Roundup

Lexington and Concord -- Where the Rubber Meets the Road

by Guy Chet

The Revolution was, first and foremost, a war.  The Revolution’s battles and campaigns thus offer sound insights as to the rebels’ motivation and aims. 

Inequality and the Coronavirus

by Liz Theoharis

Here’s the simple truth of twenty-first-century America: all of us live in a time and in an economic system that values our lives relative to our ability to produce profits for the rich or in the context of the wealth we possess.

Why Did Women Vote For Hitler? Long-Forgotten Essays Hold Some Answers

by Sarah R. Warren, Daniel Maier-Katkin, Nathan Stoltzfus

More than 30 essays on the subject “Why I became a Nazi” written by German women in 1934 have been lying fallow in the archives of the Hoover Institution in Palo Alto for decades.

Christian Groups That Resist Public-Health Guidelines Are Forgetting a Key Part of the Religion's History

by Matthew Gabriele

Scholars have shown that a large part of Christianity’s attraction in the Roman world was that it cared for the welfare of the people who were suffering.

Governors Must Hold Firm on Stay-at-Home Orders

by Liz Covart

As covid-19 cases grow in each state, Americans may be forced to accept that the tradition of liberty first established in 1620 may not be compatible with 21st century health and security threats.

What Coronavirus Lockdown Protesters Don’t Get: Freedom Requires Limits

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Across America, the real lovers of freedom are staying home. They don’t like it, any more than the protesters do. But they’re willing to do it, so that more of us can stay free of the coronavirus.

Who are the Self-Styled Liberators? Looking More Deeply at those Protesting Coronavirus Shutdowns

by Betsy Gaines Quammen

The American militia movement — a network of armed people, some religiously motivated, some white supremacists, some neither, loosely organized to defend the Constitution, or at least their own version of it — have joined in protests of COVID closures.

The Anti-Quarantine Protesters Aren’t Rosa Parks. They’re More Like Typhoid Mary.

by Max Boot

Trump adviser Stephen Moore even has the gall to call protesters “modern-day Rosa Parks” — as if the civil rights icon fought for the right to infect other people.

Policing The Automobile: “Private” Transit In “Public” Spaces?

by Sarah A. Seo

"As much as courts throughout the twentieth century sought to differentiate cars from houses, the automobile straddled the public/private divide in American life." argues professor Sarah A. Seo.

Covid-19 is Forcing Us to Dwell in Uncertainty. History Can Help.

by Sari Altschuler

Writings on long-ago cholera outbreaks contain lessons in navigating unknowns.

Feldstein's Deplorable Review

by John O'Connor

John O'Connor offers a rebuttal to Mark Feldstein's criticism of his new book Postgate.

Miracle ‘Coronavirus Cures’ Haven’t Changed in 700 Years

by Jennifer Wright

The many bizarre "cures" for the coronavirus circulating online are nothing new. Rather, they have a lineage that stretches back to the bubonic plague.

What the Civil War Can Teach Us About COVID-19

by Jason Phillips

"Like Civil War Americans, we will mourn loved ones who perished in the crisis and face the future with a more complicated view of time." writes Jason Phillips.

Americans Must Embrace Hope, Not Fear

by Kevin M. Schultz

Amid covid-19, it’s time to come together and recognize that diversity is an asset.

Trump’s ‘Liberate Michigan!’ Tweets Incite Insurrection. That’s Illegal.

by Mary McCord

President Trump incited insurrection Friday against the duly elected governors of the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia.

Roundup Top Ten for April 17, 2020

The week's top op-eds written by historians or about history from around the web. 

The Black Plague

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Public officials lament the way that the coronavirus is engulfing black communities. The question is, what are they prepared to do about it?

The Woman who Opposed Equality with Men: Phyllis Schlafly and the Real History Behind "Mrs. America"

by Kimberly A. Hamlin

Phyllis Schlafly ignited a national movement by arguing that women were fundamentally different from men.

This Is Not the Time to Let the Market Decide

by Jamie Martin

When it comes to crucial medical supplies, cooperation, not competition, will save lives. History shows that it works.

Despite the Risks, Letting Americans Vote by Mail in November is Good for Democracy

by Jonathan W. White

Today’s debate about broadening access to absentee ballots amid a pandemic should be less controversial than the Civil War era struggle over creating an entirely new system.