American History / Studies

CFP: Material culture caucus at American Studies 2019

Hi, all:

Please see a call below for papers, panels, and other presentations at next year's ASA conference in Hawaii.

Call for Participation: Material Culture Caucus at 2019 ASA Conference

Call for Roundtable Participants: American Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa, November 7-10, 2019

American Studies Association Annual Meeting: “Build As We Fight”

November 7-10, 2019, Honolulu, Hawai'i

CFP: Narrative & Nostalgia - Conference Virginia Tech - March 2019

Michel-Rolph Trouillot closed his 1995 Silencing the Past by reminding us that “History doesn’t belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it in their own hands.” This is nowhere more true than in two historical periods seldom in conversation - the 11th-century phenomenon called the Crusades, and the 19th-century American Civil War.

Re: A-bomb motivation

I've always thought the simplest answer to any questions about use of the A-Bombs is in the records of the Imperial Japanese Council. Where the fanatic war generals headed by Tojo were determined to not surrender, and had figured that they could make the invasion they knew was coming so bloody that the Americans would have to settle for terms other than unconditional surrender. Even after the first bomb fell, they would not change, three days later the second fell, and still they argued.

Re: A-bomb motivation

I wholly endorse recommendations to look into the books by Richard Franks and Wilson Miscamble. My belief is that from the outset there was no doubt in the minds of American military decision-makers from the President on down, that when the weapon became available it would be used against whichever Axis power posed the greatest threat. When it was weaponized on the heels of the Okinawa campaign, which generated devastating loss of life on both sides, the decision to use it against Japan was inevitable.