Today marks the anniversary of the Battle of Little Bighorn.  The battle was the most famous event Great Sioux War of 1876.   In it, Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho warriors led by Crazy Horse and Chief Gall annihilated the U.S. Seventh Calvary under the command of George Armstrong Custer.  

To learn more about the Battle of Little Bighorn, try the following resources:

• Battle of Little Bighorn (Stanford History Education Group)
• How the Battle of Little Bighorn Was Won (Smithsonian Magazine)
• Little Bighorn, A Place of Reflection (National Park Service)
• Little Bighorn Battle Reenactment (C-SPAN)
• The Battle of Little Bighorn, 1876 (Eyewitness to History)

All of my posts on Native Americans can be found here.
All of my posts on westward expansion can be found here.

This summer marks the 55th anniversary of Freedom Summer, a campaign aimed at dramatically increasing voter registration in Mississippi. For ten weeks, more than 1000 student volunteers from around the country joined local organizers to set up dozens of Freedom Schools, Freedom Houses, and community centers in small towns throughout the state. They faced abuse and constant harassment from Mississippi's white population, culminating in a series of violent attacks, false arrests, and the murder of at least three civil rights activists.

To learn more about Freedom Summer and the murder of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, try the following resources:

• ​Background on Freedom Summer (National Museum of American History)
• Ending 50 Years of Silence about Mississippi's Freedom Summer (The Atlantic)
• Freedom Summer (History Channel)
• Freedom Summer (American Experience)
• Freedom Summer: 50 Years Later (The Clarion-Ledger)
• 'Freedom Summer' 2014: Column (USA Today)
• Mississippi Marks 50 Years Since History-Changing 'Freedom Summer' (NPR)
• Retracing a Summer of Terror--And Freedom (CNN)
• The Mississippi Freedom Summer Project (CBS News)

In addition, all of my posts about civil rights can be found here.

On this day in 1812, President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain, the first such action in American history.  And while no territory changed hands has a result of the conflict, it did inspire the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and and usher in the so-called "Era of Good Feelings" in American political history.

To learn more about the War of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner, try the following resources:

• A Guide to the War of 1812 (Library of Congress)
• A Sailor's Life for Me! (USS Constitution Museum)
• Star-Spangled Banner & the War of 1812 (Smithsonian)
• The War of 1812 (Archives of Ontario)
• The War of 1812 (History Animated)
• The War of 1812 (PBS)
• The War of 1812: 200 Years Later (Smithsonian Magazine)
• The War of 1812: Still Seeking a Little Respect (Washington Post)
• The Whitewashed War (Foreign Policy)
• Treaty of Ghent (Library of Congress)
• War of 1812 in History and Memory (C-SPAN)

On this day in 1972, five men were arrested for breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington DC. When this "third-rate burglary attempt" was connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, the scandal eventually led to the president's resignation along with indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration of 43 people - including dozens of top Nixon administration officials.

For more information about Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal, try the following resources:

• Did Any Good Come of Watergate? (New York Times)
• "I Am Not a Crook" (Herblock's History)
• Nixon (American Experience)
• Richard Nixon (Miller Center)
• The Watergate Files (Ford Library and Museum)
• The Watergate Story (Washington Post)
• The Woodward and Bernstein Watergate Papers (University of Texas)
• Time Covers Watergate (Time)
• Watergate Scandal: Key Players (Washington Post)

On this day in 1215, King John of England put his royal seal on the Magna Carta, the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects in an attempt to limit his powers by law.

To learn more about the Magna Carta and its effects on constitutional law, try the following resources:

• Examining the 'Great Paper' (New York Times)
• Meeting at Runnymede (Constitutional Rights Foundation)
• Treasures in Full: Magna Carta (British Library)

All of my posts on European history can be found here.