The History Behind Demands for "Trial by Combat"
By Eric Jager
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Black Votes Have Always Mattered
Van Gosse
While today's attacks on the Voting Rights Act harken back to the overthrow of Reconstruction and imposition of Jim Crow, the history of Black voting in America stretches back to the colonial era, as do arguments about the connection of race and citizenship.
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Four Things You (Probably) Don't Know about the Werewolves of the Ancient World
Daniel Ogden
Movie werewolves come mostly from the pulp fiction of the early 1900s. But werewolf stories date back to the literature of the 12th century, which most likely drew from even older stories preserved in folklore since the times of ancient Greece and Rome.
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When Did America Stop Being Great?
Nick Bryant
Nick Bryant began observing America as a 16 year old at the patriotic spectacle of the 1984 Olympics. His book traces the path from "Morning in America" to "American Carnage," fixing some blame but also seeking a way through.
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Does Ridiculing Q Followers Fuel the Fire? Historical Lessons in Applied Social Science
Jayson Dibble
The January 6 Capitol riot brought the QAnon conspiracy into public view, including the toll on families when a member adopts the worldview. Looking historically at social science research on cults suggests that while aggressive ridicule might be tempting, it's counterproductive.
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Blog
Legendary Director Agnieszka Holland and Screenwriter Andrea Chapula on the Ukrainian Famine and Their Film "Mr. Jones"
Robin Lindley
An interview with the team behind "Mr. Jones," the cinematic telling of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones's revelations of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33. Agnieszka Holland and Andrea Ch...
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The Return of Human Rights on the American Agenda?
Richard Moe
One of Jimmy Carter's legacies, albeit erratically observed, has been the assertion of human rights as a foreign policy priority. After four years of ignoring the issue, will the US under Joe Biden reclaim leadership in high-stakes relationships with Russia and Saudi Arabia?
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Was Madison Mistaken?
Carl Pletsch
The divisive Trump years have called the wisdom of the Framers into question, but the author contends that James Madison in particular anticipated how a republic would be challenged by partisanship and designed one that could withstand that challenge (he just never claimed it would be easy).
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Review: Does "The Princess Spy" Pierce the Veil of its Subject's Fictions?
Robert Huddleston
A new biography of Aline Griffiths, Countess of Romanones, takes on the self-fashioned myths of the American-born woman who married a Spanish aristocrat after serving the OSS in Madrid during World War II. Does it succeed in finding the facts of her career as a spy?
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The Roundup Top Ten for March 5, 2021
The best opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
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With Her Fist Raised: Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Community Activism
Laura L. Lovett
Recovering the legacy of New York activist and organizer Dorothy Pitman Hughes means writing "a history of the women’s movement with children, race, and welfare rights at its core, a history of women’s politics grounded in community organizing and African American economic development."
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A Ghost of Galileo in the English Civil War
John Heilbron
An obscure English painting containing an image of Galileo's "Dialogues" launches a deep consideration of the political and intellectual stakes of free inquiry during the English Civil War.
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The "War on Cancer" at 50: The Most Fruitful Failure in Human History
Judith L. Pearson
Announced by Richard Nixon in 1971, the "War on Cancer" has not yielded a cure. But it has driven research that has deepened understanding of cancers and developed life-saving treatments, while erasing ignorance and stigma. It has been one of humanity's most successful failures.
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Photography Always Needed the Presidents
Cara Finnegan
In the 1840s, the new technology of photography staked its place in the culture as an authoritative, reliable recording of events through the creation of images of the presidents or, in the case of George Washington, pictures of pictures of the presidents.
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Twenty Years Ago, Rioters Tried to Stop a Presidential Vote Count – and Succeeded
Robert Brent Toplin
On November 22, 2000 a mob succeeded in deciding a presidential election.
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Is Virginia's Move to Abolish the Beginning of the End of the Death Penalty in America?
Rick Halperin
Virginia's move to abolish capital punishment is long overdue, and other states and the federal government should follow suit to restore American legitimacy on global human rights.
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An Unwanted Journey "Home": Black American Internees in World War II Europe
Eve Brandel
"Living in Europe in the interwar years, Black Americans enjoyed freedoms denied them at home, but, ironically, America’s entry into World War II meant arrest and internment for those who had not left in time."
