October 1857

Harper's Magazine archives (subscription required) ^ | October 1857

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from September 27 (reply #39).

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from October 15 (reply #41).

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from October 18 (reply #42).

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[colorado tanker]

Well, at least something went right in NY at this time.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from July 28 (Reply #55)

Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from October 19 (reply #43).

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Jim W N]

The concept of Adam Smith’s free market economy being a relatively new concept, I wonder if there was or is a non-Leftist, knowledgeable analysis the cause of the “panic” and how it took its course.

For example, Milton Friedman has pretty irrefutably shown that while the stock market crash of 1929 was a serious but inherently short-lived cyclical economic lurch, the Great Depression was solely the cause of government as the FED responded by repeatedly tightening money causing massive bank failures.

It would appear that thankfully the federal government wasn’t able to screw things up too badly in 1857.

[abb]

FR’s Larry Schweikart and co-author Charles W. Calomiris did a paper in 1991 on the Panic. It’s on JSTOR, so I can’t get to the full article.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2123394?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

[abb]

This looks like a reasonable article.

http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2015/10/crisis-chronicles-defensive-suspension-and-the-panic-of-1857.html

[Jim W N]

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

[henkster]

One thing I always marveled about Gen. Lee; at his age (mid 60s) he was able to live on campaign with his troops and still be physically effective. I’m sure he had better food and accommodations than the rank and file infantry, but still life in the field for a Confederate commander was a little more rough than staying at a Comfort Inn with no free HBO. This excerpt gives some insight into how he was able to do that.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from October 22 (reply #42).

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Tax-chick]

Ellie’s grandmother sounds like OldTax-lady.

[abb]

Some years ago, I read up on the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. There was an author who wrote a couple of historical fiction novels set during that time. Crackling good reads.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Bassett
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/library/clive.htm

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from October 26 (reply #52).

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Tax-chick]

One can’t help but notice phrases such as, “If it don’t come to life ...,” and want to scream, “Doesn’t!” However, I believe Mr. Strong is using a subjective construction, “If it do not come to life ...,” which has largely faded from use.

The only current example I can think of is the “were” in, “If I were Queen, I would outlaw teenagers.”

[MrEdd]

You always treat monarchs as if they were a plural, because they represent their nation all of the time.

Hence the “were queen.”

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Occasionally, when I simply transcribe a short entry rather than do the whole copy, scan, upload, download routine, I fear readers will think I have made a typo due to one or another of George’s archaic usages. “Shew” comes to mind as an example.

[Tax-chick]

No, it would be the same if I said, “If I were 20 again ...”. It’s a conditional verb form.

[Tax-chick]

I think he’s using “shew” as a verb and “show” as a noun, but I’m not certain.