Recently Published

Stephen Ambrose: Corrected

by Peter Schrijvers

At dawn on Saturday, December 16, 1944, when Hitler ordered his troops to launch a counteroffensive against the Allies in the Belgian and Luxembourg Ardennes, he set in motion a battle that would become the stuff of American legends. Badly outnumbered GIs valiantly managed to delay

History Doyen: David Brion Davis

by Bonnie Goodman

What he's famous for.

Are the Opponents of Gay Marriage Toying with Our Independent Judiciary?

by James C. Cobb

The uproar that exploded last week over Fulton County Superior Judge Constance Russell’s decision to overturn a 2004 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Georgia makes a mockery of our society’s professed belief in the need for an independent judiciary. More than 76 percent of voters supported the measure, but because it dealt with both gay marriage and the legal ramifications of same-sex civil unions, Russell ruled that, as it appeared on the ballot, the amendment was

The Polyglot Manifesto

by Manan Ahmed

During the last few weeks, I have had occasion to think seriously about my discipline, my scholarship and my future. We had a conference recently on the Fate of the Disciplines [scroll down to Recent Events] at which many luminaries wrung their hands and furrowed their brows - worried that money and the right wing will soon destroy the Humanities. Sadly, the brilliantly organized conference had no space for new and recent graduates, those

Of Course, Historians Can Offer Their Assessment of Bush's Presidency

by Sean Wilentz

Larry DeWitt’s article is unfortunate. Dating back to George Bancroft, there is a long tradition of American historians bringing to bear their knowledge of the past in order to assess present politics and social issues. These historians view such commentary as part of a historian’s civic role, even as a civic duty. They have included, in recent decades, not just Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., but C. Vann Woodward, Richard Hofstadter, John

If History Is a Guide, The Immigration Debate Is Going to Get Ugly Very Fast

by Mark W. Naison

As someone who has spent his adult life studying American labor history, I watch the unfolding of the current immigration debate with growing trepidation. As conservative demands for sealing of borders clash with the newly awakened immigrant community's demands for amnesty and liberalized migration rules, I can't help but think of a time after World War I when a nation panicked by the growing visibility and assertiveness of Southern and Eastern European immigrants passed the tightest immigratio

Should Historians Try to Rank President Bush's Presidency?

by Larry DeWitt

“George W. Bush’s presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event . . . there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents.” So begins Princeton historian Sean Wilentz’s latest foray into political commentary disguised as historical analysis, in the pages of the May issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Complete

Selling Iraq with the Wrong Pitch

by Michael R. Adamson

President Bush likes to tell his usually hand-picked audiences that Iraq will become more democratic and prosperous because of America's intervention. What he has in mind are the remarkable changes in Germany and Japan after World War II because of American aid to those countries. His comparison holds little water. So why does he invoke it? Because invoking the correct comparison -- with South Vietnam -- would give neither his beleaguered administration nor most Americans any comfort.

So Another Racist Finds Himself Behind Bars ... So?

by James C. Cobb

Coming close on the heels of the Senate apology for failing to pass one of the three anti-lynching measures laid on its doorsteps by the House between 1920 and 1940, the conviction of Edgar Ray Killen for the 1964 slaying of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County Mississippi marks another chapter in an ongoing drama of expiation and attempts to right some of the racial wrongs of the last century. In the space of a decade or so, we have seen successful prosecutions both of the murderer

Reporter's Notebook: Highlights from the 2006 OAH/NCPH Convention (Wash. D.C. April 19-22)

by Rick Shenkman

IndexHNN Daily Reports Days 1 & 2 Day 3 Day 4 Podcasts HNN Audio Interviews with HistoriansNews News & Blogs on the Annual Meeting Past OAH Meetings HNN Reports on the OHA Meetings in 2003, 20

Strangers in the Land: An Old Theme Replayed

by Dino E. Buenviaje

The United States begins the 21st century just as it began the 20th, by revisiting the debate on immigration and its impact on American cultural identity. The general boycott highlighting the plight of illegal immigrants on May 1, 2006, posed the question of what it means to be an American, a question that continues to polarize all Americans. Despite the hysteria concocted by cable news networks, this issue is as old as the Republic. While the topic of immigration reform is one that de

What Does History Bring to the Study of Jihadism?

by Fawaz A. Gerges

What does a historian bring to the study and understanding of Islamism and jihadism? History provides complexity, rich narrative, comparative perspective, and a healthy degree of skepticism. Let me illustrate what I mean. Most of the books wr

Stop the Presses: An Old Government Cry

by Christopher B. Daly

Bush administration officials, according to a recent report in The New York Times (which must have been “leaked,” since it was not announced) are considering a plan to escalate their battle against leaks of classified material. Now, they reportedly want to bring criminal charges not only against the government employees who divulge the secrets but also against the journalists who disseminate the information to the public. Such a policy is described as a departure

It's Time for Gun Control Proponents to Reclaim the Constitutional High Ground

by Saul Cornell

Few issues in America are more controversial than guns. Yet even among hot button topics in American public life there is something perverse about the dynamics of the debate over guns. Polling data for decades have shown that most Americans favor stronger gun laws. Indeed, surveys demonstrate that such policies are even supported by most gun owners. Yet pundits and political soothsayers have written off this issue because it is perceived to be a loser at the polls. Gun rights

Open Skies For Chinese-American Relations?

by William Lambers

How the United States deals with China is one of the greatest foreign policy challenges Americans face in the 21st century. Preventing an arms race with the fast-growing Asian power is critical to U.S. security. At their recent meeting both President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao acknowledged the need to better increase their exchanges and cooperation between their armed forces. A competition in armaments between China and the United States will cause increased tensions and the

The Infamous Scribblers of the Founding Father Generation

by Eric Burns

It does not seem to make sense. It is almost incomprehensible. Yet the golden age of America's founding was the gutter age of American journalism. The era that produced such works as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers also produced new

History Doyen: Alonzo L. Hamby

by Bonnie Goodman

What he's famous for.

We Have Sung It in Many Languages

by Ralph E. Shaffer and Walter P. Coombs

From talk radio to the presidency, agitated Americans have expressed anger over the "desecration" of the Star Spangled Banner when undocumented residents sing it in Spanish. In the past, the anthem's translation into a foreign language was the least of the infamies that dismayed purists.The flap created by the Spanish language version is just another opportunity to bash immigrants who happen to be from the wrong countries. The anthem for over a century has been cheapened, insu

Intelligent Design and the Place of Religiously-based Ideas in American Politics

by Hunter Rawlings III

On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered the most moving and probably the most significant speech in American history, his Second Inaugural Address. Lincoln used his presidential platform to give an anguished rumination on the purposes of the Almighty and the consequences for Americans, in both North and South, of practicing slavery. The Second Inaugural is, as many have pointed out, essentially a sermon. Its biblical, indeed prophetic rhetoric has had a powerful effect upon all subsequen

Letter from Romania

by Jonathan Rees

In a corner of the Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest is a gallery filled with old Communist relics. Alongside a few busts of Lenin and portraits of the dead dictator Nicolae Ceausescu is a memorial to a huge group of Communism’s victims in this country: ordinary farmers who opposed collectivization.Since my Romanian is nowhere near good enough to have understood the captions on this exhibit, I’ll let this excerpt from the British academic Tom Gallagher’s boo