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George Shultz: The Last Progressive
Ron Schatz
"A steadfast Republican committed to union-management cooperation, peace through treaties, competitive capitalism, and empowerment of African-Americans, George Shultz was the last old-fashioned Progressive."
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Blog
The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Joins a Proud Tradition
Jim Loewen
"Presidential libraries exist to get visitors to think well of their namesakes, not to think about them."
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The Original Storming of the Capitol
Stephen Dando-Collins
The January 6, 2021 siege of the Capitol in Washington DC has eerie parallels with a much earlier event, the AD 69 siege of the Capitoline Mount in Rome.
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History and Film: Reflections on Konchalovsky’s “Dear Comrades!”
Walter G. Moss
Andrei Konchalovsky's film "Dear Comrades" examines the struggles of ordinary people in the Soviet Union to find truth amid ideology and fear.
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Racist Zoombombings the Latest Application of Technology by White Supremacists
Roy E. Finkenbine
White supremacist keyboard warriors appear to have declared a cyber war against Black History Month.
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The Politicization of the American Judiciary
James D. Zirin
Judicial elections are the latest target of GOP gerrymandering, spurred by the rejection of Team Trump's election lawsuits.
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The Roundup Top Ten for February 26, 2021
The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
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January 6, 2021: A Day of Populist Transgression
Robert A. Schneider
The Capitol riot included a small core of actors bent on destruction, with many more along for the ride reveling in a moment of transgression. In this way, it was a microcosm of the Trumpian movement that, now unleashed, will be difficult to contain.
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Cynicism and Political Blunder: A Postscript to “The January 6th Assault on Congress and the Fate of the GOP’s Faustian Bargain"
Jeffrey Herf
Mitch McConnell's decision to condemn Trump after voting for his acquittal wasn't just an act of cowardice. The acts taken together constitute a major tactical blunder in the emerging battle for control of the Republican Party.
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Don't Defend Democracy With Half-Truths About the Past
Brook Thomas
Although the Capitol riots raised deep concern about the rule of law, there is a deeper challenge ahead of the nation: to understand and change the undemocratic aspects of our foundational law and refuse half-measures in the name of unity.
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Who Deserves Credit for Inventing Vaccination? And Why Does it Matter Today?
John Rhodes
Historical honesty requires acknowledging the African and Asian inoculation practices that preceded and enabled Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine. Telling this story more broadly might also encourage vulnerable communities of color to embrace the COVID vaccine.
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Trump Was Almost Re-Elected. What Does That Say About Us?
Walter G. Moss and Rick Shenkman
Joe Biden's popular vote and electoral margins were large, but only a small number of votes proved decisive. Moving ahead, it is necessary to understand what Trump's ongoing popularity says about America.
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Advice to POTUS 46 from POTUS 1
David O. Stewart
The author of a recent political biography of George Washington wonders how the first president would guide the most recent one.
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Must the Capitol Riots be Included in the Legacy of American Dissent?
Ralph Young
Teachers of history might feel a disconnect between praising American traditions of dissent and condemning the Capitol riots. They shouldn't. Historical evaluation of the grievances of dissenters, whatever their methods, finds real grievances, not lies, at the root of dissent.
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Blog
John Brown’s Body
Ann Banks' Confederates in My Closet
Who taught me “John Brown’s Body?” I don’t remember but I loved to sing it. I had no idea who John Brown was or what the song was about but I was drawn to it par...
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Neal Gabler's "Catching the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Liberal Hour"
James Thornton Harris
Neal Gabler's first volume of a biography of Ted Kennedy praises the long-serving senator as the driving force of a hugely consequential period of liberal legislative success. Those looking for gossip or consideration of his personal failures may be disappointed.
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From Red Finn Halls to The Lincoln Brigade: Class Formation on Washington’s “Red Coast”
Jerry Lembcke
If the current crisis revives interest in class as an analytical concept, a recent book on union organizing on the Washington state coast offers a model for reconstructing the work, community and social life of a community.
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"Hamilton" and Politics Today
Donald J. Fraser
The phenomenally successful "Hamilton" takes some liberties with its subject, but it still offers some valuable perspective on our politics today.
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The Roundup Top Ten for February 19, 2021
The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
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