Capitol Riots

The January 6 Committee's Report Shows it's up to Politics, not History, to Judge

by Matthew Sitman

The committee's report will never be able to create or sustain closure on the Trump era or the hard right turn of conservatism; only voters and political organizers can do that. 

As a History of Insurrection, the January 6 Report is a Mess

by Jill Lepore

The Committee delivered a potent indictment of Donald Trump's responsibility for the events of January 6, but shed little light on the origins or the future of the antidemocratic insurrection and failed to tell a compelling story about what happened. 

Historians Predict How History Will Remember January 6

Historians of the Civil War era including Manisha Sinha and Joanne Freeman, suggest that the Jan. 6 Committee has assembled a documentary record of events that can support a definitive understanding of events. But what politicians and voters make of the information will determine what history is written. 

There Are Two Ways America Can Go After January 6

by Thomas Zimmer

In some respects, the January 6 attack resembles the failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. What should concern us is what could happen if the Justice Department decides to give similarly lenient treatment to the Capitol conspirators and their leader. 

The January 6 Committee and the Paranoid Style

by Bruce W. Dearstyne

Episodes consistent with the "paranoid style" recur with sufficient frequency in American history to make them a landmark of the culture. But it's less well understood how each individual episode has faded, insight we could use today. 

Liberals: The January 6 Hearings Won't Save Us

by Daniel Bessner and Ben Burgis

Liberals hoping the televised hearings will result in criminal charges or accountability for Trump and his accomplices are in denial about the culture of elite impunity in America. The Democratic Party can't hope that outrage over January 6 will help them in November. 

Don't Call them Conservatives

by Alan J. Singer

As we confront what is happening in this country, we need to stop calling the MAGA movement conservative.

Politics and Priorities: The January 6 Hearings and American Values

by Walter G. Moss

Pragmatism does not mean acting without principles, but only openly, undogmatically. Is the glimmer of bipartisanship on display at the January 6 hearings a sign of hope?

Proud Boys Indictment Charges Attempt to Overthrow Government. Does it Matter?

by Heather Cox Richardson

The charge of seditious conspiracy by a paramilitary organization with close ties to the Trumpian Right is incredibly serious, but will it be met with a shrug?

History's Guidance to the January 6 Committee

by Stephen A. West

The 1872 report of the Congressional Ku Klux Klan Committee offers lessons for the January 6 Commission: expect partisans to weaponize the report, and don't trust "the judgment of history" to clear up doubts about culpability. 

Jan. 6 Commission: Trump Allies Engaged in Potential Criminal Conspiracy to Block Certification

"The court filing is the strongest assertion yet from the committee that it believes Trump and some of his allies potentially committed crimes during the effort to overturn Biden’s victory and by falsely stating repeatedly that the election was stolen."

Capitol Attack Pushed Christian Nationalism to Center of Shifting Far-Right Movement

Christian nationalism, particularly the sense that America's white, Christian identity is threatened, is a force uniting disparate strains of the far right and a potential bridge between extremists and millions of American Evangelicals, say scholars Kelly J. Baker and Anthea Butler. 

The Party Is the Problem: The GOP's Long Road to Jan. 6

by Jan-Werner Müller

Well before Trump, the Republican Party has been working to build "a tyranny of the minority that believes itself to be the only true Americans."

Trumpism is Drawing on Completely Mistaken Understandings of Medieval European History

"The Bright Ages" co-author Matthew Gabriele discusses the proliferation of medieval imagery in far-right circles and why it gets the history wrong. 

Uncivil Religion: A Collaborative Effort to Understand January 6, 2021

Historians including Kristin Du Mez and Matthew Gabriele contribute to a new collaborative project analyzing the flood of digital imagery associated with the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and the election results. 

The US Keeps Failing the January 6 Test

by Nicole Hemmer

Between Republican obfuscation and Democratic indifference, "it is fair to say that American democracy is in a far more tenuous position today than it was during the January 6 insurrection."

Impeachment May Not Work. Here’s the Next Best Way to Dump Trump

by Eric Foner

The 14th Amendment empowers Congress to bar persons involved in insurrection against the United States from holding office. This can't remove Trump, but it can stop him (and anyone found to have plotted the Capitol rioting) from returning to office. 

White Supremacists Attacked Democracy and Have Thus Far Faced No Consequences

by Carol Anderson

Threatening to demolish the structure of government to preserve white supremacy is a time-honored American tradition, as is escaping consequences for doing so.

The House January 6 Commission Hearings

On October 13, the January 6 Commission held its last hearing before the midterm elections, presenting evidence that the Secret Service knew of plans for violence and voting unanimously to subpoena ex-president Donald Trump.

Why Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley Won’t Be Punished for Fomenting a Riot

by Alex Pareene

The Senate's ethics processes reflect an instution that has historically policed itself. They are completely useless when Senators ignore see political advantage in ignoring institutional norms.