access to all of the bounties that the New World had to offer--a goal that put them in competition with the Indians for local natural resources. Most Puritans viewed Indians as dangerous, temporary obstacles to permanent English settlement in New England, not potential partners in the development of a new society. "The principall ende of this plantacion," their charter stated, was to "wynn and incite the natives of [the] country, to the knowledg and obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of mankinde, and the Christian fayth."
The Puritans came to America prepared to use force to achieve their ends. The Massachusetts Charter instructed settlers "to encounter, expulse, repel, and resist by force of arms" any effort to destroy the settlement. The settlers who arrived in Massachusetts aboard the Arabella were told to "neglect not walls, and bulwarks, and fortifications for your own defence." They brought with them five artillery pieces, skilled artisans who could make weapons, and a handful of professional soldiers. Shortly after arriving they set up a militia company. All males between the ages of sixteen and sixty were expected to serve.
Within the first three years as many as three thousand English had settled in the colony. By 1638, the population had swelled to eleven thousand. As the colony grew, the Puritans laid claim to land owned by the Indians. As God's "chosen people," the Puritans felt entitled to the land occupied by native tribes, often using Scripture to justify the outright seizure of territory. The new land was an untamed wilderness and their job was to subdue it for the glory of their God. The Puritans also offered secular justifications for taking possession of the land. Winthrop created a legal concept called vacuum domicilium, which proposed that Indians had defendable rights only to lands that were under cultivation. "As for the Natives in New England, they inclose noe Land, neither have any setled habytation, nor any tame Cattle to improve the Land by," Winthrop reasoned. If they left Indians land "sufficient for their use, we may lawfully take the rest, there being more than enough for them and us."
The Puritans' most powerful weapons in seizing Indian land were neither laws nor guns, but microbes. Over the centuries, Europeans had been exposed to and, through a process of evolution, developed immunity to a host of viruses. Indians, isolated on a distant continent, had never been exposed to the deadly microbes and therefore had no immunity. Smallpox was the biggest killer, but syphilis and various respiratory diseases added to the death toll. Tens of thousands of Indians died in the first year after the arrival of the English. By some estimates, disease killed 75 percent of the tribes in southern New England in less than two years. An Englishman wrote that the Indians had "died on heapes, as they lay in their houses, and the living that were able to shift for themselves wouyle runne away and let them dy, an...
Product Details
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Broadway (April 4, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307339343
ISBN-13: 978-0307339348
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Past that Created Change, October 8, 2006
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Edward P. Matos "edmatos52" (Laredo, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel Presents) (Paperback) In "10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America", Steven M. Gillon writes about key events in US history and their impact on American Society. Gillon does this while paying close attention to historical accuracy and with lively writing that is sharp, descriptive, and enjoyable.
Gillon's book is about historical events that caused, for better or worse, long-lasting changes in American history. Gillon does not write about April 6, 1917, when America entered World War I, or December 8, 1941, when America declared War on Japan. Gillon does not cover the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy, which had profound effects in American society. The author does not write about the 1973 landmark case: "Roe v. Wade". Instead, Gillon selects what some may view as obscure events, but that are all important in the sense that they did cause unforeseen change in American history.
Gillon covers a wide range of events, from the slaughter of the Pequot Indians by the Puritans to the murders of three young civil rights workers in Mississippi. Did Shays' rebellion lead to the creation of the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislative branches of the government? Was the Battle of Antietam the beginning of the end of the Civil War? Was Elvis Presley the "founding father" of rock and roll? These are but some of the questions that Gillon wants us to ponder.
Few Americans will disagree that Theodore Roosevelt was the architect of significant changes in American history. However, would Roosevelt have become president if President William McKinley had not been assassinated in 1901? While some readers may disagree with Gillon's selection of events, his book will still make for interesting and lively reading - the reader will have to make his or her own assessment.
Whether you agree or disagree with Gillon's ten historical events, one thing is certain: "10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America" will give every reader food for thought with Gillon's wide-angle view of our past, our present, and perhaps our future.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An unexpectedly thought-provoking book, March 17, 2007
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L. F. Smith (E. Wenatchee, WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel Presents) (Paperback) This book, the companion volume to a History Channel series with the same name, is an unexpectedly thought-provoking book.
The series and the book spotlight ten days in US history that triggered critical changes in the nation's development in an unexpected manner. That's an unusual concept. It means, for example, that Lincoln's assassination is ignored, while McKinley's is explored. That's because the impact of the former is well understood, while the impact of the latter-- Teddy Roosevelt unexpectedly propelled into the presidency, the sudden change in US foreign policy to an expansionist mode, the acceleration of the Progressive agenda, and the eclipse of the dominant conservatism at the end of the century-- is not.
Obviously, it's possible to quarrel with the ten events that were selected for the book and the series. Is the slaughter of the Pequot Indians by the Puritans really a critical event? How about Elvis Presley's appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show? Gillion makes the case, and it's up to us to decide if he's right.
The book and the series were developed in parallel, not in tandem. That is, Gillon details the same events as the series writers did, but they didn't share sources. I saw only two episodes of the series, and there are differences in emphasis.
The book is brief, but Gillon is careful to summarize without endangering historical accuracy. The ten accounts are fast-moving, and the writing is crisp. The end result is a very entertaining and enjoyable read. At the end of every chapter, Gillon cites several sources for further reading. These include standard histories and source documents.
This book offered a lot to think about. I really enjoyed it, and I recommend it highly.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Just A Great Book, March 30, 2009
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Raymond H. Mullen "Trust others, but pack yo... (Shawnee, Ok) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel Presents) (Paperback) This was one of the most informative and interesting books I've read in some time. Every history buff needs to read this. Absolutely an eye opener. You won't want to put this one down.
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Published on October 6, 2009 by J. Hubble
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting
This is a really surprising book. I had no idea some of these things took place, yet they changed the way we all live, even today. Read more
Published on September 28, 2009 by sunny
5.0 out of 5 stars Great service
Thanks for the CDs. They were in great shape and worth the price!
Published on January 5, 2007 by Susanna Horn
5.0 out of 5 stars Events are vividly re-created
If the title sounds familiar, it's because the History Channel has a series of documentaries on the topic - and 10 DAYS THAT UNEXPECTEDLY CHANGED AMERICA is the companion book for... Read more
Published on September 23, 2006 by Midwest Book Review
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In your oppinion, did raceism and violence start america
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Mar 22, 2008
America's roots
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Mar 20, 2008
America = violence, race, pop culture?
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Mar 20, 2008
Can you come to agree that America was built because of white man's power in three main fields, race, violence, and pop culture???
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Mar 19, 2008
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