Person

Joshua D. Rothman

Bylines

The Life and Death of an All-American Slave Ship

How 19th century slave traders used, and reused, the brig named Uncas.

by Joshua D. Rothman, Benjamin Skolnik via Slate on December 4, 2021
The Men Who Turned Slavery Into Big Business

The domestic slave trade was no sideshow in our history, and slave traders were not bit players on the stage.

by Joshua D. Rothman via The Atlantic on April 20, 2021
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The Deep Cruelty of U.S. Traders of Enslaved People Didn’t Bother Most Americans

Debunking the myths of the domestic slave trade.

by Joshua D. Rothman via Made by History on April 14, 2021
Andrew Jackson and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

How the so-called champion of the common man set a precedent for using federal troops to quash labor unrest.

by Joshua D. Rothman via We're History on January 29, 2019
The Curious Origins of the Dollar Sign

How a backer of the American Revolution unwittingly shaped the way we count money.

by Joshua D. Rothman via We're History on April 1, 2018
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When the War on the Press Turns Violent, Democracy Itself is at Risk

The bloody history of attacks on American journalists.

by Joshua D. Rothman via Made by History on August 1, 2017
When Bigotry Paraded Through the Streets

A century ago, millions of Americans banded together to reform the KKK, the rest turned a blind eye.

by Joshua D. Rothman via The Atlantic on December 4, 2016

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1836 lithograph of a slave trader marching enslaved people to be sold.

Partners in Brutality

New books investigate the brutality of the internal slave trade by focusing on businesses, and examine the role of white women in enslaving Black people.

by Nicholas Guyatt via New York Review of Books on October 18, 2021

Making History Go Viral

Historians used the Twitter thread to add context and accuracy to the news cycle in 2018. Here’s how they did it.

by Rebecca Onion via Slate on December 11, 2018

Hunting Down Runaway Slaves: The Cruel Ads of Andrew Jackson and the 'Master Class'

A historian collecting runaway slave ads describes them as “the tweets of the master class.”

by DaNeen L. Brown via Retropolis on May 1, 2017

Bright apocalyptic explosion over a city.

Is 2016 the Worst Year in History?

Is 2016 worse than 1348? And 1836? And 1919?

by Rebecca Onion via Slate on July 22, 2016

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