History & historical ideas
Events, change over time and the ways people interpret the past.
Federal Power Debates in Early America, 1763–1840
An explanatory essay tracing how disputes over British authority, the Constitution’s allocation of federal power, and the federal judiciary’s response in Marbury reshaped arguments about national authority between 1763 and 1840.
Transatlantic Trade and Colonial Society, 1607–1776
Expanding Atlantic commerce reshaped colonial consumption, economies, and relationships with Britain, while reinforcing older inequalities and leaving regional differences and local political institutions intact. After the Seven Years’ War, imperial efforts to regulate trade helped turn commercial ties into a source of conflict.
Political Debates and Government Power in the United States, 1910–1970
A historical comparison of the 1912 debate over federal regulation, the New Deal’s economic intervention, and the NAACP’s pursuit of federal action for civil rights.
The End of Reconstruction and Its Consequences, 1877–1900
An evidence-based argument that the end of Reconstruction weakened Black political participation in the South by removing federal protection as white Democrats regained power.
National Security and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Cold War, 1945–1991
A qualified historical argument that national-security concerns substantially reshaped U.S. foreign policy through military reorganization, alliances, nuclear competition, and intervention, while political limits and competing goals constrained particular choices.
Economic Change and American Society, 1865–1910
An argument that economic change substantially reshaped American society through industrial expansion, labor conflict, inequality, consumer action, and political responses, while distributing its benefits and costs unevenly.
Women’s Reform and the Temperance Campaign, 1800–1940
An explanatory essay situating the 1874 “Woman’s Holy War” in the history of women’s reform, then tracing the continuing belief that moral and social problems could be addressed through organized civic action and government policy.