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Alexander Hamilton

Related Excerpts

The Original Attack Dog

James Callender spread scurrilous rumors about Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. Then he turned on Thomas Jefferson, too.

Forget Hamilton, Burr Is the Real Hero

We can learn more from him in today's political world.

A Hamilton Skeptic on Why the Show Isn’t As Revolutionary As It Seems

"It's still white history. And no amount of casting people of color disguises the fact that they're erasing people of color from the actual narrative."

Who Tells America's Story? 'Hamilton,' Hip-Hop, and Me

How the hit musical allows those who have been left out of the story to claim the narrative of America as their own.
Side profile of Aaron Burr.
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Aaron Burr: Most Hated Man in American History

A more sympathetic look at Aaron Burr, the man who killed Alexander Hamilton.

Founding Fathers, Founding Villains

A review of a handful of new books that embody the new liberal originalism.
Illustration of a founding father standing in front of a distorted mirror.

What the Founders Would Say Now

They might be surprised that the republic exists at all.
The founders at the Constitutional Convention with the "We the People" as a backdrop.

“Shall We Have a King?”

Some delegates at the Constitutional Convention wanted a strong executive, while others feared the American president might become a king.
Bouquet of funerary flowers on top of the Constitution.

How Originalism Killed the Constitution

A radical legal philosophy has undermined the process of constitutional evolution.
AI generated image of John Adams

'Founders Museum' from White House and PragerU Blurs History, AI-generated Fiction

Historians say it's good to highlight America's founders, but the project takes too narrow a view of history.
"Home in the Woods," an 1847 painting by Thomas Cole.

A Republican Excursion

As a new book on their travels together shows, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's friendship went beyond politics.
Gouverneur Morris.

The One-Legged Founding Father Who Escaped the French Revolution

Gouverneur Morris wrote the preamble to the Constitution. Later in life, he rejected the foundational document as a failure.
Men unloading imported goods from a ship to waiting horse carts.

Biff-Bang: Tariffs Before Trump

Trump's tariffs echo centuries of global protectionism, but history and economics question their effectiveness and long-term value.
Sampler, by Abigail Adams, 1789.

The Founders’ Family Research

Early American elites were fascinated with genealogy, despite the ways it attached them to the Old World.
“The Gerry-Mander.” Although not the first version of Elkanah Tisdale’s famous cartoon, this one notably includes all the towns of Essex County. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Gerry-Mander_Edit.png#/media/File:The_Gerry-Mander.png.

The Original Gerrymanders

The history of gerrymandering suggests that the current redistricting race for short-term partisan gain indicates a period of political instability on the way.
Political cartoon of General Jackson Slaying the Many Headed Monster (the Second National Bank).

The Ghost of Nicholas Biddle

Trump’s war against elite academia has created an uncanny parallel to the most dramatic fight in Jackson’s day—the attack on the 2nd Bank of the United States.
William E. Humphrey and Franklin D. Roosevelt with national symbols.

The Supreme Court Undercuts Another Check on Executive Power

To defend the Trump Administration, the Court ignored long-standing precedent barring Presidents from firing independent-agency heads at will.
John Trumbull’s painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 1819.

Who Invented the “Founding Fathers?”

The making of a myth.
A drawing of John Adams.

John Adams Is Bald and Toothless

A brief history of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Henry Carey
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The 19th Century Thinker Who Touted Tariffs

Trump is not alone in his support for tariffs. Henry Carey also believed tariffs could help American workers.