Constitutional Convention — Bunk History

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Photo of Samuel Alito

Why There Are No Women in the Constitution

There is little mention of abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito.

by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on May 4, 2022

Artistic collage of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

Was Emancipation Constitutional?

Did the Confederacy have a constitutional right to secede? And did Lincoln violate the Constitution in forcing them back into the Union and freeing the slaves?

by James Oakes via New York Review of Books on April 20, 2022

Painting of George Washington in New York, 1783, surrounded by a crowd.

The Many American Revolutions

Woody Holton’s "Liberty is Sweet" charts not only the contest with Great Britain over “home rule” but also the internal struggle over who should rule at home.

by Eric Foner via The Nation on April 4, 2022

American Revolutionary Geographies Online

Discover the stories, spaces, and people of the American Revolutionary War era through maps, interpretive essays, and interactives.

via American Revolutionary Geographies Online on February 8, 2022

Painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. By John Turnbull, 1818.

Why the American Founding Must Remain Central to Conservatism

An American conservatism which subtly or directly marginalizes the Founding is on a fast track to a conservatism at odds with America’s roots itself.

by Samuel Gregg via National Review on February 6, 2022

James Madison seated at desk

What Would James Madison Have Thought of the Filibuster?

A leading historian of Madison's political thought explains that the framer "did not believe in minority rule."

by Jack Rakove, Greg Sargent via Washington Post on January 11, 2022

Statue of Stonewall Jackson, on its side in slings and propped up by tires, in front of its graffiti-covered pedestal.

What the 1619 Project Got Wrong

It erases the fact that, for the first 70 years of its existence, the US was roiled by intense, escalating conflict over slavery – a conflict only resolved by civil war.

by James Oakes via Catalyst on December 17, 2021

Image of George Washington in front a map of the United States.

The Storm Over the American Revolution

Why has a relatively conventional history of the War of Independence drawn such an outraged response?

by Eric Herschthal via The New Republic on November 18, 2021

Rioters during the January 6th capitol siege

White Supremacists Declare War on Democracy and Walk Away Unscathed

The United States has a terrible habit of letting white supremacy get away with repeated attempts to murder American democracy.

by Carol Anderson via The Guardian on November 10, 2021

Abraham Lincoln speaking to a crowd.

Stop Making Sense

Are the truths in the Declaration of Independence really self-evident?

by William Hogeland via Hogeland's Bad History on November 8, 2021

Congresswoman going on the Senate floor in Washington D.C.

The Founders Constructed Our Government to Foster Inaction

Why Democrats have struggled to implement their agenda.

by Calvin Schermerhorn via Made By History on October 28, 2021

Remembered for the Wrong Reason?

Which personality of the American Revolution or the founding era is remembered for the wrong reasons, and why?

by Jason Yonce, J. L. Bell, David Price, Matthew M. Montelione, Don Glickstein, Will Monk, David Head, Don N. Hagist, Derrick E. Lapp, Eric Sterner, William H. Manthorpe Jr., Conner Runyan, Gene Procknow, Greg Aaron, John DeLee, Robert S. Davis, Jane Hampton Cook, Gregory Safko, James Kirby Martin, Alex Colvin, William M. Welsch, Jim Piecuch, Stuart Hatfield via Journal of the American Revolution on August 11, 2021

Toussaint Louverture proclaiming the Constitution of the Republic of Haiti

Contagious Constitutions

In her new book, Colley shows how written constitutions developed both as a way to further justify rulers and to turn rebellions into legitimate governments.

by Jenny Uglow via New York Review of Books on June 3, 2021

People signing the declaration of independence

Our 250-Year Fight for Multiracial Democracy

We say we’re for it. We’ve never truly had it. These next few years will determine its fate.

by Matt Ford via The New Republic on May 17, 2021

Drawing ofGeorge Washington addressing the Continental Congress.

‘George Washington’ Review: Our Founding Politician

Washington was a savvy packager of his own personal virtues. He knew that if you don’t engage in a bit of self-aggrandizement, you lose.

by Barton Swaim via The Wall Street Journal on February 15, 2021

Massacre in Boston

Knives Out

‘Struggle: From the History of the American People’ charts the strife of early US history in a fierce Cubist/Expressionist style.

by Sanford Schwartz via New York Review of Books on November 5, 2020

The Framers of the Constitution Didn’t Worry About ‘Originalism’

History shows that the text is far more complex than the legal doctrine might indicate.

by Jack Rakove via Washington Post on October 16, 2020

Cast of the musical Hamilton, on the stage for curtain call

Hamilton and the Unsung Labors of Wives

Who tells our stories has always mattered.

by Jennifer Forestal, Menaka Philips via Made By History on August 6, 2020

The Patriot Slave

The dangerous myth that blacks in bondage chose not to be free in revolutionary America.

by Farah Peterson via The American Scholar on June 2, 2020

Holes punched in the Constitution.

There’s No Historical Justification for One of the Most Dangerous Ideas in American Law

The Founders didn’t believe that broad delegations of legislative power violated the Constitution, but conservative originalists keep insisting otherwise.

by Julian Davis Mortenson, Nicholas Bagley via The Atlantic on May 26, 2020

The Corrupt Bargain

Eric Foner reviews two new books that make the case against the Electoral College.

by Eric Foner via London Review of Books on May 21, 2020

The President's Cabinet Was an Invention of America's First President

A new book explores how George Washington shaped the group of advisors as an institution to meet his own needs.

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Karin Wulf via Smithsonian on April 7, 2020

A Post-Mortem

A look at the impeachment of Warren Hastings and the nature of American power.

by Malick W. Ghachem via Age of Revolutions on February 13, 2020

American Slavery and ‘the Relentless Unforeseen’

What 1619 has become to the history of American slavery, 1688 is to the history of American antislavery.

by Sean Wilentz via New York Review of Books on November 19, 2019

Nancy Pelosi

What We Get Wrong About Ben Franklin’s ‘A Republic, If You Can Keep It’

Erasing the women of the founding era makes it harder to see women as leaders today.

by Zara Anishanslin via Made By History on October 29, 2019

The Fourth Battle for the Constitution

The latest struggle to define America's founding charter will define the country for generations to come.

by Jeffrey Rosen via The Atlantic on September 25, 2019

Trial of Warren Hastings in the Court of Peers, Westminster Hall.

Why the Founders Added ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’

In defining the scope of impeachment, they had in mind the alleged crimes of Warren Hastings.

by Rob Goodman via The Atlantic on September 25, 2019

Here’s Every Defense of the Electoral College — and Why They’re All Wrong

Most of the arguments for preserving our insane system are morally odious, unsubstantiated, and/or factually incorrect.

by Eric Levitz via Intelligencer on March 20, 2019

Voter Suppression Carries Slavery's Three-Fifths Clause into the Present

The Georgia governor’s election was the latest example of how James Madison’s words continue to shape our views on race.

by Imani Perry via The Guardian on January 31, 2019

The Case for Impeachment

Starting the process will rein in a president undermining American ideals—and bring the debate into Congress, where it belongs.

by Yoni Appelbaum via The Atlantic on January 17, 2019

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