Thomas Jefferson

Economic rationales for schooling are eroding democracy.

July 4th celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but we don’t even have the original!

The tension between nationalist ambitions and republican principles goes all the way back to our nation’s founding.

The history of evangelicalism in America is shot through with fear—but it also contains an alternative.

To preserve the political and cultural preeminence of white Americans against a tide of demographic change, the administration has settled on a policy of systemic child abuse.

How the Enlightenment created modern race thinking, and why we should confront it.

Popularized by Thomas Jefferson, this versatile dish fulfills our nation’s quest for the ‘cheapest protein possible.’

Populism is typically presented as a new threat to liberal democracy. But properly understood, it is neither modern nor rightwing.

Scholars disagree on existing precedents—and the question won’t be settled until evidence leads a prosecutor to try it.

The punkahs of the Antebellum era served many purposes.

American niceness is the absolute worst thing to ever happen in human history.

The Founders feared democracy and didn't think too highly of "the people".

This is not "forbidden knowledge." It is America’s most ancient justification for bigotry and racial inequality.

The March for Our Lives organizers are not an anomaly, but follow in a long tradition of youth activism in America.

George Washington's fraught relationship with Native Americans.

From William McKinley to Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump has plenty of precedent if he's looking for it.

A republic needs a legislature that can handle such tasks. We don’t have one.

The hidden cost of formal recognition for American Indian tribes.

A new study suggests that high school students lack a basic knowledge of the role slavery played in shaping the United States.

On 400 Years of Tribalism, Genocide, Expulsion, and Imprisonment.