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History News Network

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Roundup Top 10!


Gun Anarchy and the Unfree State

by Saul Cornell

The real history of the Second Amendment.


26 Gun murders (equiv. 130) in England vs. *11,004* in US Annually

by Juan Cole

The United States continues to be peculiar in handing out powerful magazine-fed firearms to almost anyone who wants one and not requiring background checks on private purchases even if these are made at gun shows or by persons with a history of mental illness.


The Problem With Trump's Madman Theory

by Tim Naftali

It didn’t work for Nixon. It’s even less likely to work now.


Most countries have given up their colonies. Why hasn’t America?

by David Vine

Because politicians prioritize military might over individual rights.


The Vietnam War Transcript Trump Needs to Read

by Jeff Greenfield

The PBS documentary on America’s most futile conflict is missing one explosive document. Every president should absorb its chilling lessons.


Flip-Flopping on Free Speech

by Jill Lepore

The fight for the First Amendment, on campuses and football fields, from the sixties to today.


Are Puerto Ricans really American citizens?

by Charles R. Venator-Santiago

In a recent poll, 41 percent of respondents said they did not believe that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens, and 15 percent were not sure.


I wasn’t to blame for the economic meltdown in 2008

by Larry Summers

In an interview with Freakonomics, Summers, one of the architects of deregulation in the 1990s, insisted that ending Glass-Steagall had nothing to do with the collapse.


Why is Virginia, cradle of America, killing its U.S. history tests?

by Jay Mathews

In 2014, the Virginia legislature ordered a cut in the number of tests taken by the state’s children, and specifically eliminated the fifth grade and middle school U.S. history tests.


Who Killed the ERA?

by Linda Greenhouse

The Equal Rights Amendment had been supported by the GOP since the 19840s. Then it became the enemy.