American Exceptionalism Reconsidered
Exceptionalism is a double-edged sword, which cuts those blind to America’s flaws and those blind to its virtues.
Brian Stewart
· 7 min read
American History
A collection of 17 posts
Mammy Dearest
Richard Bernstein’s new book about Al Jolson and ‘The Jazz Singer’ offers a thoughtful reconsideration of an unfairly reviled cultural landmark.
Graham Daseler
· 14 min read
The Tyranny of Fragility
How Alexis de Tocqueville foretold the rise of victimhood culture.
Samuel Veissière
· 8 min read
Jimmy Carter: Human Rights Champion
When we examine the entirety of his long life, we see that Jimmy Carter was among the very best of us.
Jamie Paul
· 7 min read
Forging Early America’s Northeastern Backbone
In a new book, David Alff traces the origins of the railway line that joined Boston to Washington, D.C., transforming a young nation in the process.
Jonathan Kay
· 18 min read
Dutchmen on the Hudson
In the 21st instalment of ‘Nations of Canada,’ Greg Koabel describes how the arrival of Dutch fur traders sparked an upheaval in regional Indigenous geopolitics.
Greg Koabel
· 19 min read
Making America British Again
The story of William Cobbett and the American Revolutionary culture wars.
David A. Wilson
· 13 min read
How the Pro-Palestine Movement Hijacked the Civil Rights Movement
An interview with historian Gil Troy.
Pamela Paresky
· 31 min read
Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny Fight Fascism
The animation industry was perhaps the United States’ most potent cultural weapon during World War II.
Jacob Bielecki
· 15 min read
Martin Luther King’s Understanding of Racism
King’s sophisticated understanding of racism bridges two worldviews: that racism is primarily systemic and as well as interpersonal.
John R. Wood, Jr.
· 14 min read
Preparations, Not Reparations
If good educational opportunities were there for the taking, the sense of racial injustice in America would be much less.
Eric Silver
· 7 min read
British and Black
Contemporary antiracism imposes an American framework that distorts our understanding of racial issues in different countries.
Ralph Leonard
· 12 min read
Columbus Day: A Fraught Celebration
The world is better than it would have been had we remained isolated from each other—even for Native Americans.
Christopher J. Ferguson
· 7 min read
The Cancellation of Bertrand Russell
Eight decades later, the issues raised by the Russell case—the rights to free speech and academic freedom—have still not been settled.
James Huffman
· 9 min read
Are We Teaching That Slavery Is Beneficial?
That slaves were able to develop beneficial skills while in bondage is a tribute to the human ability to wrest value and create meaning even under conditions of almost unfathomable duress.
James B. LaGrand
· 4 min read