Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 91–120 of 236 results. Go to first page
Wood engraving of November 7, 1837 mob attack in Alton, IL. Antislavery publisher Elijah Lovejoy was killed and his press, hidden in this warehouse, was destroyed, with the pieces thrown into the Mississippi River.
partner

Elijah Lovejoy Faced Down Violent Mobs to Champion Abolition and the Free Press

Lovejoy, who ran a weekly paper called the Observer, was repeatedly targeted by mobs over his persistent writings against slavery.
Sketch of late 19th century political rally in NYC

The Forgotten Precedent for Our ‘Unprecedented’ Political Insanity

The decades after the Civil War saw mass participation and mass outrage, followed by a period of orderly reform. What can we learn from that era today?
An illustration of two men in 1770s clothing fighting in a river.

Has the World Gone Mad? An Interview with Sarah Swedberg

Swedberg's new book shows how prevalent concerns about mental illness were to the people of the early American republic.
Illustration of the assassination of president Lincoln in Ford's Theatre

We Lionize Abraham Lincoln – But John Wilkes Booth Still Embodies a Part of America’s Soul

How the insurrection on January 6th brought a legendary assassin back to life.
Rush Limbaugh at a Trump rally

From Limbaugh to Trump: A Historian of the Right Wing Explains Rush’s Real Legacy

In so many ways, Limbaugh helped sow the seeds of the pathologies we're now living through.
The Black Panthers

Why a Shootout Between Black Panthers and Law Enforcement 50 Years Ago Matters Today

In 1971, armed officers went to a house occupied by Black Panther activists, marking a policing trajectory toward a more militarized response to Black activism.
A man during the Capitol Siege holding a Confederate flag.

The Case for a Third Reconstruction

The enduring lesson of American history is that the republic is always in danger when white supremacist sedition and violence escape justice.
Artistic rendering of a sheet of newspaper with people crossed out, flowing above people working menial jobs whose heads are also crossed out, working next to signs that read "Sorry."

On Atonement

News outlets have apologized for past racism. That should only be the start.
An illustration of the caning of Charles Sumner.

The Caning of Charles Sumner in the U.S. Senate: White Supremacist Violence in Pen and Pixels

Absent social media, the artists of the past shaped public knowledge of historical events through illustrations.
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.
Side-by-side of Josh Hawley and David Atchison

Josh Hawley Is Not the First Missouri Senator with Blood on His Hands

The Bleeding Kansas parallels with our current moment get weirder and darker.
Alt-right man holding an American flag with no shirt but a bull-horned headress on.

The Hour of the Barbarian

What happened on January 6 was profoundly American, emerging as it did from our long and very specific history. No one did this to us.
Person walks with Confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol

The Whole Story in a Single Photo

An image from the Capitol captures the distance between who we purport to be and who we have actually been.
Man with a pistol at his hip carries the retired flag of Mississippi with a confederate battle emblem in it, and a Trump 2020 flag.
partner

Yes, Wednesday’s Attempted Insurrection Is Who We Are

While Wednesday's images shocked us, they fit into our history.
Man walks through the U.S. Capitol holding a confederate flag on Jan 6, 2021.
partner

1871 Provides A Road Map for Addressing the Pro-Trump Attempted Insurrection

Commitment to racial justice, not conciliation, is needed to save democracy.

This Is Who We Are

The rioters at the Capitol are part of an unbroken American tradition. Sweet talk about our “better angels” did not defeat them before and will not now.
Pro-Trump protester.
partner

The True Danger of Trump and His Media Allies Denying the Election Results

Misinformation and conspiracy theories can foment violence and thwart democracy.
Illustration of a black man laying on the ground while three men step on him, 1868.

Echoes of the Reconstruction Era: The Political Violence of 1868

The 1868 Election was the first one in which hundreds of thousands of African American men voted. It also began an unfortunate history of voter suppression.
A black and white photo of an African American man.

A White Mob Unleashed the Worst Election Day Violence in U.S. History in Florida a Century Ago

In the small town of Ocoee, Fla., a racist mob went on a rampage after a Black man tried to cast his ballot on Nov. 2, 1920.

An American Pogrom

Uncovering the truth about the 1898 massacre of black voters in Wilmington, North Carolina.
partner

Contested Elections Can Unleash Violent White Supremacy. We Have Seen It Before.

Why President Trump’s refusal to commit to accepting the election results is so dangerous.

44 Years Ago Today, Chilean Socialist Orlando Letelier Was Assassinated on US Soil

On September 21, 1976, he was assassinated by a car bomb in the heart of Washington, DC.

Blood & Fire: The Bombing of Wall Street, 100 Years Later

When a converted ice cream wagon blew up in Wall Street, it was the loudest burst in a war between the Federal government and American Anarchists.

For the First Time, America May Have an Anti-Racist Majority

Not since Reconstruction has there been such an opportunity for the advancement of racial justice.
Police wielding batons face a crowd of people.

'Fascist Storm Troopers': Racist Police Violence in 1940s America

In 1949, truncheon-wielding police officers descended on the racially integrated concert of singer Paul Robeson.
Youth members of a German-American Bund camp raising a flag, 1934.

American Fascism: It Has Happened Here

Americans of the interwar period were perfectly clear about one fact we have lost sight of today: all fascism is indigenous, by definition.

The Fall and Rise of the Guillotine

Ideologues of left and right have learned to stop worrying and love rhetorical violence.

The Minneapolis Uprising in Context

A proper understanding of urban rebellion depends on our ability to interpret it not as a wave of criminality, but as political violence.

The Murderous Legacy of Cold War Anticommunism

The US-backed Indonesian mass killings of 1965 reshaped global politics, securing a decisive victory for U.S. interests against Third World self-determination.

The Making of the Radical Republicans

How did the struggle for emancipation become a mass politics?

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person