The whole Clay family was nuts. I wonder how much trying to mediate between Cassius and his dad played a role in Henry becoming "The Great Compromiser."
@@lew115well if he was declared insane by that time🤷🏼♂️ in modern day that could easily end in an insanity plea, if the guy seriously was crazy & didn’t know right from wrong
@@lew115 It's the one thing I absolutely won't even try to defend. I won't even pull the old "Times were different then" card, because that's just fucked up.
It's funny you mention that. Django Unchained started as a movie about John Brown. For a long time it was called the "Untitled John Brown Project". Apparently somewhere down the line Quentin had a change of heart and came up with the story about a fictional character named Django who was a slave owner killer, just like John Brown. I often wonder how Tarantino would have handled a story like that.
One thing I love about the Fat Electrician is how he describes things. "he was putting slave owners in the dirt like he was Johnny Appleseed planting trees."
Chris, your reaction to the fact that Clay, at 89-years-old, killed two men, is still my favorite reaction you've had. The way your eyes widen in disbelief is literally everything. Because trust me. I'm right there with you. GODDAMN.
It was. Cassius and Brutus were the ones who led the Republicans oddly enough, against Octavian after the assassination of Julius Caesar. They lost of course and Cassius "fell on his sword" aka killed himself when they lost.
Cassius Clay should be revered as an American icon. Tough as nails, patriotic and a man of great principles. Great video VTH. Thank you Electrician for covering this man.
It's real awesome to hear about channels like yours and his actually taking the time to make a connection, have conversation, because it's very clear you are both passionate about history.
While Cassius Clay was ambassador to Russia, he witnesses Alexander II issuing the edict that ended Serfdom. He manages to commit Russia to actually backing the Union, with military force. Alexander II gave sealed orders to the commanders of both his Atlantic and Pacific fleets, and sent them to the East and West coasts of the United States. They were instructed that the sealed orders were to be opened only if Britain and France entered the war on the side of the Confederacy. The Secretary of the Navy wrote in his diary, after watching the Russian fleet arrive in New York harbor: "In sending these ships to this country, there is something significant. What will be its effect on France, and French policy, we shall learn in due time. It may be moderate, it may exacerbate. God bless the Russians."
MINOR correction - Whitehall is south of Lexington, KY, not Louisville. It’s an easy mistake for anyone who doesn’t live in Kentucky to make though. I live in the area and Cassius is local legend in these parts, especially the story of fending off the local sheriff with the canon at the top of the stairs. The house is actually open for tours and is especially popular during the holidays, both Halloween ghost walks by candlelight and Yuletide gatherings. Very glad to see Cassius getting his flowers. I’d argue, even though the name is well known, like Henry Clay, the story is in danger of being forgotten. Thanks for doing your part, and to Fat Electrician, to make sure it’s not.
I remember hearing that part of the reason why the Sheriff commented about needing an army was because a lot of the families of the slaves he freed lived there, and if they arrested him, there would, essentially, be a militia forming to remove the local government and let him out
What I love about TFE is the passion he has for history and his talent at telling an engaging story. Lots of people can list of facts in chronological order like a page from a history book, but TFE has the gift of telling the story out of the facts. He makes you care, both about the people in the story and about the fact that they have often been forgotten or overlooked. In the gravity well of the story, calling something the .....est X of all time is a bit sensationalist, but on the flip side, it draws you in, it makes you connect in a meaningful way to what is often a lost, forgotten, or overlooked piece of history. Sometimes, we need to forget the "well technically" and just believe in the story, believe in the Hero(es), and raise that banner higher than the others that want to raise the banners of people that should not be held up as heroes.
TFE seems like a pretty chill guy. Really entertaining videos too. As a history nerd, I'm always glad when someone helps to bring some of these amazing historical stories to the public.
From all the stuff I've seen he is definitely pretty chill. He's a host on the Unsubscribe Podcast and has lots of good history moments there too. And stories from his college history classes dunking on college communists, which seems to be his favourite activity
Wow. That was amazing. I never knew that - and I stood at his grave in Richmond, KY. My host family - it was an exchange year in High School - sadly never told me the entire history. Thanks a lot for sharing this.
Oh, believe me, I was in high school from 1999-03, and in my history classes, Cassius Clay was only mentioned as "a political general" and my only other reference to Cassius Clay was the famous lines of Mohammed Ali saying he changed from his "slave name". So what I learned from The Fat Electrician? Holy smokes! Keep on reacting to him! "Angry Old Veteran vs 700 Redboats" is priceless, he shouldn't have existed but did!
I had never seen this channel recommended for some reason---I clicked through to watch his video first, then watched like three more of his videos and subbed before remembering to come back here to watch your reaction. So glad to find him!
I know you comment on the civility of the history community here, but it’s cool to see how supportive you are of each other. Whether it’s your Oversimplified reactions getting taken down, or criticisms and critiques, it’s cool to see guys like you, The Fat Electrician, Mr Beat, Mr Terry, etc.. stick together. Personally, I blame the history.
Thank you for stating what the Bible really says about slavery! I can’t tell you how many times people say that the Bible endorses slavery, when in reality, it is acknowledging that it existed because it is a historical document as much as a religious one.
