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Puritans watching a May Day celebration.

The Pilgrims' Attack on a May Day Celebration Was a Dress Rehearsal for Removing Native Americans

The Puritans had little tolerance for those who didn't conform to their vision of the world.
by Peter C. Mancall via The Conversation on April 29, 2021
Map of Massachusetts colonial frontier

The “Indianized” Landscape of Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, the inclusion of Native American names and places in local geography has obscured the violence of political and territorial dispossession.
by Mark Jarzombek via Places Journal on February 1, 2021
Toy santa mug shots

The War on Christmas

A brief history of the Yuletide in America.
by Charles Ludington via The American Scholar on December 28, 2020
Statue of Shakespeare, Central Park, New York City.

Shakespeare’s Contentious Conversation With America

James Shapiro’s recent book looks at why Shakespeare has been a mainstay of the cultural and political conflicts of the country since its founding.
by Alisa Solomon via The Nation on December 17, 2020
Pilgrims

Thank the Pilgrims for America's Tradition of Separatism, Division, and Infighting

They were not the nation's first settlers, but they were the most fractious.
by Richard Kreitner via Zócalo Public Square on November 25, 2020
A man watching a maypole celebration.

Lord of Misrule: Thomas Morton’s American Subversions

When we think of early New England, we picture stern-faced Puritans. But in the same decade that they arrived, Morton founded a very different kind of colony.
by Ed Simon via The Public Domain Review on November 24, 2020
Lithograph depicting John Eliot standing in the light and preaching to the a group of solemn, reflective American Indians sitting on the ground

How Plague Reshaped Colonial New England Before the Mayflower Even Arrived

Power, plague and Christianity were closely intertwined in 17th-century New England.
by Matthew Patrick Rowley via The Conversation on November 13, 2020
An illustration of a pilgrim looking toward the sky with a group of others gathered around kneeling.

What Liberty Meant to the Pilgrims

Most adult men could aspire to participation in the religious and political government of the colony. But this communal liberty did not imply personal liberty.
by Nathanael Blake via National Review on June 18, 2020
A painting depicting pilgrims arriving in the New World.

Exodus: Vaera

For Freud, “chosenness” was a psychopathological fantasy in need of explanation.
by Len Gutkin via Jewish Currents on April 30, 2020
Statue of John Winthrop

"City on a Hill" and the Making of an American Origin Story

A now-famous Puritan sermon was nothing special in its own day.
by Abram C. Van Engen via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on February 18, 2020
Woman being struck by lightning in front of shocked judge and crowd at the Salem Witch Trials.

Most Witches are Women, Because Witch Hunts Were All About Persecuting the Powerless

We use the term "witch hunt" to describe baseless accusations. It's actually about targeting those without power.
by Bridget Marshall via The Conversation on October 23, 2019

Muslims of Early America

Muslims came to America more than a century before Protestants, and in great numbers. How was their history forgotten?
by Sam Haselby via Aeon on May 20, 2019

Baby, Christmas Songs Have Always Been Controversial

Long before “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” holiday songs played a part in the War on Christmas.
by Neil J. Young via The Atlantic on December 24, 2018

Evangelical Fear Elected Trump

The history of evangelicalism in America is shot through with fear—but it also contains an alternative.
by John Fea via The Atlantic on June 24, 2018
Intricately painted Easter eggs.

Why Easter Never Became a Big Secular Holiday like Christmas

Hint: the Puritans were involved.
by Tara Isabella Burton via Vox on March 29, 2018

Cancer and Captivity: Reflections on Affliction in Puritan and Modern Times

It seemed to me that the conditions of cancer and captivity shared physical, emotional, and spiritual correspondences.
by Zabelle Stodola via Commonplace on November 21, 2017
Portrait of justice Samuel Sewall

Affable, He Convicted Salem Innocents

In a novelized biography of Samuel Sewell, a greater mystery than what bedeviled the girls is what motivated a righteous man to condemn them for witchcraft.
by Stacy Schiff via New York Review of Books on February 16, 2017
Person carrying live Thanksgiving turkey
partner

American as Pumpkin Pie: A History of Thanksgiving

Why Pilgrims would be stunned by our "traditional" Thanksgiving table, and other surprising truths about the invention of our national holiday.
via BackStory on November 25, 2016
Godey's Lady's book cover, 1867.
partner

All Hale Thanksgiving

In the 1820s, Sarah Hale, a New England widow and the editor of Godey’s Ladies Book made it her mission to get Thanksgiving recognized as a national holiday.
via BackStory on November 15, 2016
A painting of Boston harbor, where women in dresses stand on a hill, watching ships
partner

Invisible Cities, Continued

The 19th century recovery of John Winthrop's sermon, "A City on a Hill."
via BackStory on January 22, 2016
Pilgrims going to church armed with guns.

God and Guns

Patrick Blanchfield tracks the long-standing entanglement of guns and religion in the United States. Part 1 of 2.
by Patrick Blanchfield via The Revealer on September 25, 2015

Private Matter or Public Crisis? Defining and Responding to Domestic Violence

It is only recently that domestic abuse was identified as a serious, public social problem.
by Peggy Solic via Origins on July 15, 2015
Woman holding a turkey on a platter.

The Modern Invention of Thanksgiving

The holiday emerged not from the 17th century, but rather from concerns over immigration and urbanization in the 19th century.
by Anne Blue Wills, Livia Gershon via JSTOR Daily on November 26, 2014
Woodcut illustration of "Witches Apprehended" showing the water test accused witches would undergo. Stamford has its own history of witch trials.

Haunted Stamford: 1692 Witch Trial

In the same year as the Salem Witch Trials, a more common and lesser known witch hunt occurred in Stamford, Connecticut.
by Maggie Gordon via Stamford Advocate on October 31, 2013
Harriet Beecher Stowe imagining her characters.

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the Art of Persuasion

Stowe’s novel shifted public opinion about slavery so dramatically that it has often been credited with fuelling the war that destroyed the institution.
by Annette Gordon-Reed via The New Yorker on June 6, 2011
Abstract painting of people embracing.

The Forgotten History of Sex in America

Today’s battles over issues like gender nonconformity and reproductive rights have antecedents that have been lost or suppressed. What can we learn from them?
by Rebecca Mead via The New Yorker on August 26, 2024

How America’s Rich Legacy of Fear and Hatred Fuels the Conspiracy Theories of Today

Panic about Catholics, Freemasons, and, later, Jews, is deeply woven into American history, and forms the basis of our fertile culture of conspiracy theorizing.
by Arthur Goldwag via Talking Points Memo on June 21, 2024
Illustration of a man typing on his laptop on a rollercoaster ride.

Work Sucks. What Could Salvage It?

New books examine the place of work in our lives—and how people throughout history have tried to change it.
by Erik Baker via The New Yorker on May 1, 2024
Children in a kindergarten classroom at the Horace Mann School, Tulsa, Okla., 1917.
partner

Yes, Schools Should Teach Morality. But Whose Morals?

Belief that schools must teach moral values is older than public schools themselves. But whose morals?
by Mallory Hutchings-Tryon via Made By History on January 9, 2024
A crowd of tourist superimposed over images of Salem attractions and a cemetery.

Salem’s Unholy Bargain: How Tragedy Became an Attraction

Is the cost worth the payoff?
by Lex Pryor via The Ringer on October 30, 2023
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