Jeffrey Boutwell is a retired independent historian with a B.A. in History from Yale and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This interview is based on his new book, Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of […]
rights
The Author’s Corner with Anthony G. Roeber
Anthony G. Roeber is Professor of Church History at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. This interview is based on his new book, Orthodox Christians and the Rights Revolution in America (Fordham University Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write Orthodox […]
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 […]
Thomas Jefferson said our rights come from the “Creator.” Was he right?
Christian nationalism was in the news again this weekend. As we noted in today’s Roundup, a lot of evangelicals (and others) are upset about Politico journalist Heidi Przybyla’s claim that anyone who believes that their rights come from God is […]
The Author’s Corner with Alex Zakaras
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 […]
On “thoughts and prayers” and “God-given rights”
I know I just reposted this piece a few days ago after the Buffalo shooting, but it continues to represent my thinking about these mass shootings. Here is what I wrote at The Washington Post in August 2019: In the […]
Tomasky: The Right’s view of liberty during this pandemic is “incompatible with human life”
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 […]
The United States of America: Are we reaping what we’ve sown?
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 […]