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Painting of George Washington on horseback, leading troops through the countryside to squash the Whiskey Rebellion.

Examining Public Opinion during the Whiskey Rebellion

This armed uprising in 1794, over taxation by the fledgling new government, threatened to destroy the new union within six years of the Constitution’s ratification.

Why the History of the Vast Early America Matters Today

There is no American history without the histories of Indigenous and enslaved peoples. And this past has consequences today.
Newspaper with "Join or Die" slogan

Join, Or Die: Why Did It Have To Be Snakes?

Revolutionary Americans adopted native snakes as symbols for their cause. Why?
Woody Guthrie playing his guitar

This Anthem Was Made For You and Me?

A breakdown of how Woody Guthrie's hit song "This Land" has evolved over time.
John Quincy Adams giving speech at U.S. House of Representatives
partner

Why a Culture War Over Critical Race Theory? Consider the Pro-Slavery Congressional "Gag Rule"

In 1836, the House passed a resolution that automatically tabled all petitions on slavery without a hearing.
Front page of the New York Daily Times.

How US Newspapers Became Utterly Ubiquitous in the 1830s

On the social and political function of political media.
Embarkation of the Pilgrims.

Puritanism as a State of Mind

Whatever the “City on a Hill” is, the phrase was not discovered by Kennedy or Reagan.
Portrait of Walt Whitman.

How the American Civil War Gave Walt Whitman a Call to Action

Mark Edmundson on the great American poet as a defender of democracy.
A cartoon of Boston colonists in a cage.

How Did the Colonies Unite?

The drive for American independence coalesced in only a few years of rapidly accelerating political change.
Benito Mussolini.

The Americans Who Embraced Mussolini

As we confront rightwing extremism in our own time, the history of American fascist sympathy reveals a legacy worth reckoning with.
State troopers guarding a roadblock during an armed standoff at the “embassy” of the separatist group Republic of Texas, Fort Davis, Texas, May 1997

Why It’s Time to Take Secessionist Talk Seriously

Disunion is hardly a new theme in American politics. In this moment of tumult, it would be unwise to rule out its return.
The Battle of Fort Sumter.

How the Civil War Got Its Name

From "insurrection" to "rebellion" to "Civil War," finding a name for the conflict was always political.
Simon Bolívar Crossing the Andes, after a painting by Arayo Gómez, 1857; it is based on Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps

Democracy’s Demagogues

A new history of five heroes of the revolutionary period considers the power and instability of charismatic leadership.
A crowd of people with one person waving the Confederate flag

Learning from the Failure of Reconstruction

The storming of the Capitol was an expression of the antidemocratic strands in American history.
"Join or Die" snake political cartoon.

The Iron Cage of Erasure: American Indian Sovereignty in Jill Lepore’s 'These Truths'

Lepore’s framework insists that the “self-evident” truths of the nation’s founding were anything but.

The Enduring Lessons of a New Deal Writers Project

The case for a Federal Writers' Project 2.0.
Pieces of the American Flag cut up to resemble the Texas flag

We Need to Talk About Secession

With chatter about Texas leaving the union on the rise, two new books remind us what it was like the last time we tried to go it alone.
A photo of a gas station.

Our Interminable Election Eve

William Eggleston’s photographs of the South on the eve of the 1976 election captured an eerie quiet.
Profile sketch of a court justice, 18th century (National Parks Service)

A Brief History of Circuit Riding

The study of circuit riding helps to highlight the importance of the lower federal courts in American legal history.
Artistic photo with american flags

Richard Hofstadter’s Discontents

Why did the historian come to fear the very movements he once would have celebrated?
Jimmy Carter speaking.

What Happens When a President Really Listens?

Jonathan Alter on Jimmy Carter ditching politics for truth.
Donald Trump in front of Mount Rushmore

Trump’s Vision for American History Education Is a Nightmare

But it’s one historians know all too well.
Langston Hughes signing an autograph surrounded by five other people

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes, "poet laureate of Harlem," dreamed of an America that lived up to its ideals.
William Lloyd Garrison

The Country That Was Built to Fall Apart

Why secession, separatism, and disunion are the most American of values.
A campaign illustration supporting Ulysses S. Grant for the Election of 1868.

A World “Transfixed”: The International Resonance of American Political Crises

The world's eyes are upon America as it struggles with racism and inequality. This is nothing new.
People raising their fists and gathered around the Robert E. Lee Memorial in Richmond, Virginia

Europe in 1989, America in 2020, and the Death of the Lost Cause

A whole vision of history seems to be leaving the stage.

The Lessons of the Great Depression

In the 1930s, Americans responded to economic calamity by creating a richer and more equitable society. We can do it again.
Illustration of six books on the topic of pandemics

COVID-19 and the Outbreak Narrative

Outbreak narratives from past diseases can be influential in the way we think about the COVID pandemic.
Illustration of Lincoln consulting with military figures in a tent.

Did Lincoln Really Matter?

What the Civil War tells us about who has the power to shape history.
Photograph of Michael Lind wearing a blazer and tie.

Michael Lind on Reviving Democracy

To fix things, we must acknowledge the nature of the problem.

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