I have tried to humanize history, to introduce you to the people who made it and to tell some of their stories in new ways.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, MacDougall was inspired by the approach of two notable historians on the Michigan faculty: Professor Bradford Perkins, author of several acclaimed works on the Federalist Period of American History, and Professor William Freehling, noted expert on the Civil War and Reconstruction. From them he absorbed the concept that American History, when presented with humor and a keen sense of irony, can be both instructive and entertaining.
What I have compiled here are sixty essays on American History that I wrote in a whimsical way, taking up topics as they occurred to me.
Scan the essay titles and you will see many that will intrigue you: What could the Bowl of Cherries Theory of History possibly be? When was Boston a sanctuary city before now? Who was Miss Stone and why would anyone want to know about her? Was President Trump at all like his hero Andrew Jackson?
Some of the essays are personal, some sentimental, some illuminate little known people and events and some try to put President Trump into an historical context. Every essay is presented with the hope that readers will enjoy American History and see its value.