The Washington Post has published a database of American enslavers. It includes some familiar names: Thomas Hart Benton, John C. Breckinridge, Preston Brooks, Aaron Burr, Pierce Butler, John C. Calhoun, Charles Carroll, Henry Clay, De Witt Clinton, Davy Crockett, Jefferson...
Congress
How members of Congress used violence to silence their political adversaries
Joan E. Greve of The Guardian interviews Yale historian Joanne Freeman about violence in Congress. If any of my U.S. history survey students are reading this post, this is what we talked about in class yesterday. Here is a taste...
Chait: “Imagine a 9/11 commission if the hijackers had allies in Congress”
Here is Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine: In the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, when both parties agreed on the need for an investigation into the attack, the shorthand that entered the lexicon was 9/11-style commission. When, on January...
The Democrats announce a $3.5 trillion “go-it-alone” infrastructure plan to supplement the bipartisan deal
While Joe Biden waits for his bipartisan infrastructure plan to get through Congress, Senate Democrats have announced another infrastructure plan that will provide funds for everything that did not make it into the bipartisan plan. This would include funding for...
House of Representatives votes to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol
For some historical context on Confederate monuments check out our interview with Karen L. Cox in the latest episode of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. The vote was 285 to 120. This means that 120 Republicans wanted to...
The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act passes House, Senate.
When Biden signs the bill June 19th, the day celebrating the emancipation of enslaved Americans, will become a federal holiday. On Tuesday, the Senate endorsed the bill unanimously. Yesterday, the House passed the bill by a vote of 415-14. Here...
A 107-year-old survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre testified before Congress
Here is NPR’s “All Things Considered”: The day that a white mob came to Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Okla., Viola Fletcher was just 7 years old. During emotional testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Fletcher, who is now 107, recalled...
Who was Margaret Chase Smith?
Several commentators are comparing Liz Cheney’s speech tonight to Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith‘s 1950 speech, “A Declaration of Conscience.” Both were anti-McCarthy (Andrew for Cheney and Joseph for Smith) speeches. No historical analogy is perfect, but this one is...
Is Florida congressman Matt Gaetz going to Newsmax?
I’ve always thought he was more suited to be an opinion host on right-wing cable than a congressman. Here is Axios: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has privately told confidants he’s seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early...
U.S. Congresswoman: Cancel culture began when “Cain cancelled Abel.” (“They” also “tried to cancel Jesus”)
Dennis Anderson, the publisher of the Delta County (CO) Independent, didn’t know if he was watching a political rally or a revival meeting. Lauren Boebert is a guns-rights activist and the owner of Shooters Grill, a restaurant in Rifle, Colorado...
Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representative: “Forgive them, all of them”
Kudos to Rear Admiral Margaret Grun Kibben, the chaplain of the U.S. House of Representative. Here is Jack Jenkins at Religion News Service: The chaplain to the U.S. House of Representatives chastised lawmakers during a prayer on Wednesday (March 10),...
The Zoe Lofgren report is an amazing historical document
Lofgren (D-Calif.) issued a 2000-page report on Friday listing the social media posts of the Republican members of congress who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Here is CNN: Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren has quietly posted a nearly 2,000-page...
The making of North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn
This rising star in the Trump wing of the Republican Party has a dark side. Here is Michael Kranish at The Washington Post: Madison Cawthorn was a 21-year-old freshman at a conservative Christian college when he spoke at chapel, testifying...
Adam Kinzinger: “The man who refused to bow”
Another great piece on Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger. Here is a taste of Peter Wehner’s piece at The Atlantic: If military service shaped Kinzinger in some important ways, Christianity has shaped him in others. Kinzinger was raised as an independent fundamentalist Baptist until...
GOP Congressmen skipped votes in Congress today, citing the “public health emergency.” And then they flew to Orlando for CPAC
What do Paul Gosar of Arizona, Jim Banks of Indiana, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Mark Green of Tennessee, Darrell Issa of California, Ronny Jackson of Texas, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Ralph Norman of South...
What is the Equality Act and what does it mean?
Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act. What is this act? National Public Radio explains: The Equality Act would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to explicitly prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill has been...
Jamie Herrera Beutler gets a primary challenger
I am assuming you all remember Jamie Herrera Beutler (pictures above). She is the Washington congresswoman who voted to impeach Trump and then agreed to testify during the impeachment trial about Trump’s January 6, 2021 conversation with House GOP leader...
What happened when GOP congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler wished her constituents a “Happy Valentine’s Day”?
Yesterday we did a post on Jamie Herrera Beutler, the Washington congresswoman who was prepared to testify that House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told her that Trump supported the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Herrera did...
Trump is acquitted by a vote of 57-43 in the United States Senate
Fifty-seven U.S. Senators voted to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. But it was not enough. Sixty-seven voters were needed to convict. Here are the GOP members who broke with their party and voted to convict Donald Trump in...
Jamie Raskin, a humanist, seems to be doing the Lord’s work
“Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil.” —Exodus 23:2, quoted by House manager Jamie Raskin in the Donald Trump impeachment trial. In May 2016, The Washington Post published an article about the beliefs of the Maryland congressman. Here...