MF Blog by Mitchell Freedman

I rarely recommend bogs, but I am doing so now.  What makes MF blog so noteworthy is Mr. Freedman’s diligence.  Unless you report for a living, the chances are that your blog is merely an expression of your opinions.  This is particularly true if you are discussing politics.  Hence, we (and I have to include myself) inadvertently provide our critics with the evidence they use to advance the argument that the blogging community is merely a pooling of ignorance and is not to be taken seriously.  The links and documentation Mr. Freedman provides help to refute that contention.  You may not agree with Mr. Freedman’s conclusions, but he makes it easy for you to verify his sources.  I might add here that Mr. Freedman’s blog is not confined to political subjects.

I was at work when I discovered MF Blog and my time was very limited.  A post discussing Professor Drew Galpin Faust’s review of David Brion Davis’ book, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation drew my attention.  How historians have treated the subject of the Reconstruction of the South following the Civil War is a fascinating and very instructive subject because it tells us a lot about our racial attitudes, how they have changed, and how they are changing.  I noticed that in his discussion of Professor Faust’s review Mr. Freedman did not mention Kenneth Stampp as one of the historians who changed our view of that era.  I hastily left a comment saying that the only thing I would have added to the discussion would have been a reference to Professor Stampp’s work.  Mr. Freedman patiently explained that he would have included such a reference if Professor Faust had not mentioned Professor Stampp “as the ground breaker in modern scholarship” regarding this subject.  Now I was embarrassed about my negligence, and since I had some time on my hands I used the link Mr. Freedman provided to Professor Faust’s review.  I want to thank Mr. Freedman for his discussion and for that link; the review was well worth reading.

I have since read several of Mr. Freedman’s earlier posts.  He writes well about a variety of subjects.  That is why I have included a link to his blog.  It can be found under the heading of favorite blogs.  Hopefully, I will find some other blogs I like enough to include under that heading.