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A painting of the American Founders at the Constitutional Convention.

Inventing American Constitutionalism

On "Power and Liberty," a condensed version of Gordon Wood's entire sweep of scholarship about constitutionalism.
Collage of images: UC Berkeley clocktower, professor Tim White in 1979, and a collection of boxes of human remains labeled as "clavicle, vertibrae," etc.

A Top UC Berkeley Professor Taught With Remains That May Include Dozens of Native Americans

Despite decades of Indigenous activism and resistance, UC Berkeley has failed to return the remains of thousands of Native Americans to tribes.
World War I era African American soldier.

Black Virginians and the American Revolution

Enslaved conspirators in far-flung Accomack County forced some whites to rethink any legislative efforts aiding Black Virginians.
SCLC leader Wyatt T. Walker and Jackie Robinson tour the ruins of Mount Olive Baptist Church, Sasser, Georgia, September 9th, 1962.

‘A Model Southern Sheriff’: Z.T. Mathews and the 1962 Fight for Voting Rights in Terrell County

A glaring portrait of the human cost of law enforcement officers who claim to be above the law.
An illustration of a family tree that is filled with money.

The Getty Family’s Trust Issues

Heirs to an iconic fortune sought out a wealth manager who would assuage their progressive consciences. Now their dispute is exposing dynastic secrets.
Bike helmets and traffic signs.

The Cult of Bike Helmets

The history—and danger—of a modern safety obsession.
Donald Trump
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Trump’s Call to Suspend the Constitution Betrays the Lawlessness of Law and Order

Trump champions “law and order” while calling for the Constitution’s suspension. But there’s no tension between the two.
The outline of a U.S. map with a fire symbol in the middle.

Why the U.S. Is Losing the Fight to Ban Toxic Chemicals

How the U.S. became a global laggard in chemical regulation.
Black and white scale of justice.

The Blindness of ‘Color-Blindness’

When the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the future of affirmative action, I knew I had to be there.
Supreme Court justices with their heads in boxes made from the Constitution.

Originalism Is Bunk. Liberal Lawyers Shouldn’t Fall For It.

The more liberals present originalist arguments, the more they legitimate originalism.
The Supreme Court in 1904.

The Insular Cases Survive Because the American Legal System Keeps Them Safe

The justices’ decision not to hear challenges to the explicitly racist Insular Cases is part of a long tradition of favoring process over substance.
Cover of "Escape to the City" featuring an urban neighborhood.

Fugitive Slaves in the Antebellum South and the Question of Freedom in American History

The oft forgetten story of fugitive slaves whose escape from bondage found them in the Antebellum South's major cities.
Cartoon of Madame Restell and Mrs. Bird accompanied by a skeleton.

Female Physicians in Antebellum New York City

"Female physicians" did a lot more than provide abortions, but abortion soon encompassed how others perceived their work.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. with Kimberly Teehee

Cherokee Nation Is Fighting for a Seat in Congress

Thanks to an 1835 treaty, they’re pushing Democrats to approve a nonvoting delegate.
Print shows Rebel troops killing the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas, and setting fire to the buildings.

Where Will This Political Violence Lead? Look to the 1850s.

In the mid-19th century, a pro-slavery minority used violence to stifle a growing anti-slavery majority, spurring their opposition to respond in kind.
Eric Foner sits in an arm chair on stage during an interview, holding a microphone.

“Originalism Is Intellectually Indefensible”

On the persistent myth of the colorblind Constitution that the Supreme Court's conservatives have embraced.
An American flag stylized as a ball bearing maze.

The United States’ Unamendable Constitution

How our inability to change America’s most important document is deforming our politics and government.

Providence Merchant John Brown Gets Rich Privateering in 1776 and 1777

The inventory he provided to tax assessors reveals just how profitable privateering was during the Revolutionary era.
Divers examine an iron anchor underwater.

What a Spanish Shipwreck Reveals About the Final Years of the Slave Trade

Forty-one of the 561 enslaved Africans on board the "Guerrero" died when the illegal slave ship sank off the Florida Keys in 1827.

A Brief History of One of the Most Powerful Families in New York City: The Morgenthaus

An excerpt from a new book on the so-called "Jewish Kennedys."
Albert Sidney Burleson partially obscured by postage stamps with Woodrow Wilson's face.

America’s Top Censor—So Far

Woodrow Wilson’s postmaster put papers out of business and jailed journalists. The tools he used still exist.
A high school yearbook photo of Elizabeth Prewitt.

I Never Saw the System

As a white teenager in Charlotte, Elizabeth Prewitt saw mandatory school busing as a personal annoyance. Going to an integrated high school changed that.
Portrait of Aaron Burr, an American politician and lawyer who was the third vice president of the United States, serving during Thomas Jefferson's first term (1801-1805).

A Former Vice President Was Tried For Treason For an Insurrection Plot

Aaron Burr was the highest-ranking official to stand trial for treason, which some people have invoked now amid probes into ex-president Donald Trump.
The American flag depicted upside down, in a beige color scheme.

Making the Constitution Safe for Democracy

The second section of the Fourteenth Amendment offers severe penalties for menacing the right to vote—if anyone can figure out how to enforce it.
Charles Joseph Bonaparte formal portrait photograph.

The Architect of the FBI Was Napoleon’s Great-Nephew, Charles Bonaparte

A history of the bureau and its place in the federal government.
A climate change activist stands outside the home of Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) on June 30, 2022 in Washington, DC.
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A Return To Nineteenth-Century Style Regulation?

In an era of laissez-faire governance, a growing number of federal and state regulations were justified as necessary to protect public health and morality.
Reenactment of Old West gun fight

American Gun Culture Ignores How Common Gun Restrictions Were In The Old West

A scholar of gun culture looks at the roots of Americans’ love affair with firearms – and their willingness to accept gun violence as a price of freedom.
Lt. Col. Oliver North in 1987 before testifying to a committee investigating the Iran-contra scandal.
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The 1980s Hearings That Explain Why Trump’s Base Still Loves Him

Bombshell revelations won’t hurt the former president with his core supporters. We have only to look at Oliver North to know why.
Execution Chamber with restraining bed
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50 Years Ago, a SCOTUS Decision Placed a Moratorium on Executions. It's Time to Revive it

Fifty years ago in 1972, as spring faded and summer arrived in late June, America (and the world) was a vastly different place.
Contemplation of Justice statue

The Supreme Court’s Selective Memory

The Court’s striking down of a New York gun law relies on a fundamentally anti-democratic historical record that excludes women and people of color.

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