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How History Class Divides Us

What if America's inability to agree on its shared history—and how to teach it—is a cause of our polarization and political dysfunction, rather than a symptom?

Fighting to Vote

Voting rights are often associated with the Civil Rights Movement, but this fight extends throughout American history.

“Young Appearance”: Assessing Age through Appearance in Early America

In early America, one's looks, rather than date of birth, often determined one's age.
U.S. Patent Office

The Story of the American Inventor Denied a Patent Because He Was a Slave

What happens when the Patent Office doesn't recognize the inventor as a person at all?
Exhibit

“All Persons Born or Naturalized in the United States...”

A collection of resources exploring the evolving meanings of American citizenship and how they have been applied -- or denied -- to different groups of Americans.

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W.E.B. Du Bois and the Fight for American Democracy

With democracy in peril, Du Bois reminds us of the long fight to protect it.
"Judge in chambers swearing in a new citizen" (1910).

Second-Class Citizens?

A history of denaturalization in the US.

Citizenship Shouldn't Be a Birthright

Guaranteeing citizen status simply for being born here is a deliberate misreading of the Fourteenth Amendment.

"Though Declared to be American Citizens"

The Colored Convention Movement, black citizenship, and the Fourteenth Amendment.

Citizens to Come: Building Beyond the 14th Amendment

Commemoration of the 14th Amendment must not display the abundance of freedom, but the hunger for it on both sides of the border.

The Struggle Over the Meaning of the 14th Amendment Continues

The fight over the 150-year old language in the Constitution is a battle for the very heart of the American republic.

Citizens: 150 Years of the 14th Amendment

In 1868, black activists had already been promoting birthright as the basis of their national belonging for nearly half a century.

The Urgency of a Third Reconstruction

The ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment marked a turning point in U.S. history. Yet 150 years later, its promises remain unfulfilled.
Manuscript of the Fourteenth Amendment.

We Should Embrace the Ambiguity of the 14th Amendment

A hundred and fifty years after its ratification, some of its promises remain unfulfilled—but one day it may still be interpreted anew.

They Fought and Died for America. Then America Turned Its Back.

260,000 Filipinos served in World War II, when the country was a US territory. Most veterans have never seen benefits.
Football players with raised fists.
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Trump Said Protesting NFL Players ‘Shouldn’t Be In This Country’

We should take him seriously. Black Americans have been threatened with deportation before and it never ends well.
Stamped passport.

The New Passport-Poor

Travel documentation was created to restrict – and it may become even more entrapping in the future.

The Right to Have Rights

Hannah Arendt’s conception of human rights has much to say to our contemporary moment.

"The American People": Current and Historical Meanings

The Founders feared democracy and didn't think too highly of "the people".

Dred Scott Strains the Mystic Chords

Dred Scott was an opportunity to settle what the South had previously been unable to achieve either legislatively or judicially.

Immigrants Welcome*

Trump’s Muslim ban was not just an abberation: US citizenship has long been predicated on whiteness as it was understood in 1790.

How Do We Explain This National Tragedy? This Trump?

On 400 Years of Tribalism, Genocide, Expulsion, and Imprisonment.
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Trump’s View of America as a White Nation Is as American as Apple Pie

But it’s seriously dated. And there's another tradition he could draw on.

Sanctuary Syllabus

Inspired by Trump's election and his anti-immigrant policies, a group of scholars compiled this collection on the idea of "sanctuary."
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The Ugly History of the Pledge of Allegiance — and Why it Matters

Requiring displays of patriotism have often been tied to nativism and bigotry.

The Big Picture: The Right Type of Citizenship

Citizens pledge their allegiance to a nation that reciprocates with a pledge of allegiance to them. What does that look like?

Puerto Rico Syllabus

Essential tools for critical thinking about the Puerto Rican debt crisis.

How a Court Answered a Forgotten Question of Slavery’s Legacy

As Americans debated how the Civil War period is publicly commemorated, a battle over a related question was finally put to rest.

When the Idea of Home Was Key to American Identity

From log cabins to Gilded Age mansions, how you lived determined where you belonged.
Political cartoon depicting American colonies celebrating July 4th.

American Consumer Empire in Puerto Rico

Puerto Ricans were forced to become “Porto Ricans” – adopting Anglo customs while subsidizing American profits.
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The 14th Amendment Solved One Citizenship Crisis, But It Created A New One

How birthright citizenship became a barrier for undocumented immigrants.

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