Excerpts

July 4th celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but we don’t even have the original!

Queerness has always existed — even on the Civil War battlefield.

The beauty of the atomic scientists' calculations hid from them the truly Faustian contract they scratched their names to.

Presidents of both parties stock their Cabinets with corporate leaders.

Organized movements to bring racial equality to the golf course have been part of the sport since the early 1900s.

Robert Engler's award-winning 1955 investigation into the oil industry.

Why the Green New Deal fits right in with America’s energy economy.

PBS NewsHour coverage of the hot wars of the Cold War.

The outrage and press coverage was nothing compared with that surrounding Hillary Clinton's emails.

How progressives came to think that any recognition of Christianity by a public institution violates others’ rights.

Under the influence of Muscular Christianity, Jesus transformed into a muscle-bound Aryan, saving souls through strength and masculinity.

How the movement to end legal abortion became intertwined with a different conservative pet project.

By targeting sex workers, she enacted policies that harmed the most vulnerable women.

How the ’60s counterculture gave birth to personal computers and the vast tech industry that builds and sells them.

And what Congress can learn from his efforts.

Cooper’s hijacking-as-extortion plot captured the public’s imagination – and inspired a copycat crime wave.

A traveling exhibition traces how the animation studio mobilized to support the Allied war effort.

Fights over fugitive slave laws pitted states against each other and showcased the risks of the federal government not supporting liberty.

It isn’t just about Supreme Court picks. The group’s impact on the law goes much deeper.

The historical insights of one era have been lost to the journalistic instincts of another.

Creating the myth of the gold rush with the help of daguerreotypists.

The story of President Andrew Jackson and Worcester v. Georgia, decided in 1832.

How Mickey Leland and the Congressional Black Caucus paved the way for today's progressive politics.

“Together with other ‘know nothing’ organizations scattered through the country, it represents a basic, continuing phenomenon in American society.”

The Gilded Age roots of Trump's trade philosophy.

What is revisionist history--and is it dangerous?

What honor required of men.

The writings of the Scottish-born American naturalist John Muir are known for their scientific acumen as well as for their rhapsodic flights.

The long and brutal journey of the yam.

What new possibilities might arise if we were to consider history as ongoing memory work, rather than a set narrative of progress or as singular “truth”?

For a burgeoning consumer society, store-bought flags and bonnets offered proof that commercialism could go hand in hand with heartfelt emotion.

TOGETHER ’22 aims to mimic EXPLO ’72 — which provided hints about the rising conservative evangelical tide.

Parental rights stem from the same liberty that the Supreme Court just began rolling back.

"It didn’t make much sense for us to be talking about justice in the classroom if we weren’t willing to get in the struggle in the streets."

Racial blamelessness and the politics of forgetting.

John Adams would not be happy to see what Independence Day has become.

How we came to rely on the courts, instead of the democratic process, for justice.

A new book recognizes the global character of Asian exclusion.

History shows laws will end up as weapons deployed in discriminatory ways to curtail freedom.

At least one monument has come down this summer, but two streets in Brooklyn have proved difficult to rename.

As the country celebrates Jackie Robinson Day, let’s consider the career of Fleet Walker.

A contemporary Atlantic writer reflects on one of the voices from the magazine's archives who helped shape the publication—and the nation.

Generations of utopians seeking inspiration and sea breezes made the trek from Greenwich Village to Cape Cod’s picturesque vistas.

The baby boy who would one day become the renowned and feared leader of the Lakotas was the second child of Returns Again and Her Holy Door.

A few weeks in the woods have taught kids to face new situations, make their way among strangers, solve their own problems—and live a more authentic life.

Craig McNamara’s family did not talk about the Vietnam War. He spent his life asking questions about it.

The contradictory past and uncertain future of the Democratic Party.

Back in the 19th century, coal was the nation's newfangled fuel source—and it faced the same resistance as wind and solar today.

The city is at a crossroads. Which path will it take?

The right might be targeting a seminal Supreme Court case that protects educational fairness.