Category: American History

Love in the Time of Operation Wetback

Love in the Time of Operation Wetback

Lori Flores— In the early years of the Cold War—driven by fears of border-infiltrating subversives and diseased immigrants—the U.S. government and media began obsessing about the nation’s “wetback problem.” Reports… READ MORE

Inventing the Christmas Tree

Bernd Brunner— Did candles on the Christmas tree start the blaze that destroyed the Castle Warthausen in Upper Swabia in 1621? Probably not, for many indications suggest that decorating trees… READ MORE

Billy the Kid Meets Ned Kelly

Billy the Kid Meets Ned Kelly

Robert M. Utley— Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly lived and died at roughly the same age and roughly the same time, the middle of the nineteenth century. Though they… READ MORE

Behind the Myth of Daniel Boone

Behind the Myth of Daniel Boone

Honor Sachs— In the early 1850s, artist George Caleb Bingham painted a now-iconic image of Daniel Boone leading a party of white families through the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky. In… READ MORE

American History in Under Three Minutes

American History in Under Three Minutes

Want to know more about American history but just don’t have the time? Here’s the history of the United States of America in under three minutes. Check out the video and… READ MORE

Byzantium and the Rights of Women

Byzantium and the Rights of Women

Jonathan Harris— Ancient Greece and Rome are often seen as the origin of much that underpins the political systems of modern democracies such as the United States, from separation of… READ MORE

Why the Constitution Matters

Why the Constitution Matters

Happy Constitution Day! In Why the Constitution Matters, Harvard Law professor Mark Tushnet poses a seemingly simple question and provides us with a thoroughly unexpected answer, forcing us to question… READ MORE

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