Hi you asked about something that changed our thinking. Mine was after i got out of boot camp from the army. I got stationed in the country of Panama. It was my first time in a third world country. It was about a month in country, me and a friend were in the city and saw a kid around 10 or so sitting on his front step holding an AK 47 watching his family's property. I couldn't fathem that honestly. It really woke me up to how privileged i was even being lower misdle class. Later in country i would learn about the huge what i thought were apartment buildings, but were actually housing projects with entire family units living in half a floor with another family unit living on the other side. The 2 huge family units shared 1 bathroom un the middle if the building. This was on all floors in this building. I have been to the slums in many cities in the USA and have never seen anything as bad as what i saw in Panama The only other country i have been is Canada, and that was before i was in the army.
You know ive been told no one wins a 1v3 and this guy 1v7, 1v10 and 1v6 and dominated the field. Left a wake of carnage when messed with. He brought knives to gun fights and made a statement multiple times.
Ok, well, you gotta look at "The Ghost of Bataan", "Old 666", "Sergeant Reckless", "US Navy's unluckiest ship", "McNasty", "Soldier on Meth", and "Grand Theft U-Boat" to name a few. LOL.
One of the things that changed my life was reading about the trail of tears from the native american perspective. I have a lot of cherokee ancestors and thought that i was familiar with the topic but reading some of the horror stories and then asking my great grandparents about it really opened my eyes. I still love america as in the people and the freedom, but now recognize that there’s always a paradigm on the topics that we’re taught in school.
When in high school I had panic attacks. My machine shop teacher sat me down one day and said something so unbelievably simple, yet profound. It changed my outlook on life and is still just as helpful in my mid 30s as it was at 16. "When something is worrying you so badly, ask yourself, is this issue life and death or trivial. 90% of the time it's trivial." I still apply the same filter/standard to anything I find concerning. It's saved me untold amounts of grief, fear and worry.
This was one of my favorite videos you have ever reacted to. I've never seen The Fat Electrician before, I went over to his channel and subbed as well as liked the video and played it again. Great stuff Chris!
something that changed my life/world view was going to the museum of natural history when I was like 5 or 6. it impressed me with how much humans have discovered about our origins and the history of the world.
I had a moment that has changed my life trajectory. I was doing a paper in English Composition, my topic was VA healthcare. I read a story about a young vet that killed himself in the parking lot of the Phoenix VA hospital, leaving a note talking about the horrendous treatment care and how that caused him to lose hope. Ever since, I've been working towards becoming a Ph.D in research psychology to research ways to better treat PTSD and Substance Abuse.
Clay was a huge proponent of the Bowie knife and in the fight with brown he was carrying it in a shoulder rig like a pistol, and when he drew it he twisted the sheath around. The sheath was tipped with silver and when he was shot the bullet was stopped by the silver tip
With this video, I was all over the Internet looking to learn more and more about Clay.. and had done so for nearly a full week! My favorite of The Fat Electrician right now is about Operation Praying Mantis. People on TH-cam jokingly refer to it as "The Proportional Video" which is very entertaining the way he tells the story. The other one that is super educational where I actually like, learned something, is billion pounds of cheese.
Absolutely. My life took a trajectory shift when I was very young. I went to work with my grandmother, who worked as an administrative assistant for a professor and research scientist. The scientist she worked for happened to have discovered what the Golgi apparatus does (didn’t discover it, just its function). So I’m sitting there in his office, annoying him, and he gives me stuff to do to get out of his hair. Long story short, there was a meeting I sat in on, and a question I had that I asked my grandma, which he overheard. He stopped and asked me to ask the question to the presenter (a PhD student). That question lead to a breakthrough in the project. Because I was unknowingly thinking out of the box as I wasn’t trained yet what box to use. I realized that day, that just because you’re not the most educated person in the room, you may have the best idea. Today, because of that day, I am a scientist, and I’ve loved what I’ve done every day (including the boring parts, lol).
Your intro into this alone got me to subscribe. The fact you were willing to talk about how you don't like correcting other TH-camrs on their content and were just very humble about it won me over. I will now proceed to binge watch all of your stuff
For me, watching the solar eclipse in 2017 genuinely humbled me. I still have ego issues, but seeing how small I was with my own eyes, got me to be a lot less self interested and more willing to help others. And it was also really cool looking.
Saw on Reddit (so unsure how true it is) that Ali's grandfather was freed by Cassius Clay. So Ali's father was named Casisus Clay, who then named Ali that.
In another example of how gangster he was (not in a good way), in 1878 he divorced his wife of 45 years for "abandonment" because she was tired of putting up with his many infidelities. In 1894, at the age of 84, he married Dora Richardson who according to newspapers at the time was 15 or 16 years old, but some records suggest may have been as young as 12. His children and the priest tried to talk him out of it but he mounted a cannon in the doorway to deter interference.
Sadly, this is true. We can only hope he was going senial when he made this clearly wrong choice because if he was not, then all the wrongdoing is his fault, not that it excuses the abuse Dora had to go through or changes anything.
Grant is from east of cincinnati by about 45 minutes or so. I am from there. And yes, you can see Newport Kentucky from Cincy with only the river betwixt.
Jon Wicks dog was his last gift from his murdered wife. It was literally the only living memory of her. That whole movie was about PTSD of soldiers and it went over everyone's heads.
In regards to Thomas Jefferson, people seem to be under the impression that slave owners could just free their slaves willy nilly and everything would be fine. In many places, it was _illegal_ to free slaves, and in other places where it was legal, it could be a long, arduous process of jumping through bureaucratic hoops and paying fees to get it done, in addition to the loss of revenue. Slaves were a tightly regulated form of property. You could argue back and forth about him all day, but it's definitely more complicated than most people think.
