Here is my 2012 Religious Freedom Day lecture at Mary Washington University:...
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Jefferson
The court evangelicals respond to Donald Trump’s RNC convention speech and the aftermath
Last night I thought Franklin Graham offered a good opening prayer to kick-off the last night of the GOP convention. Today he sat for an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network. At times Graham tried to be...
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Trump’s National Prayer Declaration in Historical Context
Here is Trump’s proclamation: In our times of greatest need, Americans have always turned to prayer to help guide us through trials and periods of uncertainty. As we continue to face the unique challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, millions...
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Annette Gordon-Reed Reviews Alan Taylor’s New Book on Jefferson and Education
When a Pultizer-Prize-winning American historian reviews a new book from another Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian it is worth a separate post here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. Taylor’s book is titled Thomas Jefferson’s Education. Here is a taste of Gordon-Reed’s review at The...
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The Paragraph on Slavery That Thomas Jefferson Cut From the Declaration of Independence
Ben Railton has a nice blog post on this here. A taste: In this July 4th, 2015 piece for Talking Points Memo, my second-most viewed piece in my year and a bit of contributing bi-monthly columns to TPM, I highlighted and...
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Christian Nationalists Making the Usual Mistakes About American History
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, was not very happy with Paul Rosenberg and Frederick Clarkson’s recent Salon article on Religious Freedom Day. He writes: When Americans celebrate Religious Freedom Day tomorrow, not everyone will be happy...
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Slavery on College and University Campuses
As more and more colleges and universities are discovering their connections to slavery, the University of Virginia has decided to explore this issue further with a conference next weekend titled “Universities, Slavery, Public Memory and the Built Landscape.” Speakers include...
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If Thomas Jefferson Had His Way, There Would Be No Days of Prayer
Here is Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808 I have duly received your favor of the 18th and am thankful to you for having written it, because it is more agreeable to prevent than to refuse what I...
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Jefferson, Secession, and Monuments
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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What Would Jefferson Say?
What would Jefferson say about the events that took place this past weekend in Charlottesville? The short answer is: “I have no idea.” We can speculate, but we can’t bring Jefferson back from the grave to give his opinion. It...
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Image of the Day
Courtesy of Sean Michael Lucas via Twitter:...
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Wiencek Responds to Jan Lewis
If you were reading this weekend you are aware of my posts (here and here) on the Annette Gordon-Reed and Jan Lewis reviews of Henry Wiencek’s Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves. Wiencek has responded to Lewis...
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