How Jamestown Abandoned a Utopian Vision and Embraced Slavery

In 1619, wealthy investors overthrew the charter that guaranteed land for everyone.
Ken Cuccinelli
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How President Trump’s New Immigration Rule Could Erode the Social Safety Net

The new rule dramatically expands the meaning of public charge.
Mugshot of Bernard L. Barker.
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Want to Know Why Some Hispanics Support Donald Trump? Ask Richard Nixon.

Nixon created the blend of Republicanism that remains attractive to a segment of Hispanic voters.
Barry Goldwater with his finger to his lips sushing the audience.
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How Never-Trump Republicans Went Extinct

Shared enemies and ideology matter more than Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.

How the Republican Majority Emerged

Fifty years after the Republican Party hit upon a winning formula, President Trump is putting it at risk.

The Most Dangerous American Idea

No belief in the history of the US has been more threatening to democracy than the certainty that only white people are fit for self-government.
Revolutionary War reenactment.

The Second-Amendment Case for Gun Control

It's a myth that the Founders opposed the regulation of deadly weapons.

How a Historian Uncovered Ronald Reagan’s Racist Remarks to Richard Nixon

In a taped call with Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan described the African delegates to the United Nations in luridly racist terms.

White Power

A review of two recent books about white paramilitarism in the wake of the Cold War.

How Did the Presidential Campaign Get to Be So Long?

U.S. presidential elections didn't drag on so long before the late sixties.
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What We Get Wrong About the Southern Strategy

It took much longer — and went much further — than we think.

Flirting With Fascism

The National Conservatism Conference in Washington had a very 1930s vibe.
People marching with an "Aidswalk 19" banner

The LGBTQ Health Clinic That Faced a Dark Truth About the AIDS Crisis

America has rarely treated all people with HIV equally.
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How Migrant Detention Became American Policy

And why comparisons to concentration camps failed to shut them down.
John Tanton
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John Tanton Has Died. He Made America Less Open to Immigrants — and More Open to Trump.

The nativist activist helped make anti-immigrant politics mainstream.

There’s One Heresy That Sets Bernie Apart From All Other Dem Contenders to Unseat Trump

And it’s not simply that he calls himself a socialist.
Jackson statue in New Orleans.
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What Happens When Racism and Executive Overreach Intersect in the Oval Office

It happened during Andrew Jackson’s administration, with fatal consequences.
Painting of George Washington.
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How George Washington Held Officials Accountable for Border Violence

And what Congress can learn from his efforts.

The Class Politics of the Civil War

By naming a common enemy the Union Army was able to build and then steer a coalition of Americans toward the systematic destruction of slavery.

Behind Trump’s ‘Go Back’ Demand: A Long History of Rejecting ‘Different’ Americans

From Germans and Irish to blacks and Jews, new Americans often have been told to “go home.”
Donald Trump.
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How Trump’s Airport Gaffe Masked A Dangerous Misunderstanding of the Revolutionary War

America won its freedom thanks to strong alliances.

Nancy Pelosi, Impeachment, and Places in History

Nancy Pelosi's reluctance to impeach Trump only denies the reality of his transgressions.

Ross Perot, Populist Harbinger

Views that were fringe in Perot’s day had, by the 2016 election, taken center stage.
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How School Desegregation Became the Third Rail of Democratic Politics

White liberals opposed segregation in the South, but fought tooth-and-nail to keep it in the North.

Water is for Fighting

How a profit-driven approach to water rights left the west high and dry.

Haunted by the Reagan Era

Past defeats still scare older Democratic leaders — but not the younger generation.

The Fourth of July Has Always Been Political

The question is which vision of America it’s being used to advance.

In Defense of the American Revolution

1776 began as a petty squabble among odious and powerful elites. It soon became the lodestar of emancipatory movements everywhere.

The Universalist Principles of the Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence advocates for liberty and equality. We would do well to remember those principles today.

The Declaration Heard Around the World

The declaration's words and sentiments have inspired nations and movements around the world.