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Pilgrims

Thank the Pilgrims for America's Tradition of Separatism, Division, and Infighting

They were not the nation's first settlers, but they were the most fractious.
Drawing of Lincoln with his hand on a Bible during a swearing-in with two other people

The Presidential Transition That Shattered America

A Trump-Biden transition is sure to be scary. But it’d be hard to beat Buchanan-Lincoln.
Graffiti on a wall spelling "vote"
partner

Refusing to Accept the Results of a Presidential Election Triggered the Civil War

The danger of President Trump's rhetoric.
William Lloyd Garrison

The Country That Was Built to Fall Apart

Why secession, separatism, and disunion are the most American of values.
Painting of a sinking ship on fire, in which the fire looks like the American flag.

The Confederate Project

What the Confederacy actually was: a proslavery anti-democratic state, dedicated to the proposition that all men were not created equal.
People wave from a Sons of Confederate Veterans parade float.
partner

The Latest Battle Over the Confederate Flag Isn’t Happening Where You’d Expect

How the forgotten fight for the West exposes the meaning of the Confederate flag.

It's Time to Stop Talking About a 'National Divorce'

The right's eagerness for a "peaceful separation" of the nation echoes pieces of race war fiction.

The Question Without a Solution

The horrors of the fugitive slave laws, the costs of union, and the value of comity.

At 63, I Threw Away My Prized Portrait of Robert E. Lee

I was raised to venerate Lee the principled patriot—but I want no association with Lee the defender of slavery.

"The Most Potent Money Power": Slave Traders, Dark Money, and Elections

In the midst of the secession crisis, Unionists accused slave traders of waging an assault on democracy.

When California Was the Bear Republic

The story behind the iconic flag.
Hamilton and Burr shooting, Burr at Hamilton and Hamilton to the sky.

Hamilton Vs. Burr: What Really Happened?

Beyond “Hamilton”: How the friends turned into political rivals, and finally into mortal enemies.

Today’s Eerie Echoes of the Civil War

We may not be in the midst of a war today, but the progress of democracy in this country is still tied to the rights of its most vulnerable citizens.

Confederate Revisionist History

Americans should not honor a revolt to uphold slavery with monuments or florid displays.
partner

The North Tried Compromise. The South Chose War.

The South's insistence upon protecting and spreading slavery caused the Civil War.
Beginnning of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America.

The Decision to Secede and Establish the Confederacy

A selection of primary sources compiled by the American Historical Association.
Protester with a sign that reads "Save our Monuments"

Pondering the Question of Confederate Honor

Yes, honorable men can fight for dishonorable causes.

Confederacy: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

John Oliver reflects on the history of Confederate monuments.
Roy Moore with a cowboy hat, gun, and microphone, in front of an American flag.
partner

The Reason Roy Moore Won in Alabama That No One is Talking About

Centuries of economic inequality have left Southern politics ripe for insurgent outsiders.
Ripped American flag flying next to the Texas flag.

In Texas, Even the Lies about the Confederacy Are Bigger

Republican House Speaker Joe Straus is calling for the removal of a Confederate plaque about the role of slavery in the Civil War.

Defenders Of Confederate Monuments Keep Trying To Erase History

Claims that the Confederacy didn't fight to uphold slavery are disputed by Confederate generals themselves.
Microphone hovers over a portrait of George Washington.
partner

What Trump — And His Critics — Get Wrong About George Washington and Robert E. Lee

The two men owned slaves — but at vastly different moments in American history.
Violence during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017.

America's Deadly Divide - and Why it Has Returned

Civil War historian David Blight reflects on America’s Disunion – then and now.

Tear Down the Confederates’ Symbols

The battle against the remnants of Confederate sentiment is a battle against both white supremacy and class rule.

Mr. President, You're Right About Andrew Jackson

If Jackson's presidency had been later, he may have prevented the Civil War.

Why There Was a Civil War

Some issues aren’t amenable to deal making; some principles don’t lend themselves to compromise.
The inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861.

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.

What This Cruel War Was Over

The meaning of the Confederate flag is best discerned in the words of those who bore it.

Why Americans Love To Declare Independence

The 1776 Declaration was only the first. What we learn from the long history of splinter constitutions, manifestos, and secessions that followed.

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