Current Events that Relate to History
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ComparisonLincoln's Habeas Corpus Precedent
Ultimately, only a civic culture alert to and upset by abuses of power can safeguard sound republican government.Law & Liberty -
CommentWho Gets to Be an American?
Since the earliest days of the Republic, American citizenship has been contested, subject to the anti-democratic impulses of racism, suspicion, and paranoia.The New Yorker -
AntecedentThe Freedom-Loving Minutemen of Massachusetts Strike Again
Just down the road from Lexington and Concord, American patriots scurried to defend their immigrant neighbors.The American Prospect -
AntecedentThe History of Government Influence Over Universities
During the Cold War, the government relied on universities for research, but also saw scholars as dangerous.Made By History -
Book ExcerptWhen William F. Buckley Jr. Met James Baldwin
In 1965, the two intellectual giants squared off in a debate at Cambridge. It didn’t go quite as Buckley hoped.The Atlantic -
Q&AKarl Marx’s Legacy in the United States
For two centuries, Karl Marx’s thoughts have significantly impacted US politics. In turn, his close study of the US informed the development of his ideas.Jacobin -
exhibitSocial Safety Net
How Americans through the years have approached the thorny questions of identifying who the government is obliged to help and how such assistance should be funded and distributed.
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. -
What Is the Role of the Historian?
Rethinking the job of history — and the American Historical Association — after the veto of the Gaza “scholasticide” resolution. -
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. -
An Attempt to Defeat Constitutional Order
After the Civil War, conservatives used terrorism, cold-blooded murder, and economic coercion to fight the new state constitution in South Carolina. -
Whose Side Are College Administrators On?
There’s a long history of politicians targeting student protesters — and of campus leaders abetting those efforts. -
The Constitution Does Not Speak for Itself
In 1841, John Tyler said he was the president. The Constitution said he wasn’t. What happened next? -
“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. -
Letting the World Scream
In 1984, the U.S. rejected the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction, revealing its tendency to ignore international rules it sees as unfavorable — even when it helped write them. -
Scared Out of the Community
Between 1929 and 1939 approximately half a million Mexicans left the United States. Many of the departing families included American-born children to whom Mexico, not the United States, was the foreign land. -
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.