War of 1812 — Bunk History

The Battle of Tippecanoe

Lost Prophets and Forgotten Heroes

Tracing the currents of American history that run through the Great Lakes region.

by Ed Ayers on September 6, 2023

Trump glares at Trudeau at the G7 meeting.

Trump Has Ignored the Worst Chapter of U.S.-Canada Relations

The War of 1812 holds lessons about the costly error of tariffs — not the threat of Canadians.

by Lawrence B. A. Hatter via Made By History on June 14, 2018

Baseball caps that read "Canada Is Not For Sale."

Trump Shares the Founders' Delusions on Canada

Attempts to add Canada to the U.S. have gone poorly since the 1770s. Trump's rhetoric threatens a repeat.

by Lawrence B. A. Hatter via Made By History on February 4, 2025

Three Border Patrol agents detaining migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump Wants to Use the Alien Enemies Act to Deport Immigrants – but the Law is Meant for War Time

The Alien Enemies Act, first approved in the late 1700s, was last used during World War II to identify particular foreign nationals living in the US.

by Daniel Tichenor via The Conversation on December 11, 2024

Map of West Florida.

From Subjects To Citizens

The West Florida revolt in the Age of Revolutions.

by Colin Mathison via Age of Revolutions on July 8, 2024

Alexander I

Why Early American Conservatives Loved Russia

A conspiracy theory among New England Federalists led some to contemplate separating from the U.S. during the War of 1812.

by Nicholas Dipucchio via Made By History on March 27, 2024

A painting of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

The Treaty of Ghent: Annotated

The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, an oft overlooked conflict that continues to shape the politics and culture(s) of North America.

by Liz Tracey via JSTOR Daily on December 23, 2022

Illustration by Nilé Livingston of the many flags used throughout America as symbols of freedom, patriotism, and protest.

Scars and Stripes

Philadelphia gave America its flag, along with other enduring icons of nationhood. But for many, the red, white and blue banner embodies a legacy of injustice.

by Martha S. Jones via Philadelphia Inquirer on April 6, 2022

Black and white drawing of early 19th century naval vessels.

The Insurers’ Wars

When Thomas Jefferson’s administration was debating whether to declare war against Britain, it came up against America’s wealthy and influential marine underwriters.

by Hannah Farber via Broadstreet on December 29, 2021

The autobiography of Lucy West

Lucy Brewer and the Making of a Female Marine

An account of the first female to serve in the U.S. Navy.

by Maria Connors via Past Is Present on June 8, 2021

What Tecumseh Fought For

Pursuing a Native alliance powerful enough to resist the American invaders, the Shawnee leader and his prophet brother envisioned a new and better Indian world.

by Philip J. Deloria via The New Yorker on October 26, 2020

Presidents Madison and Trump Did the Same Thing — but Trump Got Impeached

Why criminalizing political opposition can be dangerous.

by Tyson Reeder via Made By History on January 15, 2020

Thomas Jefferson's library at the Library of Congress.

Mr. Jefferson’s Books & Mr. Madison’s War

The burning of Washington presented an opportunity for Jefferson’s books to educate the nation by becoming a national library.

by Rebecca Brenner Graham via U.S. Intellectual History Blog on May 15, 2018

James Madison Would Like a Few Words on Trade Wars

The fourth president tried all kinds of sanctions to open markets, but still ended up in the War of 1812.

by Noah Feldman via Bloomberg on March 5, 2018

U.S. government medical marijuana crop at University of Mississippi.

Jeff Sessions is a Hypocrite on States’ Rights. But So is Everyone Else.

Champions of states' rights love federal power when it suits their goals — like Sessions's anti-marijuana crusade.

by Benjamin E. Park via Made By History on January 10, 2018

Patriotism, Partisanship, and “The Star-Spangled Banner”: A View from the Early Republic

Music continues to hold an allure for elites seeking to politicize patriotism in support of their privilege.

by Michael D. Hattem, Billy Coleman via The Junto on September 28, 2017

Visitors pose atop Arch Rock, a geological formation on Mackinac Island.

How America’s Second National Park Lost Its Federal Status—and Gained a New Life as a State Park

Much of Mackinac Island was designated as a national park, but was too expensive for the government to maintain, so it was transferred to the State of Michigan.

by Sarah Kuta via Smithsonian on June 9, 2025

Coastal telegraph semaphore tower, 1799.

The Secret Signal

The semaphore towers of the Hudson.

by John Bulmer via Restoration Obscura on May 31, 2025

A monument of the Minutemen line in Concord, Massachusetts.

The Dangerous Afterlives of Lexington and Concord

How a myth about farmers taking on the British has fueled more than two centuries of exclusionary nationalism.

by Eran A. Zelnik via HNN on April 15, 2025

U.S Department of Justice "Notice to Aliens of Enemy Nationalities"

What Is the Alien Enemies Act?

Trump is relying on a 1798 law with a bad history.

by William Hogeland via Hogeland's Bad History on April 14, 2025

Sign in forest reading "Move Oregon's Border. Greateridaho.org."

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.

by Conner William Howard via Made By History on April 7, 2025

French Gen. Jean de Rochambeau and American Gen. George Washington giving the last orders in October 1781 for the battle at Yorktown.

How Allies Have Helped the US Gain Independence, Defend Freedom and Keep the Peace

Why should a country want or need allies? President Donald Trump and his followers seem to disdain the idea. So did George Washington.

by Donald Heflin via The Conversation on February 20, 2025

Andrew Jackson meets a Creek military officer.

The Forgotten War that Made America

The overlooked Creek War set the tone for America to come.

by Sean Durns via The American Conservative on October 17, 2024

Thomas Nast’s 1874 elephant illustration.

What History Tells Us Might Happen to the Republican Party

The signs that precede the crumbling of American political parties and the creation of new ones.

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky via The Bulwark on July 31, 2024

Portrait of a Sailor (possibly Paul Cuffe), circa 1800.

Paul Cuffe’s Revolutionary American Life and Legacy

Paul Cuffe was the first Black American to formally meet with a sitting president at the White House.

by Ben Railton via The Saturday Evening Post on May 20, 2024

Beyond Dispossession

For generations, depictions of Native Americans have reduced them to either aggressors or victims. But at many public history sites, that is starting to change.

by Ed Ayers on December 6, 2023

“The Washington Family” painting by Edward Savage from the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Political Nepo Babies Root Back to America’s Founding

How family political dynasties in America came to be.

by Cassandra A. Good via TIME on October 12, 2023

Map of Iowa and a drawing of a factory processing corn.

Searching for the Spirit of the Midwest

Was the nineteenth-century Midwest “the most advanced democratic society that the world had seen”?

by Phil Christman via The New Republic on February 22, 2023

A lithograph of Daniel Webster from William H. Brown’s 1845 series “Portrait Gallery of Distinguished American Citizens”

We Fought Over American National Identity During the Antebellum Period. The Fight Should Be Ongoing.

A new work of history finds the best antidote to today’s authoritarian politics in Daniel Webster’s 19th-century civic nationalism.

by David Marques via The New Republic on November 15, 2022

“America” carrying the nation’s flag, circa 1860. Lithograph by Currier and Ives.

Our Flag Was Still There

In his comprehensive study of the national anthem, a historian and musicologist examines our complicated relationship to a famously challenging song.

by Peter Sagal via New York Times on June 14, 2022

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