The Merchants of Venice—In Code
Sixteenth-century Venice conducted its affairs in code, so much so that cryptology was professionalized and regulated by the state.
Building a New Virginia in Liberia
Black American voluntary migrants to Liberia were eager to embrace their African roots, but their vision for the country was very much an American one.
Global Gentrification
The transnational mobility of lifestyle migrants and digital nomads has led to the globalization of rent gaps and the pricing out of locals in some cities.
Did Romans Really Fight Rhinos?
A sports historian explains the truth behind the battle scenes in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II.
Reading for LGBTQ+ History Month
October is LGBTQ+ History Month, so the JSTOR Daily editors have rounded up a few of our favorite stories to mark the occasion.
Frederick Gowing, King of Poachers
The cultural construction of poaching meant Gowing’s trespasses were understood differently than other kinds of theft in an industrializing Britain.
Postcolonial Pacific: The Story of Philippine Seattle
The growth of Seattle in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is inseparable from the arrival of laborers from the US-colonized Philippines.
Andrew Jackson’s Speech on the Indian Removal Act: Annotated
In December 1830, two months after the passage of the Indian Removal Act, President Andrew Jackson used his annual Congressional message to celebrate the policy.
The Lemon Gang: Citrus and the Rise of the Mafia
Poverty, disparities in wealth, widespread brigandage, and the dissolution of the feudal system enabled the predatory practices of Sicily’s citrus mafia.
The Wild West of Papal Conclaves
In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the death of a pope led to all sorts of chaos, from the destruction of art to armed violence in the streets.