20:41 True, but not quite yet. The biggest problem for the Whigs in this period is that they are so divided over slavery and the reason they are is precisely because they are straddling both regions as part of the Second Party System (1828-1852), which the Democrats are doing as well. Both regions are divided thus politically and many states in both regions are close, but this only works so long as slavery question is "the repressible conflict" and kept off of the front burner in national politics. Once that becomes impossible, the trend towards regional polarization and the collapse of the Second Party System becomes inevitable. In the South for example you typically had this map: Whig States Democratic States Swing States Kentucky Alabama Georgia Tennessee Arkansas Mississippi North Carolina Missouri Louisiana Maryland Virginia Delaware South Carolina (State Legislature Elected Electors until 1860) Clay's difficulty over the Texas question cost him in Mississippi (which Harrison had won) and Louisiana. A lot of states were much closer in the 1840s, then they are now and it is more similar to say the 1970s in which the majority of states were close in Presidential elections. I am using 3% in 1844 as a cut off for swing state thus, with the exception of Mississippi, which was 1% margin in 1848 and went Whig in 1840, but had a 15% Democratic Margin in 1844. You also see echoes of this Southern Whig support as late as 1860 with John Bell who is very competitive not just in the border states, but also in some of the deep South states as well (gets 40% or In the North: Whig States: Democratic States Swing States Vermont Maine New York Massachusetts New Hampshire Pennsylvania Rhode Island Illinois New Jersey Connecticut Iowa (1848) Ohio Michigan Wisconsin (1848) Clay lost votes to the Abolitionist Liberty Party and this might have accounted for the margin in New York, but also maybe in Michigan, though that seems like more of a stretch and Michigan typically was a Democratic state in this period of the Second Party System. Lewis Cass is from there and will be the 1848 nominee and for the time the "Popular Sovereignty" argument from the likes of Cass and later Douglas is a popular enough position in many parts of the Midwest and also Northern New England (NH and ME, not VT). Once you get to Kansas though, this approach gets shredded and the Republican Party is founded "in the Upper Midwest" (disputed between WI and MI), and Michigan will be a solidly Republican state until the Great Depression and the unionization of the Auto Workers. The Second Party System is very much like the landscape in the 1960s and 1970s (excluding 64/72) in that you have multiple close elections, without geographic polarization and the states themselves are typically very close, especially the big industrial states. This "every big state is a swing state dynamic" would return in 1940 and continue until 1992.
i'm glad you mentioned that there were slave owners who didn't like slavery but knew of no easy solution. This kid i went to school with got in trouble in history class because he told the teacher that his ancestors were slaves but their owners never beat them. His father told me stories that were passed down that yes slavery was horrendous and that he couldn't speak for everyone, but from what he was told by his parents and so on, they were slaves, but were well fed and housed... harsh labor in the heat.. still not a good thing.. but it was far better than our history teacher led us to believe.. obviously, like i said.. that is most likely the exception to the rule.. but i have to believe on some level that some land owner isn't going to just slash the tires on his expensive tractor because it got a flat. slaves were expensive and a well fed, well rested one is infinitely more efficient than a dead one. disclaimer: not at all justifying slavery in any way... but we did get Bar-B-que because of it..... soo........
Easiest life-changing experience was joining the military and seeing the world. I cant understate how differently even just being a veteran has changed my views compared to those of my peers in so many different ways.
Steve Irwin(The Crocodile Hunter) appearing on The Wiggles changed my life completely when I was only 5. Now, I'm studying to become a natural resources manager and field conservationist(along with a passion for history). Thanks @VTH!
That man was taken from us all far to soon. May he Rest in Peace. He's one of the few people on television whose death actually physically hurt. Good luck on your studies!
It’s about time you start reacting to this lad! His video about the time The US stole the submarine from the nazis is pretty good and I now see where U571 got it from wound be great to go through both and see what actually happened?
I usually ignore ads. However, a Scheels just opened up near me. It is located in Chandler, Arizona. This thing is insane!!!! They have a full size farris wheel inside. A giant salt water aquarium with a guy in it all day who cleans the glass and hand feeds the fish. Mark Walberg was there a few weeks back. Famous people are always meandering the asiles. I hate shopping and even I can say their stores are pretty cool.
As a Kentuckian it can tell you our state has the CRAZIEST stories lmao 😂 As soon as I heard “Kentucky” I immediately knew some gangster, red neck, behaviors were gonna come up. We a bunch of red necks over here. God bless
4:22 Yeah, I had mine; when I read Rachel Jordan's novel 'Silent Spring' for the first time. I thought "Holy hell; my father drank water contaminated with this shit! And DDT was legal for use?!"
21:41 Well that still happens now to a big degree, maybe not as extreme as attacking printing presses but it definitely still happens. (Well, I say “maybe not as extreme anymore” but actually idk about that… because there’s been plenty examples of violent mobs on college campuses trying to prevent speakers that they don’t align with from speaking at said colleges.)
It is said that Cassius has slain more people in duels then any other man in history, i couldnt find out an exact number though, but this man had steel crown jewels.
Clay's daughter Laura was a leading southern suffragist, but supported it state-by-state rather than through a Constitutional amendment. She split with other more prominent suffragists over their support for the 19th Amendment.
