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freedom

On becoming a perpetual student

John Fea   |  September 12, 2023

I always enjoy reading Wesleyan College president Michael Roth‘s reflections on liberal arts education. In his recent piece at The New York Times, he reminds us that learning and freedom are always connected, regardless of age. Here is a taste:...

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The Author’s Corner with Matthew J. Clavin

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 21, 2023

Matthew J. Clavin is Professor of American and Atlantic History at the University of Houston. This interview is based on his new book, Symbols of Freedom: Slavery and Resistance Before the Civil War (NYU Press, 2023). JF: What led you to...

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The Author’s Corner with Giuliana Perrone

Rachel Petroziello   |  May 24, 2023

Giuliana Perrone is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This interview is based on her new book, Nothing More than Freedom: The Failure of Abolition in American Law (Cambridge University Press, 2023). JF: What led...

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The Author’s Corner with Leslie M. Alexander

Rachel Petroziello   |  January 16, 2023

Leslie M. Alexander is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers University. This interview is based on her new book, Fear of a Black Republic: Haiti and the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States (University...

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The Author’s Corner with Elliott Drago

Rachel Petroziello   |  November 17, 2022

Elliott Drago is Editorial Officer of the Jack Miller Center. This interview is based on his new book, Street Diplomacy: The Politics of Slavery and Freedom in Philadelphia, 1820-1850 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Street...

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The Author’s Corner with Alex Zakaras

Rachel Petroziello   |  October 21, 2022

Alex Zakaras is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. This interview is based on his new book, The Roots of American Individualism: Political Myth in the Age of Jackson (Princeton University Press, 2022). JF: What led...

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The Author’s Corner with Damian Pargas

Rachel Petroziello   |  December 13, 2021

Damian Pargas is Professor of the History and Culture of North America at Leiden University. This interview is based on his new book, Freedom Seekers: Fugitive Slaves in North America, 1800–1860 (Cambridge University Press, 2021). JF: What led you to...

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Tomasky: The Right’s view of liberty during this pandemic is “incompatible with human life”

John Fea   |  December 7, 2021

Michael Tomasky is the editor of The New Republic. Here is a taste of his piece, “The Right Wants to Freedom Us to Death”: Future historians—that is, if future historians are actual historians and not a bunch of hired-gun fascist...

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Is this what Ronald Reagan meant by a “shining city on a hill”?

John Fea   |  August 15, 2021

Today as I read New York Times writer Jamelle Bouie’s recent column on vaccines, I was struck by these words. Is it any surprise that millions of Americans treat this fundamentally social problem — how do we vaccinate enough people...

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The United States of America: Are we reaping what we’ve sown?

John Fea   |  August 13, 2021

Don’t mess with the rights of Americans. We are individuals. We are free. Mask and vaccine mandates are tyrannical. They are un-American. Don’t people know that the Bill of Rights is divinely inspired? I am not convinced that the kind...

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The CPAC vocabulary. Defining terms.

John Fea   |  February 27, 2021

I am teaching the American Revolution this semester. The other day, as we were reading and interpreting some primary documents, I asked the students to notice how the writers of these documents all seemed to use a similar political language....

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Pope Francis’s scathing critique of American life

John Fea   |  November 27, 2020

Yesterday at The New York Times, Pope Francis published an excerpt of his new book Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. He offers a devastating critique of the selfishness that we Americans try to pass off as...

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Wednesday night court evangelical roundup

John Fea   |  July 1, 2020

What have Trump’s evangelicals been saying since our last update? It looks likes COVID-19 was present at Robert Jeffress’s Sunday morning political rally at First Baptist-Dallas. Newt Gingrich is on the Eric Metaxas Show today talking about his new book Trump and the American...

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“Said No American Soldier Ever”

John Fea   |  May 14, 2020

The title of this post comes from my friend Phil Levy:...

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Some Thoughts on the Opposition to the 1619 Project

John Fea   |  August 20, 2019

We introduced readers to The New York Times 1619 Project in this post.  It now looks like there are some people who do not like the newspaper’s attempt to observe the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery.  Here are a few...

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American Slavery and American Freedom at Princeton University

John Fea   |  July 28, 2019

As some of you know, I was at Princeton University last week for the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History summer seminar on colonial America. Each year the teachers take a tour of colonial-era Princeton.  One of our stops is the Maclean...

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Trees and American History

John Fea   |  April 27, 2019

In American history they have represented freedom and unfreedom.  Here is Stony Brook historian Jared Farmer at the Oxford University Press blog: Extralegal violence committed by white men in the name of patriotism is a founding tradition of the United...

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The Author’s Corner with Loren Schweninger

John Fea   |  September 20, 2018

Loren Schweninger is Professor Emeritus of History at UNC Greensboro. This interview is based on his new book Appealing for Liberty: Freedom Suits in the South (Oxford University Press, 2018). JF: What led you to write Appealing for Liberty? LS: For many years I have been interested...

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Jefferson, Secession, and Monuments

John Fea   |  August 16, 2017

Last night on CNN, host James Lemon had African-American public intellectual Michael Eric Dyson on his program.  Lemon asked Dyson to respond to the comments Donald Trump made yesterday about historical monuments.  Trump said: So this week, it is Robert...

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Is Freedom a Biblical Concept?

John Fea   |  July 6, 2017

Earlier today I posted a piece from Rod Dreher’s blog about patriotic worship.  At the end of the piece I was struck by Dreher’s “update” in which he published a message he received from one of his readers.  Here it...

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