Eryan Cobham

Nothing made slavery’s toxicity more obvious to Union troops than its effect on the fundamental unit of society, the family. For one thing, slave sales separated families. In the Upper South, where many Union soldiers were stationed in 1861, about one in three first marriages was broken by sale, and about half of all slave children were separated from at least one parent. 129 With their own eyes, soldiers saw slavery snap bonds between parents and children. The men of the Seventh Wisconsin were awakened by gunshots one November night. The following day, soldiers “learned, and saw the cause of the alarm in the form of two negro women—a mother and a daughter.” The pair had fled to Union lines to avoid the proposed sale of the “goodlooking” daughter into the so-called fancy trade, which soldiers viewed as a form of concubinage. Outraged by the plight and moved by the vulnerability of the mother and daughter, “every private in the ranks” cursed “that system which tramples on the honor of man, and makes merchandise of the virtue of women,” according to one member of the regiment. 130 When an Iowan encountered a young child about to be sold by her own father, who was also her master, he vowed, “By G–d I’ll fight till hell freezes over and then I’ll cut the ice and fight on.” 131

from chandra manning's wonderful book "what this cruel war was over"

much easier to understand the sheer bloody intensity of the civil war when you have a good grasp on just how terrible slavery was.

LLM’s have created the concept of “herd vulnerability” in that we’re speed running a test of what proportion of a populous can have their brains pickled before the entire society is completely fucked.

bragging about being a giant pussy is integral to the conservative mindset

#ReleaseTheCuomoList

This man "eric adams really be doing everytjing but his fuckin job" hillarious give home girl a follow on insta

Between social media, public-private chat spaces (think ClubHouse, Twitter Spaces), and now LLMs; the billionaires and many other people have nearly perfected the sociotechnology for cooking one’s own brain in a groupthink counter-knowledge stew—which increasingly seems not accidental??

They been having way too many blowout losses like this in this season. Nobody else wanted to shoot?

It’s ridiculous how so many people that have done nothing to deserve any money will be in your inboxes begging for cash.

two men are standing next to each other in a living room . one of the men is holding a jacket over his shoulder . Alt: Uncle Phil saying "We" over and over and cracking himself up

Y'all: we have to welcome Trump voters into the tent!

Me:

but what do you really think brad lander hellgatenyc.com/brad-lander-...

Clarence Thomas Secretly Accepted Luxury Trips From Major GOP Donor Island-hopping on a superyacht. Private jet rides around the world. The undisclosed gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the Supreme Court. “It’s incomprehensible to me tha...

Every time the Supreme Court dumps a load of decisions right before heading off for vacation, I'm reminded of how Clarence Thomas marked the conclusion of one SCOTUS session by boarding a private jet to Indonesia where he and Ginny island-hopped aboard Harlan Crow's 162-foot superyacht:

i am simply asking the press to cover the government sending masked thugs to rip people from their crying children and shipping them to a foreign concentration camp with the same ferocity they cover a trans kid playing jv tennis in sheboygan

NANCY PELOSI: We must find the next generation of Democratic leadership. Young, charismatic and exciting candidates who can energize the party. People that voters love because they're not 80 years old and sold out to big capital.

CHUCK SCHUMER (behind sniper rifle): Found one

PELOSI: Take the shot

When reactionaries rail about “crime” or especially “urban crime” what they actually mean is visible poverty (unhoused people) and neoliberal rot (vacant storefronts).

Actual crime might literally be at its lowest point, ever.

imagine watching a small child struggle to breathe because of a measles infection and then going on your radio show to explain that the “human body was designed to fight measles” with the clear implication that if you die your body just wasn’t good enough.

‘I Feel Like I’ve Been Lied To’: When a Measles Outbreak Hits Home

i almost can’t read this it makes me so angry. delusional grifters with purity fetishes and eugenic worldviews have brought pain, suffering and death to children www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...

You have more in common with the average Iranian citizen than you do with the people that run this country

one reason this is important is that it makes so much about the period more emotionally legible. when lafayette is asking washington why he won’t just free his slaves, it isn’t an abstract thing; dude is literally at mount vernon and seeing all of these human beings in bondage!

this is such an important point. i do not think that the typical american understands that for most of their lives, someone like james madison or george washington or thomas jefferson was *surrounded* by black people.

The Iraq war cost $2 billion dollars a week. A week!

I think we can afford a little Juneteenth.

Always money to increase human suffering, never any money to increase happiness and joy.

Think about what it says to talk about a 67 year old, even leaving aside how awful he is, as “the future” of anything.

Solipsistic octogenarian cowards anointing a Medicare-eligible ex-governor who resigned in disgrace the future captain of the sinking ship. What a party.

I’m doing history content on YouTube. This is my latest video! Like and subscribe if you want to see more! And what should I tackle next? I am thinking of doing a video on the varieties of antislavery in antebellum America. Maybe also the 3/5ths Compromise?

TY @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social for saying it louder: The subway is not scary open.substack.com/pub/howthing...

The only reason Republicans have a reputation as "fiscal hawks" is that the press refuses to tell the public basic facts about what they do when they are in office.

The battle cry of the Very Serious Centrist:

"We can not have nice things!"

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie Nerd Stuff: What was Jim Crow?

did a video on jim crow as part of my american history series on youtube youtu.be/FdCf0rQmY-s