A very informative video. Very nice. If you like this one, you’ll like the story of I believe it’s Jake McNasty, a pathfinder from the second world war, and the ghost soldier of the Philippines.
I hate to be that guy, but I've spend virtually my entire teenage and adult years studying the Bible, and it DOES endorse slavery. Yahweh explicitly encourages slavery when he speaks to Moses atop Sinai. Leviticus 25:42-44: "For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God. Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids." Moses later commands, with Yahweh's favor, the Israelites to take child sex slaves. Numbers 31:17-18: "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." Later in the same chapter Moses gives the high priests of Israel an "offering" of 16,000 people. Numbers 31:41 and 46: "And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD'S heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses: [...] And sixteen thousand persons." None of these are mere "mentions", they are explicit endorsements, either being given by Moses or Yahweh himself. If Moses had been acting against Yahweh's will, he would have said something like he did when Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it.
Speaking of moments that changed your mind, I grew up in a very conservative family that often just said things that I then believed, and when I was in high school I started watching people like you and mr beat that really changed what I thought about both history and modern politics, because people such as vth have taught me that history isn’t snapshot moments not connected to each other but moments that are leading to the next moment
It is worse than ironic that the famous black American boxer changed his name from that held by a man who fought aggressively against slavery, to one held by men who held slaves and perpetuated the slave trade. He said that Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was his "slave name," and so he changed it to the name of Arabic slave owners. One of the stupidest public stunts of all time, thanks to the absurdity spewed by groups like the Nation of Islam.
20:12 "So deeply divided his name wouldn't even appear on the ballot" ... who knew this comment would be foreshadowing of the Colorado court case? Wow!
I read years ago that Lincon had drafted the emancipation proclamation and then put it in a desk drawer for use at an opportune time. Now I wonder whether Clay's public refusal to serve unless Lincoln issued the proclamation was pre-arranged between the two as a way to give Lincoln some political cover with the moderate Republicans ... even the title of the E.O., "emancipation" proclamation, though it might have been more aptly named the "abolition" proclamation, forced the emancipation faction into going along with it because speaking against a E.O. named after them would've made them appear unreasonable.
Glad you liked the video!
Fantastic job. I learned a lot!
To quote TFE. Game recognizes game.
@@VloggingThroughHistoryhe’s got great content and more to come I highly recommend 100%
Love this crossover!
My 2 favorite channels combined!! This is the video I've been waiting for you to review since I first saw it!!
The whole Clay family was nuts. I wonder how much trying to mediate between Cassius and his dad played a role in Henry becoming "The Great Compromiser."
Stop talking about my kinfolk 😜. Kidding, talk away.
Dude, even his cousin was awesome.
Literally, "I'm gonna run for President. I want you to campaign for me, but just a little less murder-y."
I hadn’t considered that but it seems to make sense. Might do some digging and try to find something about that.
@@josephschultz3301his cousin was Henry Clay, the Great Compromiser
The dinner table must be a verbal battlefield every night
I imagine Cassius Clay’s life could be a Tarantino’s “Django” styled mini-series but instead everything would actually be true. This guy rocks.
.....apart from the whole marrying a child when he was 80, thing.
@@lew115well if he was declared insane by that time🤷🏼♂️ in modern day that could easily end in an insanity plea, if the guy seriously was crazy & didn’t know right from wrong
@@lew115 It's the one thing I absolutely won't even try to defend. I won't even pull the old "Times were different then" card, because that's just fucked up.
It's funny you mention that. Django Unchained started as a movie about John Brown. For a long time it was called the "Untitled John Brown Project". Apparently somewhere down the line Quentin had a change of heart and came up with the story about a fictional character named Django who was a slave owner killer, just like John Brown. I often wonder how Tarantino would have handled a story like that.
One thing I love about the Fat Electrician is how he describes things. "he was putting slave owners in the dirt like he was Johnny Appleseed planting trees."
Analogies are perfect entertainment
Cassius Clay "I Want Problems, Always!" That is the energy I always get from him whenever he is discussed
he literally wants ALL THE SMOKE. lol
Chris, your reaction to the fact that Clay, at 89-years-old, killed two men, is still my favorite reaction you've had. The way your eyes widen in disbelief is literally everything.
Because trust me. I'm right there with you. GODDAMN.
Can we just stop for a second to appreciate what a badass name Cassius is? Sounds like a Roman general.
It was. Cassius and Brutus were the ones who led the Republicans oddly enough, against Octavian after the assassination of Julius Caesar.
They lost of course and Cassius "fell on his sword" aka killed himself when they lost.
@@coltwest6858 Thank you for saying it, Colt. He's literally one of the most famous Romans of all time.
Funny story on that. Cassius Clay's brother and one of his sons were both named Brutus.
Cassius Clay should be revered as an American icon. Tough as nails, patriotic and a man of great principles. Great video VTH. Thank you Electrician for covering this man.
It's real awesome to hear about channels like yours and his actually taking the time to make a connection, have conversation, because it's very clear you are both passionate about history.
While Cassius Clay was ambassador to Russia, he witnesses Alexander II issuing the edict that ended Serfdom. He manages to commit Russia to actually backing the Union, with military force. Alexander II gave sealed orders to the commanders of both his Atlantic and Pacific fleets, and sent them to the East and West coasts of the United States. They were instructed that the sealed orders were to be opened only if Britain and France entered the war on the side of the Confederacy. The Secretary of the Navy wrote in his diary, after watching the Russian fleet arrive in New York harbor: "In sending these ships to this country, there is something significant. What will be its effect on France, and French policy, we shall learn in due time. It may be moderate, it may exacerbate. God bless the Russians."
