early Republic

The Power of Dependency in Women's Legal Petitions in Revolutionary America (Excerpt)

by Jacqueline Beatty

It's anachronistic thinking to ask whether the American revolution improved women's status; a legal historian's new book seeks to understand change and continuity in women's status through those women's own worldview, which often involved leveraging their dependent status in specific claims. 

How Smallpox Inoculation Brought a New Nation Together

The need to control smallpox outbreaks helped a public-minded spirit of disease prevention to override rampant individualism in the years surrounding the American Revolution, argues historian Andrew Wehrman.

There’s a Very Good Reason ‘Washington Slept Here’

by Nathaniel Philbrick

"Today the phrase 'Washington slept here' is a historical joke, but during the two years of intermittent travel at the beginning of his presidency, all those nights spent in taverns and homes across the country were essential to establishing an enduring Union."

This Prominent Virginian did Free His Slaves after Championing Liberty

Robert Carter III's manumission of 500 of his slaves in 1791 was a rebuke to his fellows who publicly abhorred slavery but insisted it couldn't be practically abolished. 

Robert Middlekauff, Historian of Washington and His War, Dies at 91

Robert Middlekauff wrote what was long considered the best single-volume study of the American Revolution, "The Glorious Cause." 

Lafayette as "The Nation’s Guest" (1824-1825)

by Mike Duncan

When Lafayette returned to America in 1824, he found the new nation already torn between his beloved ideal of liberty and the entrenched institution of slavery. HNN presents an excerpt from Mike Duncan's new book "Hero of Two Worlds." 

America's First Peaceful (Just Barely!) Transfer of Power

by Akhil Reed Amar

While the selection of Thomas Jefferson as the third president in 1801 (after an electoral college deadlock) is touted as a crucial peaceful transfer of presidential power from one party to another, the transition was far more fraught with peril than most realize. 

The Year That Changed Everything

by Akhil Reed Amar

A legal historian and constitutional scholar considers the founding document in terms of the process of its founding. Neither cynical nor purely idealistic, the Constitution did submit to ratification by a broad vote, but pursued national security by institutionalizing the slave power. 

The Twists and Turns of Black History (Review)

by Jill Watts

Historian Jill Watts reviews new books on Black history by Kate Masur, Thomas C. Holt and Pamela Horowitz and Jeanne Theoharis. 

Register for Profs and Pints with Denver Brunsman: The 1814 Burning of Washington

Historian Denver Brunsman will join the Profs and Pints series of (virtual) discussions to talk about the British attack on Washington in 1814 and its impact on American nationalism and the local urban boosters of the capital city. 

How John Adams Managed a Peaceful Transition of Presidential Power

by Sara Georgini

John Adams handed over power to Thomas Jefferson in 1801, but his actions demonstrated that power truly remained in the hands of the people.

Grave Is Found at Site of Historic Black Church in Colonial Williamsburg

The excavation may have discovered the remains of a Baptist congregation dating to the late 18th century, and may prompt a rethinking of the place of African American history in the open museum of Colonial Williamsburg.

Minority Rule Cannot Last in America. It Never Has

by Kenneth Owen

When parties commit themselves to minority rule, the backlash can be severe, as has been shown repeatedly when ruling parties stood in the way of popular will. 

A Diverse Cabinet will Make Joe Biden a Better President and Unify the Country

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

"Over the past 230 years, presidents have followed Washington’s lead, making increased diversity and representation of religions, backgrounds, genders and races a central part of the cabinet story."

On the Peaceful Transfer of Power: Lessons from 1800

by Sara Georgini

Adams lost the presidency amid violent factionalism, a seething press, rampant electioneering, and the eruption of party politics, yet became a champion for the peaceful transfer of power. 

Peace is Temporary Without Trustworthy Leaders: Lessons from the Philadelphia Mutiny

by David Head

In an environment of intense mutual suspicion—soldiers accused civilians of stingy ingratitude while civilians saw the army as a threat to their liberty—Washington’s trustworthiness bound the two sides together.

James Traub: The Tea Party’s Path to Irrelevance

James Traub, a columnist at foreignpolicy.com, is writing a biography of John Quincy Adams.WASHINGTON — THE Tea Party has a new crusade: preventing illegal immigrants from gaining citizenship, which they say is giving amnesty to lawbreakers. Judson Phillips, the founder of Tea Party Nation, recently told Politico that his members were “more upset about the amnesty bill than they were about Obamacare.”...Tea Partyers often style themselves as disciples of Thomas Jefferson, the high apostle of limited government. But by taking the ramparts against immigration, the movement is following a trajectory that looks less like the glorious arc of Jefferson’s Republican Party than the suicidal path of Jefferson’s great rivals, the long-forgotten Federalists, who also refused to accept the inexorable changes of American demography.The Federalists began as the faction that supported the new Constitution, with its “federal” framework, rather than the existing model of a loose “confederation” of states. They were the national party, claiming to represent the interests of the entire country.