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Missouri Compromise (1820)

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Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
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The West Is Relevant to Our Long History of Anti-Blackness, Not Just the South

Revisiting the Missouri Compromise should transform how we think about white American expansion.
by Walter Johnson via Made By History on May 17, 2020

Missouri Compromised

Anti-slavery protest during the Missouri statehood debate.
by Nick Sacco via Muster on March 10, 2020
Abraham Lincoln, sitting.

Lincoln and Democracy

Lincoln's understanding of the preconditions for genuine democracy, and of its necessity, were rooted in this rich soil. And with his help, ours could be, too.
by Allen C. Guelzo via National Affairs on April 20, 2023
The Hall of the House of Representatives.

Are We Living Through Another 1850s?

It’s difficult to see how these profound antipathies and fears will dissipate soon through any normal political processes.
by Robert W. Merry via The American Conservative on July 22, 2024
Black and white image of Abraham Lincoln, with the edges of his face out of focus.

No Slaves, No Masters: What Democracy Meant to Abraham Lincoln

A detailed look on Abraham Lincoln's political philosophy on slavery, ownership, and freedom.
by Allen C. Guelzo via Literary Hub on February 8, 2024
Peter Waddell's "A Vision Unfolds" imaginatively depicts Benjamin Banneker advising President Washington and fellow surveyor Andrew Ellicott on the layout of the proposed federal capital.

Banneker’s Answer to Jefferson: “I Am an American”

The black naturalist, astronomer, surveyor, and almanac-writer Benjamin Banneker took issue with Thomas Jefferson’s attitude toward “those of my complexion.”
by Edward J. Larson via American Heritage on November 21, 2023
James K. Polk.

The President Who Did It All in One Term — and What Biden Could Learn From Him

James K. Polk is considered one of the most successful presidents, even though he did not seek reelection.
by Joshua Zeitz via Politico Magazine on December 2, 2022
Black preacher giving an antislavery sermon to an integrated audience.

Baptists, Slavery, and the Road to Civil War

Baptists were never monolithic on the issue of slavery, but Southern Baptists were united in their opposition to Northern Baptists determining their beliefs.
by Obbie Tyler Todd via The London Lyceum on November 14, 2022
Illustration of Abraham Lincoln getting ready to give a speech.

Re-imagining the Great Emancipator

How shall a generation know its story, if it will know no other?
by Ralph Lerner via National Affairs on March 21, 2022

More Than 1,700 Congressmen Once Enslaved Black People. This is Who They Were.

The Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of census records and historical documents.
by Julie Zauzmer Weil, Adrian Blanco, Leo Dominguez via Washington Post on January 10, 2022
A bronze statue of Civil War soldiers on horseback, in front of the U.S. Capitol building.

How Twitter Explains the Civil War (and Vice Versa)

The proliferation of antebellum print is analogous to our own tectonic shifts in how people communicate and what they communicate about.
by Ariel Ron via The Strong Paw Of Reason on January 6, 2022
Painting of Lincoln and his cabinet by M.S. Carpenter, 1863.

Did the Constitution Pave the Way to Emancipation?

In his new book, The Crooked Path to Abolition, James Oakes argues that the Constitution was an antislavery document.
by Richard Kreitner via The Nation on October 6, 2021
Black men and women in Hilton Head, South Carolina, after the Civil War.

The United States' First Civil Rights Movement

A new history charts the radical agitation around Black rights and freedom back to the early nineteenth century. 
by Kellie Carter Jackson via The Nation on June 16, 2021
A portrait of Dred Scott.

The Importance of Teaching Dred Scott

By limiting discussion of the infamous Supreme Court decision, law-school professors risk minimizing the role of racism in American history.
by Jeannie Suk Gerson via The New Yorker on June 8, 2021

Minority Rule Cannot Last in America

It never has.
by Kenneth Owen via The Atlantic on December 2, 2020
Drawing of headshots of Dred Scott and Harriet Robinson

"Where Two Waters Come Together"

The confluence of Black and Indigenous history at Bdote.
by Katrina Phillips via National Museum of American History on August 26, 2020

Is Capitalism Racist?

A scholar depicts white supremacy as the economic engine of American history.
by Nicholas Lemann via The New Yorker on May 18, 2020

The Anti-Slavery Constitution

From the Framers on, Americans have understood our fundamental law to oppose ownership of persons.
by Timothy Sandefur via National Review on September 12, 2019

When Kansas Was Bleeding

How the territory became the frontline of the battle for abolition.
by Tristan J. Tarwater, Chelsea Saunders via The Nib on April 22, 2019
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How the Supreme Court Fractured the Nation — and How It Threatens to Do So Again

Abortion and America’s new sectional divide.
by H. W. Brands via Made By History on November 20, 2018

Dred Scott Strains the Mystic Chords

Dred Scott was an opportunity to settle what the South had previously been unable to achieve either legislatively or judicially.
by Michael Liss via 3 Quarks Daily on March 5, 2018

John Kelly Calls Robert E. Lee An ‘Honorable Man’ and Says ‘Lack of Compromise’ Caused The Civil War

The White House chief of staff set off a firestorm Monday after his comments on the Confederate general.
by Eli Rosenberg, Cleve R. Wootson Jr. via Washington Post on October 31, 2017

Why There Was a Civil War

Some issues aren’t amenable to deal making; some principles don’t lend themselves to compromise.
by Yoni Appelbaum via The Atlantic on May 1, 2017
Henry Clay's body in his death bed, surrounded by mourners.

All That Remains of Henry Clay

Political funerals and the tour of Henry Clay's corpse.
by Sarah J. Purcell via Commonplace on April 2, 2012
A drawing of a church in Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1812.

The Story of Denmark Vesey

Against the backdrop of another conflict over slavery in 1861, Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote an in-depth narrative of Denmark Vesey's planned slave revolt in Charleston, SC.
by Thomas Wentworth Higginson via The Atlantic on June 1, 1861

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