Putin cited this in a speech during a summit with President Bush, showing the Russian/Soviet US cooperation went back to the 19th century
MINOR correction - Whitehall is south of Lexington, KY, not Louisville. It’s an easy mistake for anyone who doesn’t live in Kentucky to make though. I live in the area and Cassius is local legend in these parts, especially the story of fending off the local sheriff with the canon at the top of the stairs. The house is actually open for tours and is especially popular during the holidays, both Halloween ghost walks by candlelight and Yuletide gatherings.
Very glad to see Cassius getting his flowers. I’d argue, even though the name is well known, like Henry Clay, the story is in danger of being forgotten. Thanks for doing your part, and to Fat Electrician, to make sure it’s not.
I remember hearing that part of the reason why the Sheriff commented about needing an army was because a lot of the families of the slaves he freed lived there, and if they arrested him, there would, essentially, be a militia forming to remove the local government and let him out
Glad to see the two of you together. My two favorite Historical Channels on TH-cam. Well Done my friends
“World War Tree” is one of my favorite stories… by The Fat Electrician. I remember reading it in the newspaper and watching the news…
What I love about TFE is the passion he has for history and his talent at telling an engaging story. Lots of people can list of facts in chronological order like a page from a history book, but TFE has the gift of telling the story out of the facts. He makes you care, both about the people in the story and about the fact that they have often been forgotten or overlooked. In the gravity well of the story, calling something the .....est X of all time is a bit sensationalist, but on the flip side, it draws you in, it makes you connect in a meaningful way to what is often a lost, forgotten, or overlooked piece of history.
Sometimes, we need to forget the "well technically" and just believe in the story, believe in the Hero(es), and raise that banner higher than the others that want to raise the banners of people that should not be held up as heroes.
TFE seems like a pretty chill guy. Really entertaining videos too. As a history nerd, I'm always glad when someone helps to bring some of these amazing historical stories to the public.
From all the stuff I've seen he is definitely pretty chill. He's a host on the Unsubscribe Podcast and has lots of good history moments there too. And stories from his college history classes dunking on college communists, which seems to be his favourite activity
Wow. That was amazing. I never knew that - and I stood at his grave in Richmond, KY. My host family - it was an exchange year in High School - sadly never told me the entire history.
Thanks a lot for sharing this.
I think it is safe to say that anyone with the name Cassius Clay is going to be a badass.
Oh, believe me, I was in high school from 1999-03, and in my history classes, Cassius Clay was only mentioned as "a political general" and my only other reference to Cassius Clay was the famous lines of Mohammed Ali saying he changed from his "slave name". So what I learned from The Fat Electrician? Holy smokes! Keep on reacting to him! "Angry Old Veteran vs 700 Redboats" is priceless, he shouldn't have existed but did!
And he changed his name to Mohamed Ali who was a slave owner
The fact that there are two famous people names Cassius Marcellus Clay from Kentucky is quite confusing lol
3...Ali was II or Jr. if I'm not mistaken...so his dad was also Cassius Clay.
The family lore is that Cassius (the white one) freed Cassius' (the black one) ancestors that's why they were named after him.
33:53 not going to lie i never knew of this guy (Clay) until this video right here. So big thanks to you and TFE for the history lesson!
His videos are awesome
I had never seen this channel recommended for some reason---I clicked through to watch his video first, then watched like three more of his videos and subbed before remembering to come back here to watch your reaction. So glad to find him!
Humility is one of the defining traits of a good person, glad you have that trait, Chris!
I know you comment on the civility of the history community here, but it’s cool to see how supportive you are of each other.
Whether it’s your Oversimplified reactions getting taken down, or criticisms and critiques, it’s cool to see guys like you, The Fat Electrician, Mr Beat, Mr Terry, etc.. stick together.
Personally, I blame the history.
If you ever get a chance, Clay's home "White Hall" is preserved as a Kentucky State Park. It's located just off I-75 a few miles south of Lexington.
Thank you for stating what the Bible really says about slavery! I can’t tell you how many times people say that the Bible endorses slavery, when in reality, it is acknowledging that it existed because it is a historical document as much as a religious one.
Hi you asked about something that changed our thinking. Mine was after i got out of boot camp from the army. I got stationed in the country of Panama. It was my first time in a third world country. It was about a month in country, me and a friend were in the city and saw a kid around 10 or so sitting on his front step holding an AK 47 watching his family's property. I couldn't fathem that honestly. It really woke me up to how privileged i was even being lower misdle class. Later in country i would learn about the huge what i thought were apartment buildings, but were actually housing projects with entire family units living in half a floor with another family unit living on the other side. The 2 huge family units shared 1 bathroom un the middle if the building. This was on all floors in this building. I have been to the slums in many cities in the USA and have never seen anything as bad as what i saw in Panama
The only other country i have been is Canada, and that was before i was in the army.
imagine bringing a gun to knife fight and six friends and still having to run away beaten.
You know ive been told no one wins a 1v3 and this guy 1v7, 1v10 and 1v6 and dominated the field. Left a wake of carnage when messed with. He brought knives to gun fights and made a statement multiple times.
He talks in fluent veteran. It’s fast, sometimes broken and often hilarious.
