Roundup

Liberty & Power: Group Blog

DAVID T. BEITO: ANTI-IMPERIALIST DILEMMAS, 1900 AND 2004, 12-26-03 Sam Koritz points out that nineteenth century classical liberals, like modern antiwar libertarians and conservatives, had intense debates about the comparative advantages of third party and major party strategies. This was certainly true in the 1900 when anti-imperialist gold democrats pondered whether to support William Jennings Bryan over

Déjà vu

by Judith Apter Klinghoffer

DECEMBER LOOKS GOOD 12-23-03The end of the semester is always hectic, so I have not written much. I suspect my readers do not mind for they are busy too. In any case, let's pray that the unpleasant alert will not mar the good news we have been getting recenly. It looks as if with the capture of Saddam, the turn around of Kaddafi (note he has committed himself to democratic reforms!), the renewal of accomodating noises made by Musharaf not on

Thinking It Through 11-18-03

by Thomas M. Spencer

Last Update: 9:28 a.m. CSTSTOP THE BLOG -- I WANT TO GET OFF 11-18-03 Well I guess it’s about time to come clean folks. I’ve loved this blogging thing over the last fifteen months but, I’m afraid to say, it’s time to hang it up. There are several reasons for stopping it now. First of all, I’m spending way too much time on it and it’s time for me to use that time more productively. I promised

Student of History ... Draft-Age Blogger 8-01-03

by Nathan Williams

Historians' Take on the News: Archives 7-15-03 to 9-24-03

What Bernard Lewis Thinks of Iraq Now Barry Rubin: The 3 Revolutions in the Middle East World Ibrahim al-Marashi: What Did Saddam Call this War? James M. McPherson: Bush Revisionism Juan Cole: Is Israel in Violation of the Geneva Accords?

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life - Walter Isaacson [podcast 31 min 14 sec]

In this lecture, Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, traces Franklin’s career from his early days as an apprentice in his brother’s Boston print shop to his involvement, at the age of eighty-four, with the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. Franklin was an autodidact, self-taught in every field he entered, but the virtue that he most embodied, Isaacson argues, was tolerance. The ultimate self-made man, Franklin’s life remains essentially American.

Notes of a Left-Wing Cub Scout 08-12-03

by Jeffrey L. Pasley

 "Four score and a hundred and fifty years ago/ Our forefathers made us equal as long as we can pay/ Yeah, well

Historians' Take on the News: Archives 4-15-03 to 7-11-03

Does 9-11 Give Bush a Lock on the White House in 2004? Max Boot: Small Wars Can Be Won Daniel Pipes: A Smooth Ride with the Help of the Road Map to Peace? Victor Davis Hanson: WMD Will Be Found Eric Hobsbawm: You Can't Criticize America Daniel Pipes: Prime Ministe

Historian's Take on the News: Archives 1-29-03 to 3-14-03

HOWARD ZINN: WHY HE OPPOSES WAR WITH IRAQ ALLAN LICHTMAN: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND WAR ROGER MORRIS: JFK'S ROLE IN REGIME CHANGE IN IRAQ JAMES RESTON, JR.: LESSONS OF THE CRUSADES KENNETH M. POLLACK: HISTORY LESSON ... SADDAM WON'T BE DETERRED BY INSPECTIONS DAVID

Andrew Delbanco talks about "The Real American Dream"

Julian Clarence Levi Professor in the Humanities and Director of the American Studies Program at Columbia University, Andrew Delbanco examines the evolution of the American Dream—the idea that anyone may rise above his or her station, regardless of birth. Beginning with the Puritans, Professor Delbanco traces the origins of the American Dream from the Calvinist fire-and-brimstone of Jonathan Edwards, to the swelling optimism of Emerson and Melville, to the present day.

Philip A. Klinkner and Rogers M. Smith, The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America

by Reviewed By John Barnhill

Editor's Note: The following review first appeared in July on H-Pol, a list serve run by the University of Michigan under the general name, H-Net. Klinkner is associate professor of government and the former director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College; working alone he has produced The Losing Parties (1994). Smith is professor of government and co-director of the ISPS Center for the Study of Race, In

Jean Strouse & 'Morgan: American Financier' [audio 34min]

Award-winning historian Jean Strouse prefaces her discussion of her new book with a warning: "It took J.P.Morgan seventy-six years to live his life, and it took me fifteen years to write about it." In this short presentation, she touches on different aspects of her research into the life of J.P. Morgan, America's most influential banker. She looks at the reasons for his success and delves into his inscrutable personal life. Strouse's extensive scholarship offers many insights into her

Gordon Wood: The Real Treason of Aaron Burr

In 1807, Aaron Burr was tried and acquitted on charges of treason for his “adventures” in the American West, but he had fallen out of favor in American life long before, after he had run for president against Thomas Jefferson, served a single term as vice president, and shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel. A free spender, a womanizer, and the only Founding Father who was actually descended from the English aristocracy, Burr was famously secretive and conspiratorial. In this lectur

Mario Cuomo Had the Most Divided Mind in Politics

by Sidney Blumenthal

The confessions of St. Mario

Life Magazine's Coverage of Selma

See how Selma was reported by Life.

Let There Be Light, 1946

Documentary: Veterans' hospital showing ten week treatment program for men with psychological problems stemming from combat.

The Atlantic is digitizing its archives. Here’s what the magazine claimed about women in 1903

by Lyman Abbott

The title says it all: “Why women do not wish the suffrage."

Conservatives' Opposition to Yet-Unnamed SCOTUS Nominee Shows the Right's Siege Mentality

by Thomas Zimmer

If Joe Biden follows through on a pledge to nominate a Black woman to the high court, it won't change the ideological tilt on the bench, but it will highlight that white men still dominate powerful institutions and that conservative politics is concerned with preserving that dominance. 

Post-Vietnam Recriminations are a Preview of What will Follow in Afghan Debate

by Gregory A. Daddis

Already, political recrimination over the fall of Kabul echo the domestic political attacks that accompanied the failure of the US war in Vietnam. This battle may be more consequential at home.

Black History is Often Shunned, Like the Book I Wrote

by Martha S. Jones

The historian of voting rights and Black women's activism examines the reaction to a planned discussion of her book through a Louisiana public library.