Politics & Economics

Edward King, The Great South (1875)(From Internet Achive)

Sugar’s Bitter History

February 14, 2017By Calvin Schermerhorn

How sugar and slavery came together to shape America’s economy

Company E, 4th United States Colored Infantry(Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, via Wikimedia Commons)

Black Gun Ownership in the Trump Era

January 18, 2017By Carole Emberton

In the past, guns have not guaranteed equality.

Hoard of Ancient Gold Coins(Photo: Swiss Banker, English Wikipedia)

Money, Politics, and the Arizona Lottery

January 9, 2017By Caitlin Flanagan and Jonathan D. Cohen

How one state’s gamble for revenue became a jackpot for business

1797 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (Photo: NYPL Digital Collections)

What is the Electoral College?

November 2, 2016By Brian Bixby

Breaking down how a constitutional compromise still complicates our elections

President Chester A. Arthur, 1882 (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division via Wikimedia Commons)

President Chester A. Arthur

October 5, 2016By Benjamin T. Arrington

Why the Twenty-First President Matters

The Fifth Debate Between Lincoln and Douglas held at Knox College (1858) (Photo: NYPL Digital Collections)

Democracy or Slavery?

September 23, 2016By Michael McLean

How the Lincoln-Douglas Debates Split the Democratic Party

Supporters of Richard Nixon at the 1968 Republican National Convention. (State Library and Archives of Florida, via Wikimedia Commons)

The 1968 Republican Convention

July 21, 2016By Sarah Katherine Mergel

Revealing the Drift of American Politics

Ronald Reagan concedes defeat after losing on first ballot (Official photograph by William Fitz-Patrick, via Wikimedia Commons)

The 1976 Contested Republican Convention

July 18, 2016By Sarah Katherine Mergel

When Reagan Challenged Moderates’ Control of the Party

Nelson Rockefeller. (Official photograph by William Fitz-Patrick, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Original Rockefeller Republican

July 13, 2016By Oscar Winberg

Nelson Rockefeller’s Stand Against Extremists

"Balloting for President" ca. 1844. (Smyth. Art and Picture Collection. New York Public Library Digital Collections. )

Third Party Voting and the 1844 Election

June 2, 2016By Joshua D. Rothman

Voters Determined to End Slavery Instead Reinforced It

Load More Entries

Group of young white men turn a car on its side during Detroit riots of 1943

Rioting: An American Tradition

Looking at the rioters in Baltimore, or any other place, in isolation misses the point.

The Story of America in Twelve Cemeteries

Our Past is Written in Stone

Mother’s Day or Mothers’ Day

Mothers’ Day did not start as a way to encourage people to be nice to their mothers, but as an impassioned effort by women to end war forever.

The Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862

Exploring an important step toward the abolition of slavery in the United States

Bruce Gillers - October 13, 2021:
The Boy Scout Council in Chinle Arizona was the name of the [...]

Carolyn Marvin - February 11, 2021:
Example: no proof of any silk dress...part of the poem written later. [...]

KateThomas - December 8, 2020:
Thank you. This has given me a greater insight into the historian [...]

Michael C. Lucas - August 5, 2020:
The American Government did not make a deal for Forty Acres and [...]