Ive been watching nic for years and just found this channel recently it’s crazy how connected the community is
Ok, well, you gotta look at "The Ghost of Bataan", "Old 666", "Sergeant Reckless", "US Navy's unluckiest ship", "McNasty", "Soldier on Meth", and "Grand Theft U-Boat" to name a few. LOL.
One of the things that changed my life was reading about the trail of tears from the native american perspective. I have a lot of cherokee ancestors and thought that i was familiar with the topic but reading some of the horror stories and then asking my great grandparents about it really opened my eyes. I still love america as in the people and the freedom, but now recognize that there’s always a paradigm on the topics that we’re taught in school.
When in high school I had panic attacks. My machine shop teacher sat me down one day and said something so unbelievably simple, yet profound. It changed my outlook on life and is still just as helpful in my mid 30s as it was at 16.
"When something is worrying you so badly, ask yourself, is this issue life and death or trivial. 90% of the time it's trivial."
I still apply the same filter/standard to anything I find concerning. It's saved me untold amounts of grief, fear and worry.
This is what I love about your blogs Chris . Intro us to a guy we never heard of.
This was one of my favorite videos you have ever reacted to. I've never seen The Fat Electrician before, I went over to his channel and subbed as well as liked the video and played it again. Great stuff Chris!
Should definitely watch his earlier videos before he did long form.
His shorts are absolutely hilarious
something that changed my life/world view was going to the museum of natural history when I was like 5 or 6. it impressed me with how much humans have discovered about our origins and the history of the world.
I had a moment that has changed my life trajectory. I was doing a paper in English Composition, my topic was VA healthcare.
I read a story about a young vet that killed himself in the parking lot of the Phoenix VA hospital, leaving a note talking about the horrendous treatment care and how that caused him to lose hope.
Ever since, I've been working towards becoming a Ph.D in research psychology to research ways to better treat PTSD and Substance Abuse.
Clay was a huge proponent of the Bowie knife and in the fight with brown he was carrying it in a shoulder rig like a pistol, and when he drew it he twisted the sheath around. The sheath was tipped with silver and when he was shot the bullet was stopped by the silver tip
With this video, I was all over the Internet looking to learn more and more about Clay.. and had done so for nearly a full week!
My favorite of The Fat Electrician right now is about Operation Praying Mantis. People on TH-cam jokingly refer to it as "The Proportional Video" which is very entertaining the way he tells the story.
The other one that is super educational where I actually like, learned something, is billion pounds of cheese.
Got Milk?
I love the combo of you two, Electrician bringing the bombastic, you bringing the context.
I think the most important one is his video about the USS Barb, the submarine that sank a steam train. Yes, you've read that correctly
Absolutely. My life took a trajectory shift when I was very young. I went to work with my grandmother, who worked as an administrative assistant for a professor and research scientist. The scientist she worked for happened to have discovered what the Golgi apparatus does (didn’t discover it, just its function). So I’m sitting there in his office, annoying him, and he gives me stuff to do to get out of his hair. Long story short, there was a meeting I sat in on, and a question I had that I asked my grandma, which he overheard. He stopped and asked me to ask the question to the presenter (a PhD student). That question lead to a breakthrough in the project. Because I was unknowingly thinking out of the box as I wasn’t trained yet what box to use. I realized that day, that just because you’re not the most educated person in the room, you may have the best idea. Today, because of that day, I am a scientist, and I’ve loved what I’ve done every day (including the boring parts, lol).
I hope you still think outside of the box, and I hope you listen to people like you were that day. Great story❤️🤗🐝
Man actually took a knife to a gunfight and won 0_o
Your intro into this alone got me to subscribe. The fact you were willing to talk about how you don't like correcting other TH-camrs on their content and were just very humble about it won me over. I will now proceed to binge watch all of your stuff
For me, watching the solar eclipse in 2017 genuinely humbled me. I still have ego issues, but seeing how small I was with my own eyes, got me to be a lot less self interested and more willing to help others. And it was also really cool looking.
Saw on Reddit (so unsure how true it is) that Ali's grandfather was freed by Cassius Clay. So Ali's father was named Casisus Clay, who then named Ali that.
In another example of how gangster he was (not in a good way), in 1878 he divorced his wife of 45 years for "abandonment" because she was tired of putting up with his many infidelities. In 1894, at the age of 84, he married Dora Richardson who according to newspapers at the time was 15 or 16 years old, but some records suggest may have been as young as 12. His children and the priest tried to talk him out of it but he mounted a cannon in the doorway to deter interference.
Sadly, this is true. We can only hope he was going senial when he made this clearly wrong choice because if he was not, then all the wrongdoing is his fault, not that it excuses the abuse Dora had to go through or changes anything.
YES!!!! SO glad you're doing this one
Grant is from east of cincinnati by about 45 minutes or so. I am from there. And yes, you can see Newport Kentucky from Cincy with only the river betwixt.
Jon Wicks dog was his last gift from his murdered wife. It was literally the only living memory of her. That whole movie was about PTSD of soldiers and it went over everyone's heads.
That dude could be the spokesperson for All State for the mayhem he caused.
In regards to Thomas Jefferson, people seem to be under the impression that slave owners could just free their slaves willy nilly and everything would be fine. In many places, it was _illegal_ to free slaves, and in other places where it was legal, it could be a long, arduous process of jumping through bureaucratic hoops and paying fees to get it done, in addition to the loss of revenue. Slaves were a tightly regulated form of property. You could argue back and forth about him all day, but it's definitely more complicated than most people think.
