The Latest 
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Teaching "All Men are Created Equal" (Part II)
Jeff Schneider
In the second part of this essay, a longtime teacher of American history maintains that a close reading of the Declaration of Independence makes it possible to discuss revolution and racism in a thoughtful way without intimidating either white students or students of color.
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Psychologically Speaking, Who Were the Heads of the Chinese Communist Party?
David Shambaugh
Sinologist David Shambaugh's new book examines the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic's role in the world through a psychological history of the CCP's leaders. Excerpted here, he offers a schematic overview of the work.
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For Constitution Day, Let's Toast the Losers of the Convention
Richard Hall
"On Constitution Day, I say drink a toast to the losers. Let us study their criticisms of our imperfect system."
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We are All Becoming Cassandras: Leaders Must Heed the People on Climate, Disarmament, and Pandemic
Lawrence Wittner
In classical myth, Cassandra was a lone prophet whose accurate predictions were ignored. Today, a growing share of humanity are playing the Cassandra role against a political and economic elite standing in the way of solutions to the threats of climate change, pandemic disease and nuclear annihilation.
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Inequality Tends to Reach Political Tipping Points – Is That Happening Today?
Richard Vague
"Proposals for a $15 minimum wage, more support for childcare and education, and even an alternative minimum income did not emerge out of nowhere as radical notions imported from Western Europe."
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The Roundup Top Ten for September 17, 2021
The best opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
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Memo From Irish History: Welcome to Your Future, American Women
Laura Weinstein
After sustained public outcry, the Republic of Ireland looked to its history of horrific treatment and preventable death of girls and women under its draconian abortion laws and said "enough." Will this example change the course American states like Texas are poised to follow?
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Untold Stories from the Largest Boat Lift in History
Jessica DuLong
On September 11, 2001, nearly half a million civilians in Lower Manhattan escaped by water when mariners conducted a spontaneous rescue. This was the largest waterborne evacuation in history, but has gone largely untold.
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9/11's Memorials and the Politics of Historical Memory
Marita Sturken
Major 9/11 memorials try to fix the public memory on a moment of national unity that, 20 years later, seems illusory. Other memorials point the way to using the force of memory to encourage critical reflection on nationalism.
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Scammed From the Beginning: Rejecting Expertise as an American Value
Guy Lancaster
When Americans demand and take unauthorized medications to treat COVID-19, they aren't indulging a new conspiratorialism but are tapping into currents of American cultural and religious history that have always rejected established authority.
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The Specter of Emancipation and the Road to Revolution: A Rejoinder to Richard Brown et. al.
Woody Holton
Woody Holton responds to a recent open letter of criticism by six Revolutionary-era historians of his interpretation of the significance of slavery as a motivation for colonial independence.
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Blog
The Attica Prison Uprising, 50 Years Ago Today
Skipped History with Ben Tumin
Season 3, Episode 1 of Skipped History
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Teaching "All Men are Created Equal" (Part I)
Jeff Schneider
A longtime teacher of American history maintains that a close reading of the Declaration of Independence makes it possible to discuss revolution and racism in a thoughtful way without intimidating either white students or students of color.
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See a Piece of History: Retired FDNY Fireboat John D. McKean
The Fireboat McKean Preservation Project and the Hudson River Parks Friends offer those in New York the opportunity to visit the McKean at Pier 25 in lower Manhattan. The McKean's half-century of service most notably included evacuation and firefighting support on 9/11.
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The Missed Lesson of Vietnam: Plan for Unconditional Victory or Don't Intervene at All
James D. Robenalt
Comparisons between American withdrawal from Vietnam and Afghanistan miss a key point: failure was overwhelmingly likely from the beginning because, if the United States was unwilling or unable to secure unconditional surrender, time was on the side of its foes.
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The Roundup Top Ten for September 10, 2021
The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
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Were the 9/11 Attacks Preventable?
J. Samuel Walker
It's impossible to know if more diligent preparation for potential Al Qaeda attacks could have prevented them, but the Bush administration's slowness to develop a national security strategy for terrorism will always haunt the nation and the world.
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20 Years of Flawed Assumptions Led to Failure in Afghanistan
Luiza Carter
"For many Afghans with roots in a culture drastically different than ours, Taliban governance was simply not as barbaric as what we saw through our Western lens. Or at least not worth sacrificing their lives to prevent."
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The Generosity of James Loewen
Guy Lancaster
James Loewen didn't put ideals of prestige over his "deadly earnest desire to find and expose manifestations of American racism that had, for so long, gone unnoticed and unexplored by most scholars." His generosity went hand in hand with his widespread impact.
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Nationalist Nostalgia in Russian Film Mirrors Putin's Political Bending of History
Walter G. Moss
Director Nikita Mikhalkov expresses through film much of the same nostalgic nationalism that anchors Vladimir Putin's authoritiarian leadership in Russia.
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Three Badasses of the Revolutionary Era That Your Textbooks Never Told You About
Woody Holton
University of South Carolina historian Woody Holton, author of Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution, due out in October, wants to introduce you to three badass American Revolutionaries your textbooks never told you about.
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Lafayette as "The Nation’s Guest" (1824-1825)
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."
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The Scandalous Six Week Walk That Inspired D. H. Lawrence's Most Popular Novels (excerpt)
Annabel Abbs
In 1912, Frieda von Richthofen made a six-week hike from Bavaria to northern Italy with her lover D.H. Lawrence. It was, for him, a journey of of inspiration. For her, it was a more complicated search for liberation.
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Review: Heroes of Ireland's Great Hunger
Alan J. Singer
Christine Kinealy and her co-editors enlist top scholars from both sides of the Atlantic to highlight the stories of individuals and who led efforts for hunger relief against the opposition of the British government.
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Resettling Refugees is Harder than You Think – A Personal History
Ron Steinman
Experience shows that resettling refugees isn't easy. But with respect for common humanity and dedication, it's possible.
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The Roundup Top Ten for September 3, 2021
HNN Staff
The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
News
- Fishing, Not Catching, in the History of the Law
- Beyond the State: An Anarchist History of Humanity
- Indentured Students: Elizabeth Tandy Shermer on Student Debt (Monday, October 4)
- The Last Good Neighbor: Mexico in the Global Sixties (Washington History Seminar, Mon. 9/27)
- Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience (Thursday, 9/23)
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