George Washington

On the early origins of a very American kind of writing.

In early America, the soaring ideals behind establishing a new democracy were marked by cycles of progress and backlash.

Opposition to British policy was justified. Destroying 342 crates of tea worth nearly $2 million in today’s money wasn’t.

Who is the father of American capitalism?

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

Despite depictions of the Underground Railroad, escaping over land was almost impossible in the South. Thousands of enslaved people found allies on the water.

The only question is whether American citizens today can uphold that commitment.

Writing under ancient veneers allowed partisans to politicize and weaponize ancient history during the turbulent start of the Federal Republic.

Likely the child of Martha's son from her first marriage, William Costin used his position to advocate for D.C.'s free Black community.

Ron DeSantis, who has attacked Florida history lessons and aims to run for president, dismisses slavery in his 2011 book as a “personal flaw” of the Founding Fathers.

Americans have often been politically divided. But have the divisions over how we recount our history ever been so deep?

On "Power and Liberty," a condensed version of Gordon Wood's entire sweep of scholarship about constitutionalism.

1796, the first contested presidential election.

In the 1960s, Annette Gordon-Reed was the first Black child to enroll in a white school in her hometown. Now she reflects on having a new school there named for her.

Conservatives have long refused to accept that America’s past is complicated.

Lost wars, especially when defeat comes as a rude surprise, inevitably spark painful self-examination.

Discovery of Phillis Wheatley's earliest known elegy in a commonplace book gives us important insights into her early life and how her work circulated.

Christopher Rufo's polemical attacks against Critical Race Theory are not a new phenomenon. Public schools have long been a battlefield for ideological warfare.

The march toward revolution in America coincided with a smallpox epidemic. True freedom now meant freedom from disease as well.

Governors Ron DeSantis and Gretchen Whitmer took opposite approaches to covid in swing states — but each sailed to reelection.