Yes! I've been wanting you to react to this one ever since I first saw it.
That was a good reaction video. I learned a lot from both of you.
Louisvillian here ! Love both yours and the fat electricians channel - Ty for the consistent amazing content !
20:41 True, but not quite yet. The biggest problem for the Whigs in this period is that they are so divided over slavery and the reason they are is precisely because they are straddling both regions as part of the Second Party System (1828-1852), which the Democrats are doing as well. Both regions are divided thus politically and many states in both regions are close, but this only works so long as slavery question is "the repressible conflict" and kept off of the front burner in national politics. Once that becomes impossible, the trend towards regional polarization and the collapse of the Second Party System becomes inevitable.
In the South for example you typically had this map:
Whig States Democratic States Swing States
Kentucky Alabama Georgia
Tennessee Arkansas Mississippi
North Carolina Missouri Louisiana
Maryland Virginia Delaware
South Carolina (State Legislature Elected Electors until 1860)
Clay's difficulty over the Texas question cost him in Mississippi (which Harrison had won) and Louisiana. A lot of states were much closer in the 1840s, then they are now and it is more similar to say the 1970s in which the majority of states were close in Presidential elections. I am using 3% in 1844 as a cut off for swing state thus, with the exception of Mississippi, which was 1% margin in 1848 and went Whig in 1840, but had a 15% Democratic Margin in 1844. You also see echoes of this Southern Whig support as late as 1860 with John Bell who is very competitive not just in the border states, but also in some of the deep South states as well (gets 40% or
In the North:
Whig States: Democratic States Swing States
Vermont Maine New York
Massachusetts New Hampshire Pennsylvania
Rhode Island Illinois New Jersey
Connecticut Iowa (1848) Ohio
Michigan Wisconsin (1848)
Clay lost votes to the Abolitionist Liberty Party and this might have accounted for the margin in New York, but also maybe in Michigan, though that seems like more of a stretch and Michigan typically was a Democratic state in this period of the Second Party System. Lewis Cass is from there and will be the 1848 nominee and for the time the "Popular Sovereignty" argument from the likes of Cass and later Douglas is a popular enough position in many parts of the Midwest and also Northern New England (NH and ME, not VT). Once you get to Kansas though, this approach gets shredded and the Republican Party is founded "in the Upper Midwest" (disputed between WI and MI), and Michigan will be a solidly Republican state until the Great Depression and the unionization of the Auto Workers.
The Second Party System is very much like the landscape in the 1960s and 1970s (excluding 64/72) in that you have multiple close elections, without geographic polarization and the states themselves are typically very close, especially the big industrial states. This "every big state is a swing state dynamic" would return in 1940 and continue until 1992.
i'm glad you mentioned that there were slave owners who didn't like slavery but knew of no easy solution. This kid i went to school with got in trouble in history class because he told the teacher that his ancestors were slaves but their owners never beat them. His father told me stories that were passed down that yes slavery was horrendous and that he couldn't speak for everyone, but from what he was told by his parents and so on, they were slaves, but were well fed and housed... harsh labor in the heat.. still not a good thing.. but it was far better than our history teacher led us to believe.. obviously, like i said.. that is most likely the exception to the rule.. but i have to believe on some level that some land owner isn't going to just slash the tires on his expensive tractor because it got a flat. slaves were expensive and a well fed, well rested one is infinitely more efficient than a dead one.
disclaimer: not at all justifying slavery in any way... but we did get Bar-B-que because of it..... soo........
Easiest life-changing experience was joining the military and seeing the world. I cant understate how differently even just being a veteran has changed my views compared to those of my peers in so many different ways.
THIS guy never lost no duels.
Where's HIS charmingly anachronistic Broadway musical that took America by storm? 😊
He just did a video on the "Limping Lady" that's pretty amazing. Spies. French Resistance. WWII. All the cool stuff.
I was surprised to find out that I'm related to Cassuis Clay (8th cousin 5 times removed).
I got one I would be interested in seeing you do. Its called ‘Angry old man VS 700 redcoats Samuel Whitmore.’
The East in Kentucky was too rocky to make good plantations . The same dynamic played out in Tennessee , North Georgia and North Alabama .
Steve Irwin(The Crocodile Hunter) appearing on The Wiggles changed my life completely when I was only 5. Now, I'm studying to become a natural resources manager and field conservationist(along with a passion for history). Thanks @VTH!
That man was taken from us all far to soon. May he Rest in Peace. He's one of the few people on television whose death actually physically hurt. Good luck on your studies!
Such a great story, another one of his videos I recommend is either his Barbary pirates or Samuel whittmore. Trust me you'll love both of them
I love the barbery pirates video but all of his content is amazing
Peace was no longer an option...because now Cassius Clay was here.
It’s about time you start reacting to this lad! His video about the time The US stole the submarine from the nazis is pretty good and I now see where U571 got it from wound be great to go through both and see what actually happened?
Gotta suggest the video about the Barbary pirates
@@calvincoolidge6627 don't mess with Uncle Sam's boats!
@@calvincoolidge6627The start of the US Navy's interpretation of the word "Proportional"
Well, hate to spoil it for you, but the U571 story actually was based on a British operation.
@@blogbalkanstories4805 Did the British steal a German submarine as well? I'd like to know the name of the operation, as now I'm curious.
