Recently Published

Is History Ready to Judge the Trump Presidency?

by Samuel (Shenger) Zhou

Understandings of presidential success and failure might have to be revised for Donald Trump; while Trump failed to win reelection, his media tactics will allow him, unlike the previous Republican president George W. Bush, to retain control of his party and remain a national force even out of office. Is this the future of the presidency?

Ammon Bundy's Ongoing Religious War

by Betsy Gaines Quammen

Ammon Bundy has been looking for another battle since the takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. With a new administration promising increased regulation of public lands use, he may choose one soon. 

America Does Have an "Original Sin": A Response to James Goodman

by Joshua Ward Jeffery

"Original Sin" is a fit metaphor for longstanding inequities in American society, but it's important to understand that the original sin is settler colonialism and the seizure of indigenous land, which American civic religion has been all too willing to accommodate. 

Can Biden Fulfill JFK's Incomplete Promise of a Peace Presidency?

by Martin Halpern

Today's global problems require leadership from a "peace presidency" that prioritizes global public health, international cooperation, and human rights over militarism and arms. 

Historians for Peace and Democracy Present Free Resources for History Educators

by Margaret Power and Kevin Young

Historians for Peace and Democracy invite readers and particularly history educators to explore the group's free resources for teaching about issues of peace, democracy, and human rights. 

Can Abolition of Nuclear Weapons Overcome the Opposition?

by Lawrence Wittner

People who want to end the nightmare of nuclear destruction that has haunted the world since 1945 should consider widening the popular appeal of nuclear weapons abolition by strengthening the UN’s ability to provide international security.

"What the Black Man Wants": Frederick Douglass's Answers Still Resonate

by Ashley Cruseturner

WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE NEGRO? "Do nothing with us," Douglass suggested. The author argues that an inclusive conservatism can and must support individual liberty while recognizing that American society falls short of Douglass's expectation of full and free participation in the economic and political life of the nation.

Will the Supreme Court Uphold the NCAA's Version of Amateurism?

by Ronald A. Smith

A pending Supreme Court case will test whether the NCAA can bar student athletes from making money from products that make use of their images, a form of property right of "Name, Image, or Likeness." A historian who wrote an amicus brief says the NCAA's claim to protect the amateurism of the athletes is selective and hypocritical.

Red Flags on the Map: What Soviet Kids Learned about the United States

by David Mould

One of the author's souvenirs from a research trip to Asia – a Soviet-era classroom map – prompts reflection on the pervasiveness of ideological education. 

The Same Mistakes Twice? Teaching Dr. Seuss

by Walter Kamphoefner

Step back from the current media controversy and consider how Theodor Geisel's cartooning illustrate the contradictory nature of America's posture toward foreign and domestic racism in the World War II era, a pivotal moment for the nation that must be understood in all its complication. 

Power to Rule the Skies: A Forgotten Innovator of the Strategic Air Command

by Brent D. Ziarnick

General Thomas S. Power should emerge from the shadow of his mentor Curtis LeMay as a leader of the United States Strategic Air Command at the critical moment in the dawn of the Cold War. 

Why Deb Haaland Matters

by Michael Leroy Oberg and Joel Helfrich

New Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's nomination signals a hopeful turn for "those who value the environment and appreciate the 172-year long historic relationship between Interior and America's Native Nations."

Policing, Protest, and the Role of the University

by David S. Busch

Student activists at Northwestern, in other words, are asking a similar question that emerged out of the 1960s and famous protest moments at Jackson State and Kent State in 1970: What should be the university’s public purpose?

Has the One World Idea's Time Come Again?

by Samuel Zipp

Can remembering the “one world” vision for America’s global role—largely forgotten today ­–­ help us get beyond both America First and the “liberal world order”?

Incognegro, Part II: How New York Law Enforcement Worked to Destroy Core

by L.E.J. Rachell

Ray Wood's memoir alleges that as a rookie NYPD detective he was coerced to act as an agent provocateur to convince members of New York's Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) chapters to commit crimes or other acts that would discredit and destroy the movement. The NYPD and FBI could clear the air by releasing their files on infiltration of Black-led organizations. 

White Terrorism: From Post-Civil-War Lynchings to the Present

by Walter G. Moss

The Capitol riots of January 6 echoed elements of mob lynchings in the participants' binary us/them view of society, a conservative white Protestant religious culture, and a willingness to accept rumor and conspiracy as justifications for their actions.

Filibusters Create Legislative Paralysis. Make Them Rare or Eliminate Them

by Robert Brent Toplin

The only conceivable rationale for the filibuster – that it promotes compromise and bipartisan action – clearly no longer holds. It's time to allow a Senate majority to govern. 

Persevering to Mars

by Stephen J. Pyne

In two prior ages of exploration, the work has been inseparable from contact between peoples leading to colonization. Last month's successful landing on Mars may herald an age where technology encourages all people to imagine themselves as equal participants.

Rally 'Round the Rune: Fascist Echoes of the CPAC Stage

by Mark Auslander and Jay Ball

The incorporation of a Norse rune associated with the SS into the stage of the recent CPAC conference probably isn't an accident; the choice reflects the cultural cachet of Norse myth on the far right, the conservative movement's desire to maintain deniability about its ties to the far right, and the recognition that the design would be crystal clear to viewers of internet memes. 

Americans Can Vote at 18 Because of Congressional Action 50 Years Ago

by Jennifer Frost

The 26th Amendment resulted from Congress's determination to act swiftly in response to a Supreme Court decision that made it impracticable to grant 18 year olds the right to vote by simple legislation. Youth vote activists, Congress, and democracy advocates should demand similar focus on protecting voting access this year.