Roundup

Roundup Top 10!

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

Video of the Week: Sidney Blumenthal & Sean Wilentz on “The Hidden History of American Politics"

Former political aide Sidney Blumenthal and prominent historian Sean Wilentz of Princeton University explore the role party politics has played in America’s enduring struggle against economic inequality.

Weaponizing the Past

by Jill Lepore

How should the courts use history?

10 facts about the origins of American deportation policy

by Hidetaka Hirota

Where did the policy come from? When and why was it introduced in the United States? Who was the target of removal law? How were deportation laws enforced? In "Expelling the Poor," historian Hidetaka Hirota answers these questions in revealing the roots of immigration restriction in the United States.

The Steve King Style of American Politics

by Jelani Cobb

It's paranoid politics  –  just like Richard Hofstadter described a half century ago.

The Putin Anomaly

by Leon Aron

In modern European history, Vladimir Putin is the first classically reactionary and even revanchist leader who is not, or at least not yet, an anti-Semite.

A Consequential Presidency

by David Greenberg

Bill Clinton rescued his party from near obscurity a quarter century ago. Democrats would be wise to closely examine the lessons of his tenure as they set out to rebuild after the devastating 2016 elections.

What Gorsuch Has in Common With Liberals

by Akhil Reed Amar

He's an originalist.  So are (surprise!) a lot of liberals.

The Woman Mark Twain Thought Was the ‘Most Interesting That Ever Lived’

by Gil Troy

As one of the few female founders of a major denomination in the 19th century, Mary Baker Eddy was a major figure—but her life was so much more.

Donald Trump Is Not a Twenty-First Century Andrew Jackson

by Mark R. Cheathem

Historical comparisons can be just as misleading as they can be enlightening. Many of the similarities between the two men are superficial and collapse quickly.

Our dishonorable past: KKK’s Western roots date to 1868

by Knute Berger

Tens of thousands of whites living in Washington and Oregon were, for a time, enthusiastic members of an organization with one of the most hateful histories in America.

What Do Jihadis Want? The Caliphate

by Daniel Pipes

The answer is surprisingly obscure, as most of their attacks do not include clear demands.

That Time American Women Lost Their Citizenship Because They Married Foreigners

by Tanya N. Ballard

In March of 1907, Congress passed the Expatriation Act, which decreed, among other things, that U.S. women who married non-citizens were no longer Americans.

Look no further than Founding Fathers for supporting education

by Paul Wheeler

To quote Thomas Jefferson: ”If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

Reagan called America a ‘city on a hill’ because taxpayers funded the humanities

by Abram Van Engen

The phrase comes from a Puritan sermon by John Winthrop called “A Model of Christian Charity.”

Michael Rogin's relevance in the Age of Trump

by Corey Robin

Rogin’s work stands as a cautionary note to liberals and the left: When a McCarthy (or Trump) comes along, it's misguided to think normal political rules don't apply. They do despite the lure of far-flung analyses rooted in psychology (e.g.: authoritarianism).

Roundup Top 10!

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

Video of the Week: The Racist History Of ‘King Kong’

by Zeba Blay

The cinema icon has been called out in the past for racial undertones.

Are Liberals on the Wrong Side of History?

by Adam Gopnik

Three new books interrogate the premises of the Enlightenment.

The Calamity of 1917

by Max Boot

The horrors that might have been averted if Bolshevism had been stopped.