Roundup

America’s Original Sin

by Annette Gordon-Reed

Slavery and the Legacy of White Supremacy

The Enduring Russian Propaganda Interests in Targeting African-Americans

by Jelani Cobb

Russia’s social-media effort to stoke racial strife during the 2016 election is another example in Moscow’s long, complicated history of seeking to undermine American authority.

After James Mattis resigned, Trump's America is slinking off the world stage

by Tom Nichols

It does not matter how many adults are in the room, because Trump will not listen to any of them. Our allies are stunned and abandoned.

How women used civil disobedience to change American politics

by Connie Hassett-Walker

Breaking laws to break the glass ceiling.

Memory and the Lost Cause

by Danielle A. Jackson

An incomplete nostalgia still undergirds parts of American life.

Video of the Week: Edited Film Footage from 1890’s Paris Explores Some of the Everyday Thrills of Late 19th-Century Life

by Kate Sierzputowski

Videographer Guy Jones slows down film from the late 1800s to early 1900s to more accurately match the speed at which modern footage is recorded and played. In addition to editing the pace of the century-old film, Jones also adds in sound effects to make the scenes more relatable.

Cultural sites at risk from climate change

by Richard Moe

Climate change threatens much of our history, especially the history embodied in our “cultural sites,” the ruins and remnants of the first Americans passed down through multiple generations to the Native Americans of today.

What the Fall of the Roman Republic Can Teach Us About America

by Yascha Mounk

“[T]he good news is that Trump will, once the history of our own mortal Republic is written, turn out to be a relatively minor character. Far from single-handedly destroying our political system, he is the transitional figure whose election demonstrates the extent to which the failings of our democracy are finally starting to take their toll."

Here’s What Happened to the Last Green New Deal

by Michael Brenes

If progressives want to pass environmental legislation, they should pay attention to what happened 50 years ago.

If Trump Wants to Divide Jerusalem into Three

by Daniel Pipes

If Ben Caspit is correct about Trump proposing to divide Jerusalem into three, the consequences will be major and long lasting.

Obsessed with being busy? A historical perspective may help you out

by Clare Holdsworth

The contemporary obsession with over-activity can be given some perspective by considering how humans have balanced periods of activity and repose over the course of history.

The World According to the “Adults in the Room”

by Danny Sjursen

A Year of Forever War in Review

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

Turns out federal judges have little patience for Trump’s conspiracy theories

by Max Boot

Trump defenders would be well advised to recall the ignominious fate of previous conspiracy theories before spinning fresh ones.

A New Middle East: Winners and Losers from Trump’s Abrupt Syria Withdrawal

by Juan Cole

Among the losers:  Israel, Kurds.  Among the winners:  Turkey, Iran, Russia.

It started with Nazis: Concerns over foreign agents not just a Trump-era phenomenon

by Bradley W. Hart 

The initial aim of the 1937 Foreign Agents Registration Act was long forgotten: the prosecution of Nazis for interfering with American democracy. But that law is startlingly relevant to the US now.

Some Civil War monuments need to go, others ought to stay, and still others should be built

by Michael Nelson

There are Confederate monuments, and there are Confederate monuments.

How human rights gained international support

by Jennifer Vannette

International organizations forced nation-states to do the right thing.

Historians Should End Silence on Silent Sam

by Jonathan Zimmerman

It’s precisely because the statue embodies white supremacy that it should remain on the campus, in a history center that tells its full and hateful story. And my fellow historians should be the first people to say that.

Is There Such a Thing as an Authoritarian Voter?

by Molly Worthen

Political scientists want to know. They’re not the only ones.