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A Confederate Statue Is Gone, But the Fight Remains in Durham

The city isn't rushing to put it back up.

How Charleston Celebrated Its Last July 4 Before the Civil War

As the South Carolina city prepared to break from the Union, its people swung between nostalgia and rebellion.

Mr. President, You're Right About Andrew Jackson

If Jackson's presidency had been later, he may have prevented the Civil War.
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The Battle Over Confederate Heritage Month

A Southern governor proclaimed April Confederate Heritage Month. Will slavery be mentioned?
The inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861.
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The Most Contentious Presidential Transition in American History

Was Abraham Lincoln's the most tumultuous presidential transition in American history?

The Split Personality of Ken Burns’s “The Civil War”

The documentary's accommodation of the Lost Cause narrative may have left viewers with a skewed understanding of the conflict.
W.E.B. Du Bois

Struggle and Progress

On the abolitionists, Reconstruction, and winning “freedom” from the Right.

150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War

As the 150th of the Battle of Gettysburg approaches, it's time to question the popular account of a war that tore apart the nation.

Lincoln and Marx

The transatlantic convergence of two revolutionaries.
Sign reading "take it down" in front of Confederate flag

Rebel Yell

The recent march in South Carolina, demanding removal of the Confederate flag from the state Capitol is the latest episode in a long-running debate over slavery's legacy.
John Brown

Three Interviews With Old John Brown

Atlantic writer William Phillips conducted three interviews with Brown before Brown's fateful raid on Harper's Ferry.

The Johnson Party

An 1866 essay presents Andrew Johnson as "the virtual leader of the Southern reactionary party."
John Brown stands armed, positioned before Union and Confederate people fighting amid smoke and devastation.

Why Donald Trump Wants to Erase John Brown’s Fiery Abolitionist Legacy (and Why He Will Fail)

Reflections on Harper's Ferry amid a government shutdown.
Fugitives from slavery disembarking from a boat to waiting coaches.

The Underground Railroad’s Stealth Sailors

The web of Atlantic trading routes and solidarity among maritime workers meant a fugitive's chances of reaching freedom below deck were better than over land.
Charles Sumner

How Charles Sumner Convinced Abraham Lincoln and the Union To Take a Stand Against Slavery

The domestic and international dynamics of the early days of the Civil War.
Broadside about the Fugitive Slave law.
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: Annotated

The Fugitive Slave Act erased the most basic of constitutional rights for enslaved people and incentivized US Commissioners to support kidnappers.
A drawing of cannons being fired at Fort Sumter.

What Can We Learn From the Jewish Debate Over Slavery?

This Passover, American Jews should embrace the fight for “emancipation of all kinds.”
Sign in forest reading "Move Oregon's Border. Greateridaho.org."
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The Danger of Adjusting State Borders

A movement for some Illinois counties to join Indiana threatens to resurrect an ominous practice from the 19th century.
A painting of Prince Albert Edward's visit to George Washington's tomb.
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On the Road to Ruin with Their Characteristic Speed

Waiting for the start of the American Civil War in Canada and the Caribbean.
Yale Civil War memorial

A Yankee Apology for Reconstruction

The creators of Yale’s Civil War Memorial were more concerned with honoring “both sides” than with the true meaning of the war.
Black and white image of Abraham Lincoln, with the edges of his face out of focus.

No Slaves, No Masters: What Democracy Meant to Abraham Lincoln

A detailed look on Abraham Lincoln's political philosophy on slavery, ownership, and freedom.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist testifies to a House Financial Services subcommittee about minting coins in commemoration of former Chief Justice John Marshall on March 10, 2004.

There’s Unsettling New Evidence About William Rehnquist’s Views on Segregation

The Supreme Court Justice's defense of Plessy v. Ferguson in a 1993 memo continues to influence the court's interpretation of the 14th amendment.
A man speaking to a veteran.

Treason Made Odious Again

Reflections from the Naming Commission, and the front lines of the army's war on the Lost Cause.
Ripped American flag.

The Greatest Threat to the Unity of the Country Is the Class Divide

How many rich moderates would join the MAGA far right if redistribution policies threatened their wealth?
1865 map of North Carolina & South Carolina
original

Gone to Carolina

Ed Ayers heads south in search of stories from two centuries ago. Traces are there, but larger meanings remain elusive.
Three children playing on a frozen river.

The Ohio River

When the river freezes, lives change.
A bronze statue of Civil War soldiers on horseback, in front of the U.S. Capitol building.

How Twitter Explains the Civil War (and Vice Versa)

The proliferation of antebellum print is analogous to our own tectonic shifts in how people communicate and what they communicate about.
‘Flight of Lord Dunmore’; postcard, 1907.

The Paradox of the American Revolution

Recent books by Woody Holton and Alan Taylor offer fresh perspectives on early US history but overstate the importance of white supremacy as its driving force.
Plantation house in the snow.

The Grim History of Christmas for Slaves in the Deep South

"If you read enough sources, you run into cases of slaves spending a lot of time over Christmas crying."
The Virginia monument, an equestrian statue on a pedestal with solders at its base.

The Contested Origins of Gettysburg’s Virginia Monument

Jon Tracey discusses the history of the creation of the Gettysburg Virginia Monument and the true reason it was erected.

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