Here is Nick Catoggio at The Dispatch: The modern Republican Party isnāt conservative in any meaningful way. Any lingering doubt about that was extinguished on Saturday. āHe who saves his Country does not violate any Law,ā TrumpĀ declaredĀ in a post. Itās […]
patriotism
Rick Reilly wants to fly the American flag
The other day I got a letter in the mail from a Christian non-profit organization that included a tiny American flag on a stick. I took it outside and planted it in a small flower patch in front of my […]
Fanfare for the common man
Sometimes the everyday person is worthy of celebration.
The Author’s Corner with Ralph Young
Ralph Young is Professor of Instruction in History at Temple University. This interview is based on his new book, American Patriots: A Short History of Dissent (NYU Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write American Patriots? RY: What inspired […]
The Author’s Corner with Lindsay Schakenbach Regele
Lindsay Schakenbach Regele is Graduate Studies Director and Associate Professor of History at Miami University. This interview is based on her new book, Flowers, Guns, and Money: Joel Roberts Poinsett and the Paradoxes of American Patriotism (University of Chicago Press, […]
The Author’s Corner with Matthew J. Clavin
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 […]
Donald Trump Jr. is hawking a Bible
Act quickly. I imagine these “We the People” Bibles will sell out faster than the Trump digital trading cards and the Trump-King Cyrus prayer coins. š Here is Donald Jr.: For $69.99 you can buy a King James Version of […]
The Author’s Corner with David K. Thomson
David K. Thomson is Assistant Professor of History at Sacred Heart University. This interview is based on his new book, Bonds of War: How Civil War Financial Agents Sold the World on the Union (University of North Carolina Press, 2022). […]
A patriotism reclamation narrative?
This is how political scientist Maxwell G. Burkey describes Stephen B. Smith’s new book Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. His review shows little sympathy for Smith’s project. Before we get to Burkey’s review, here is a synopsis of […]
The Author’s Corner with John Bodnar
John Bodnar is Emeritus Professor of History at Indiana University Bloomington. This interview is based on his new book, Divided by Terror: American Patriotism after 9/11 (The University of North Carolina Press, 2021). JF: What led you to write Divided […]
The “ultimate American Bible”
Some of you recall Jay Green’s Current piece “Lee Greenwood Christianity.” Read it here. Over at Slate, Molly Olmstead reports on the Greenwood-inspired God Bless the USA Bible. Here is a taste: In May, controversy over ātheĀ ultimate American Bibleā briefly […]
For the first time in American history, advocates of patriotic education are claiming their curriculum is based on fact
This is a fascinating essay by Timothy Messer-Kruse of Bowling Green State University. It covers Josh Hawley’s “Love America Act” and Hillsdale College’s 1776 Curriculum. For most of the last two centuries, patriotic schooling was not a partisan issue. Both […]
The Trump intellectuals who despise their fellow citizens, but love America
Historian Joshua Tait calls-out the so-called “Trump intellectuals”–many of them connected to Hillsdale College and the Claremont Institute–who claim to be “ardent patriots” who are “at odds with real America, but remain committed to the rhetoric of patriotism.” These Trumpers […]
Jim Grossman: “If people are fighting about history, that shows that it’s important.”
Over at NBC News, Kelly Fields wonders if critical race theory and patriotism can co-exist in classrooms. I would argue that they can co-exist. But the piece also makes a good case for the study of history and civics. Here […]
What is patriotism?
George Will uses his syndicated column this week to review Steven B. Smith’s book Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. Here is a taste: Some on the right mistake their compound of grievances and resentments for patriotism. This mentality […]