Roundup

The Irony of 'Hamilton' Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's Advocacy For Puerto Rico

by Matt Peppe

The problem with Miranda's reading of history is that he assumes the liberal notion of a united nation, devoted to the common goals of freedom and equality, was any more real 225 years ago than it is today.

Why Historical Thinking Is Not About History

by Sam Wineburg

An adaptation of Sam Wineburg’s keynote address to the 2015 AASLH annual meeting in Louisville.

Everyone was a liberal

by Lawrence Glickman

On the Left, ‘neoliberal’ is an epithet but, not long ago, everyone wanted to be liberal. Will anyone claim liberalism?

Is the U.S. Due for Radically Raising Taxes for the Rich?

by Alana Semuels

That’s what has usually happened whenever a large proportion of Americans have been upset with the distribution of their country’s wealth.

Top 7 Reasons the US could not have forestalled Syrian Civil War

by Juan Cole

Americans are practical people and they incorrectly believe that all problems have relatively simple solutions.

Postscript to “Is Donald Trump a Fascist?”

by Jeffrey Herf

Trump understands what the classic demagogues of the 20th century understood: namely, that in a democracy it is possible to gain millions of votes by appealing to the worst in people.

Back to the Future: Can Trump Win with Law and Order Like Nixon in 1968?

by Michael W. Flamm

Republican Richard M. Nixon narrowly managed to win the 1968 presidential election by exploiting the issue of law and order amid a climate of fear and insecurity.

Europe Under Siege

by Jamie Tarabay

The IRA. Basque separatists. Black September. And now, ISIS. Can Europe use the lessons of the past to defeat the terror of today?

Clinton-Kaine echoes history: A new chapter in epic N.Y.-Virginia relationship

by Manisha Sinha

The political alliance Clinton-Kaine represents is as old as the American Republic itself: The Empire State and the Commonwealth of Virginia have played starring roles in American history since the country’s founding.

The Despair of Poor White Americans

by Alec MacGillis and ProPublica

A white lower class not only figured more prominently in the development of the colonies and the young country than national lore suggests, but was spoken of from the start explicitly in terms of waste and refuse.

Roundup Top 10!

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

Social Media News: What Historians Are Talking About

This week ... Historians Against Trump, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Jack Censer, Ann Little, Rick Perlstein, Heather Cox Richardson, Simon Schama, David Greenberg and more!

The Urban-Rural Divide: Deep Roots In American History

by Daniel Blake Smith

Anyone observing America’s ongoing culture wars, especially as they surface in the current presidential election cycle, is forcefully reminded that we are not a country divided by red and blue states; it’s an urban-rural divide that represents the political and cultural fault lines in the nation.

Pop Culture Roundup: This Week

This week ... The Simpsons on Trump, slavery films, the Beatles, Harry Truman and more!

Echoes of history in U.S. refugee policy

by Bruce W. Dearstyne

Ambivalence about helping people in danger resembles earlier era.

Without Obama There Would Be No Trump

by Nell Irvin Painter

When white people feel challenged, the response is bigotry. History shows this. 

August is bloody and dangerous, but rarely "silly"

by Andrew Roberts

The astonishing thing is that August was ever considered silly in the first place, since year after year it has been the month when great and often terrible events have taken place.

Donald Trump's biggest weakness

by Julian Zelizer

Donald Trump has a temperament problem.

Can Clinton or Trump Recapture Robust American Growth?

by Robert J. Gordon

Voters expect a president to improve their lives, but the cause of anxiety follows trends that are decades in the making.

Jill Stein’s Skewed Interpretation of Recent American History

by Heather Munro Prescott

Stein claims that public pressure pushed the Supreme Court to legalize abortion.  She's wrong.