From Neoliberalism to Trumpism
The neoliberal politics that developed in the 1970s created financial instability and fragmented cultural markets, helping to pave the way for Trumpism.
Demonizing Immigrants in the 1880s
American newspapers portrayed members of immigrant groups as potential anarchists, linking the ideology to other anxieties and stereotypes about foreigners.
Politicizing Intelligence: Nixon’s Man at the CIA
James R. Schlesinger was only head of the CIA for six months, but he nevertheless ranks as the least popular director in the agency’s history.
Hamilton’s Real Immigration Story
The popular musical poses Alexander Hamilton as a symbol of the value of immigrants brought to America, but over time, his party became increasingly xenophobic.
The Wonderful World of the Water Ski
Invented in 1922, water-skiing quickly became shorthand for American ideas on beauty, athleticism, and affluence.
Mexico, 1910: An Influential Sneeze or a Home-Grown Revolution?
Historians are rethinking the claim that the Panic of 1907 in the United States helped spark the Mexican Revolution.
The Bill of Rights: Annotated
Proposed as a compromise to ensure the ratification of the new US Constitution, the Bill of Rights has become a critical protector of civil liberties.
Mendez v. Westminster and Mexican American Desegregation
International relations and foreign influence helped end legal segregation of Mexican American students in California after World War II.
Actual American Rattlesnakes
Historians are recovering the overlooked history of North America’s Crotalus horridus, the timber rattlesnake.