In his leaked decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Samuel Alito wrote, “The inescapable conclusion is that a right to abortion is not deeply rooted into the Nation’s history and tradition.” Is this true? It is hard to define what “deeply...
Ben Franklin
The return of Ben Franklin
Historian Joseph Adelman calls our attention to a small Ben Franklin revival. Here is his piece at Slate: Benjamin Franklin is having a moment. For decades he has hovered on the periphery of popular representations of the American founding. This...
Did Benjamin Franklin successfully thwart cancel culture?
Here is “presidential historian” Jane Hampton Cook yesterday on Fox News: Cook’s appearance follows this article at Fox News. What qualifies one as a “presidential historian?” Unfortunately, Cook doesn’t really know what she is talking about here. Cook comes from...
Biden replaces Andrew Jackson with Ben Franklin
Donald Trump did not find Andrew Jackson; Andrew Jackson found him. When historians and pundits began to compare Trump the populist with Jackson the populist, the candidate took notice. Moreover, Jackson was a favorite of Steve Bannon, Trump’s political adviser...
Washington D.C. goes too far with “clumsy report” on renaming monuments and other facilities
Read the report here. As far as I can tell, this committee did not include any American historians. Here is some context. I agree entirely with The Washington Post editors: D.C. MAYOR Muriel E. Bowser (D) may be right that...
A George Whitefield statue is coming down at the University of Pennsylvania
George Whitefield was arguably the most popular man in colonial America. His preaching was the catalyst for the colonial-wide evangelical revival that historians call the “First Great Awakening.” Recently, the University of Pennsylvania decided to remove a Whitefield statue on...
Thoughts on Trump’s Proposed “National Garden of American Heroes”
At his July 3, 2020 speech at Mount Rushmore, Donald Trump said: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alEE-5Pk5DQ&w=560&h=315] More here. And here is the text of the executive order: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws...
The Fake Mount Holly, New Jersey Witchcraft Trial
Over at Boston 1775, J.L. Bell writes about some 18th-century fake news. On October 22, 1730, Ben Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette published a report of a witchcraft trial in southern New Jersey: Saturday last at Mount-Holly, about 8 Miles from this Place, near 300...
Benjamin Franklin on the “Church at Notre Dame”
Franklin talks about his visit to the “church of Notre Dame” in this September 14, 1767 letter to Mary “Polly” Stevenson. The Civilities we every where receive give us the strongest Impressions of the French Politeness. It seems to be...
The Author’s Corner with Brian Regal
Brian Regal is associate professor of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at Kean University. This interview is based on his new book co-authored with Frank Esposito, The Secret History of the Jersey Devil: How Quakers, Hucksters, and Benjamin Franklin Created...
Printers, Information, and the American Revolution
Early in my career I was very interested in the communication of information in early America. One of the first pieces I ever published was an essay on the way letters were used to spread the First Great Awakening in...
Ben Franklin’s Faith
If you are following our #ChristianAmerica? tweetstorm this weekend @johnfea1 ( a tweet every 30 minutes!), you know that we have not said much yet about Ben Franklin. Stay tuned. We will have a lot to say about him tomorrow....
Liberty Counsel and Conservatives on the Texas School Board Continue to Base Public Policy on False Historical Claims
Fact-checker extraordinaire Warren Throckmorton calls our attention to yet another example of politicians and cultural warriors using fake history to justify public policy proposals that have the potential of affecting millions of people. In this case, the perpetrators are the...
This is Racism
Here is Chris Cuomo’s interview this morning with Iowa congressman Steve King: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82v8lPhgrp4&w=560&h=315] Here is a transcript of the last minute or so: CUOMO: There are a lot of people teaching hatred in their families who are white, Irish,...
Is the Gadsden Flag Racist?
This flag was designed in 1775 by Christopher Gadsden, South Carolina planter and delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress. The rattlesnake, as best as I can tell, was used as a symbol for the British colonies as early...
Review of Eric Metaxas, "If You Can Keep It": Part 1
Over the last decade Eric Metaxas, a writer, biographer, Yale graduate, and cultural commentator, has become a popular spokesperson for conservative evangelicalism. Metaxas is best known for his wildly popular, but deeply flawed, biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The book not...
Virtual Office Hours: Spring 2016 Season – Episode 12
Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? “Ben Franklin: Moralist” [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52r-oA3BKDo]...
Ben Franklin: Revolutionary or London Intellectual?
The answer is both. Over at the website of Smithsonian Magazine, George Goodwin, the author of the brand new book Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of an American Founder, argues that Franklin was an intellectual in the British Atlantic world...
The Faith of Bernie Sanders
In case you missed it, last night Anderson Cooper of CNN asked Bernie Sanders about his religious faith. Here is Bernie’s answer: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcQ7F4z9qA4&w=560&h=315] Here is what I tweeted last night in response to Cooper’s question and Sanders’s answer: Sanders:...
The Founding Fathers and Muslims
Juan Cole, the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan, reminds us that the founding fathers had Islam in mind when they talked about religious freedom.Here is a taste of his...