Current Events that Relate to History
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BiographySilent Springs, Windswept Seas: On the Environmental Vision of Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson's unique blend of lyrical prose and hard-hitting science helped push forward the environmentalist movement.Literary Hub -
CommentThe American Myth Always Came at Someone’s Expense. Now, It’s All But Collapsed
The main pillars of the founding narrative have fallen on hard times. Today, its meaning is up for grabs.The Guardian -
CommentWhy Have Liberals Abandoned a Moral Reading of the Constitution?
From slavery to abortion, conservatives and liberals alike have reached for “natural law” to resolve cases. But, in recent years, the balance has shifted.The New Yorker -
Film ReviewThe Catholic Stories Ken Burns Left Out of His New American Revolution Documentary
His measured, atmospheric tone, always attentive to nuance, still overlooks how North American Catholics shaped diplomacy and military policy.America Magazine -
ArgumentWhy San Francisco Isn't Bigger
Large swaths of America’s cities were originally underwater. We stopped half a century ago, but there is plenty more land left to take.Works In Progress -
Exhibit“Worst of the Worst”
A Chilean agent who participated in a Washington, D.C. assassination 50 years ago was detained by ICE for murder. Then they let him go.National Security Archive -
exhibitAmerica’s Big Birthdays
Every 50 years, the nation comes together to wrestle with the principles of its founding and what they mean for us in the present.
From the HNN Archive
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Newsletter Features
Birthright Citizenship Existed Before the Fourteenth Amendment
The idea that citizenship extends to everyone born on U.S. soil has precedents stretching back to the Founding. -
Newsletter Features
Declaring “Revolution”
Even after the fighting started, it took years before American Patriots started calling their cause a “revolution.” -
Excerpts
The Bicentennial Made American History Look Ridiculous
Many Americans felt the U.S. had failed to live up to its ideals on its 200th anniversary. They hoped it might improve by the Declaration’s next big celebration. -
Newsletter Features
An Appeal for Inaction
On the United States’ 150th birthday, Calvin Coolidge said that the country’s work was done. Not everyone agreed. -
Newsletter Features
What Has His Billion Dollars Made of Him?
Finding shades of Elon Musk in Upton Sinclair’s 1937 novel about Henry Ford. -
Newsletter Features
Reading Playboy for the History
A historian stumbles upon an article that provides a fascinating glimpse into how the world thought about witchcraft and sex in 1963.