Current Events that Relate to History
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Book ReviewThe Most Rancorous Line
How did the Mason–Dixon Line—meant to resolve a longstanding colonial border dispute—come to represent the US’s foundational divide between slavery and freedom?New York Review of Books -
ComparisonTrump Wants to Be the New Polk
His interest in the 11th president’s legacy has conjured up the specter of manifest destiny.The Atlantic -
AntecedentThe New Wave of Anti-Trans Legislation is Based on Very Old Arguments and Ideas
Trans Americans have taken to the courts for decades to fight against the notion that they are a threat.Made By History -
Book ReviewThe Overrated Father of Modern Liberalism
A new biography of the journalist Walter Lippmann bashes conservatives but adds value.The American Conservative -
Book ReviewThe Limits of the Hamilton-Jefferson Paradigm
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton may be titans of the American Founding, but these two poles don't describe everything.Law & Liberty -
CommentThe First Prophet of Abundance
David Lilienthal’s account of running the TVA can read like the "Abundance" of 1944. We have a lot to learn from what the book says — and what it leaves out.Asterisk -
exhibitImperial Ambitions
Five hundred years of empire building in North America and beyond its borders.
From the HNN Archive
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How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. -
If the Slipper Doesn’t Fit
A scorched shoe is a crucial part of Zelda Fitzgerald’s modern mythology. But there’s no proof it existed. -
Indifferent to the Fate of Freedom Elsewhere
Jimmy Carter is known for his defense of human rights worldwide. But in 1979, he threatened to deport thousands of Iranian student protesters. -
Elevating the Few
What JD Vance excludes from the history of the Civil War and immigration. -
Whose Side Are College Administrators On?
There’s a long history of politicians targeting student protesters — and of campus leaders abetting those efforts. -
Solve for AI
What the history of the pocket calculator reveals about the future of AI in classrooms. -
“At Any Future Time”
In 1880, the daughter of a Welsh politician turned to fiction to expose perspectives missing from the official record, upending histories for generations to come. -
Slamming America’s Door Behind Him
How a son of European immigrants fought to keep Indian immigrants out of America. -
Governing by Police
The Metropolitan Police Department in DC has been an essential component of Washington politics since its founding. -
When Good Housekeeping Meant Getting Vaccinated Against Polio
The pages of 1950s lifestyle magazines offer a glimpse of a time when childhood vaccines were anything but controversial.