History

The American and French Revolutions Compared 3
- History
- October 4, 2024
One of the many differences between the American and French Revolutions is that, unlike the French, Americans did not fight for an abstraction. Americans initially took up arms against the British to defend and preserve the traditional rights of Englishmen. The slogan “no taxation without representation” aptly summed up one of their chief complaints. The
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Purposeless Masculinity in Beryl Bainbridge’s ‘The Birthday Boys’1
- Featured, History, Literature
- October 2, 2024
In the face of certain death, does being civilized matter? All the narrators of Beryl Bainbridge’s 1991 historical novel The Birthday Boys die. And still, knowing their deaths loom, they carry on with birthdays, religious practices, and virtues like loyalty and courage. Heavily based on real life diaries and letters, this novel is a hybrid
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Is Islam Really the ‘Religion of Peace’?4
- History, Featured, Religion
- September 23, 2024
It’s not politically correct to think that some cultures, religions, and traditions are better than others. And perhaps even more taboo is the topic of Islam—and its historical record compared to Christianity, particularly when the two religions come to clash. It’s worth asking, then, what do history and data have to say on the topic?
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Governments Had a Major Role in Sustaining Slavery 0
- History
- September 19, 2024
Given America’s history with slavery and eventual emancipation, especially the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, the average person might be left with the impression that slavery was only ended thanks to the efforts of a powerful nation-state. In fact, one might even go as far as to assume that slavery could only be brought
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What We Misunderstand About the Nazis 8
- Culture, Featured, History
- September 12, 2024
In his insightful essay “We Misunderstood the Nazis” in The Free Press, Matti Friedman argues that the way we learn about the Holocaust has done little to prevent its reoccurrence. Thanks to billion-dollar investments in museums, documentaries, and school curricula, Westerners know all about the “logistics” of National Socialism: Zyklon B, death marches, cruel torture.
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Rediscovering Long-Lost Conservatism 0
- Culture, Featured, History, Politics
- August 29, 2024
Have the political parties always held the positions they do today? Has the right moved further right, or the left further left? The Republican Party of 2024 is far more liberal than the Democrat Party of the 1990s. With few exceptions, Republicans have consistently supported deficit spending, corporate welfare, and social welfare for decades now.
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