I usually ignore ads. However, a Scheels just opened up near me. It is located in Chandler, Arizona. This thing is insane!!!! They have a full size farris wheel inside. A giant salt water aquarium with a guy in it all day who cleans the glass and hand feeds the fish. Mark Walberg was there a few weeks back. Famous people are always meandering the asiles. I hate shopping and even I can say their stores are pretty cool.
The Cassius Clay's did indeed call my home, their home.
We love those guys
This was freakin awesome. That man really was a boss all the way to his death🤣
As a Kentuckian it can tell you our state has the CRAZIEST stories lmao 😂 As soon as I heard “Kentucky” I immediately knew some gangster, red neck, behaviors were gonna come up. We a bunch of red necks over here. God bless
As a Floridan I'm convinced we're trying to use Florida Man to match quality with quantity.
Ahhh thank you sir 🙏 been hoping for this one
Fun fact: Richard Kiel (as in Jaws) wrote a biography about this guy.
great video. The south park bit was hilarious
4:22 Yeah, I had mine; when I read Rachel Jordan's novel 'Silent Spring' for the first time. I thought "Holy hell; my father drank water contaminated with this shit! And DDT was legal for use?!"
I think John Brown would have something to say about the deadliest abolitionist title
Bleeding Kansas anyone? Lol.
thanks for the extra reading, that was fucking great
21:41 Well that still happens now to a big degree, maybe not as extreme as attacking printing presses but it definitely still happens. (Well, I say “maybe not as extreme anymore” but actually idk about that… because there’s been plenty examples of violent mobs on college campuses trying to prevent speakers that they don’t align with from speaking at said colleges.)
You mean spout their racist hogwash? Hell no.
The Fat Electrician is not afraid to speak his mind, and I love it!
It is said that Cassius has slain more people in duels then any other man in history, i couldnt find out an exact number though, but this man had steel crown jewels.
5:20 William Wilburforce says "LOL!"
Clay's daughter Laura was a leading southern suffragist, but supported it state-by-state rather than through a Constitutional amendment. She split with other more prominent suffragists over their support for the 19th Amendment.
That's some serious Southern commitment to states' rights right there!
A very informative video. Very nice. If you like this one, you’ll like the story of I believe it’s Jake McNasty, a pathfinder from the second world war, and the ghost soldier of the Philippines.
I hate to be that guy, but I've spend virtually my entire teenage and adult years studying the Bible, and it DOES endorse slavery.
Yahweh explicitly encourages slavery when he speaks to Moses atop Sinai.
Leviticus 25:42-44: "For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God. Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids."
Moses later commands, with Yahweh's favor, the Israelites to take child sex slaves.
Numbers 31:17-18: "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."
Later in the same chapter Moses gives the high priests of Israel an "offering" of 16,000 people.
Numbers 31:41 and 46: "And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD'S heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses: [...] And sixteen thousand persons."
None of these are mere "mentions", they are explicit endorsements, either being given by Moses or Yahweh himself. If Moses had been acting against Yahweh's will, he would have said something like he did when Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it.
his video on virgina hall is good and her story is incredible, i’d say give that one a look next time
Your embellishments are VALUABLE so NOW I'm subscribed....keep on with TFE The Fat Electrician's WHOLE collection EH!🍁🍁🍁🍁
What I love the most about Cassius Clay was, he walked his talk. As soon as he had the chance, he freed his fathers slaves.❤️🤗🐝
Been waiting for you to get to this one. Merry Christmas.
Speaking of moments that changed your mind, I grew up in a very conservative family that often just said things that I then believed, and when I was in high school I started watching people like you and mr beat that really changed what I thought about both history and modern politics, because people such as vth have taught me that history isn’t snapshot moments not connected to each other but moments that are leading to the next moment
It is worse than ironic that the famous black American boxer changed his name from that held by a man who fought aggressively against slavery, to one held by men who held slaves and perpetuated the slave trade. He said that Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was his "slave name," and so he changed it to the name of Arabic slave owners. One of the stupidest public stunts of all time, thanks to the absurdity spewed by groups like the Nation of Islam.
More TFE! Love his stuff and your additions!
20:12 "So deeply divided his name wouldn't even appear on the ballot" ... who knew this comment would be foreshadowing of the Colorado court case? Wow!
I read years ago that Lincon had drafted the emancipation proclamation and then put it in a desk drawer for use at an opportune time. Now I wonder whether Clay's public refusal to serve unless Lincoln issued the proclamation was pre-arranged between the two as a way to give Lincoln some political cover with the moderate Republicans ... even the title of the E.O., "emancipation" proclamation, though it might have been more aptly named the "abolition" proclamation, forced the emancipation faction into going along with it because speaking against a E.O. named after them would've made them appear unreasonable.
I was waiting for this one!
I’m just saying, nobody has seen Cassius Marcelius Clay and King Muhammed Ali of Egypt in the same room
Uh hum(clears throat in Kentuckian) that's Louisville pronounced Lew-a-vull, lol
Curious as to why the father gave Clay everything if he found out he was anti-slavery
For me it was chatting with someone from Saudi Arabia and I realized people are really the same no mater where we live.
VTH: **Tells the tale of how Brown lost facial features**
TFE: **Tells the same story but better**
It's not an incredibly famous speech, but Ron Paul's What If speech more or less instantly built the groundwork for my political ideology.