Abraham Lincoln

They called themselves the Wide Awakes. They are a lesson in building a political movement.

Why our understanding of the era has been hindered by the party system model.

A classic New Yorker account of the Henry Ward Beecher adultery trial recalls a time in America that seems both incomprehensible and familiar.

Historian Robin Blackburn has completed a trilogy of books that provide a comprehensive Marxist account of slavery in the New World.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s struggle against polio transformed him into the man who led the country through the Great Depression and World War II.

Since colonial times, the Book of Esther has proved a powerful metaphor in American politics.

For as long as Americans have been subjected to lousy candidates, they’ve been told to suck it up and vote for one of them.

A groundbreaking new book demonstrates that even during the days of slavery, African Americans knew a lot more about legal principles than has been imagined.

A new television miniseries depicts the pursuit of Lincoln’s killer. But the public appetite for tales about the chase began even as it was happening.

Steven Spielberg’s early films conjure all of his moviemaking magic to repair a world of lost dads.

Harriet M. Buss' missives home detail the future congressman's candid views on race and the complicity of Confederate women.

We still live with the consequences of the 28th president’s fuzzy thinking.

100 years ago, Chief Justice William Howard Taft made the Court more efficient and more powerful, marking a turning point whose effects are still being felt.

The significance of New Year’s Eve ‘watch night’ services for Black Americans.

The 1619 Project claimed to reveal the unknown history of slavery. It ended up helping to distort the real history of slavery and the struggle against it.

The Union general directly benefited from the brutal institution before and during the Civil War.

The Pennsylvanian was one of America’s greatest heroes. Why hasn’t he gotten his due?

On the 14th amendment – and if it might stop Trump.

In 1840, William Henry Harrison was mocked for his presidential run at age 67 — 15 years younger than President Biden would be at the start of a second term.

The answer reveals grave robbing problems for America’s deceased leaders.