Tariffs, Once Essential Revenue, Now Job Creator?
A neon bridge light near Trenton, N.J., boasts, “Trenton Makes, the World Takes.” Ironically, Trenton’s industrial glory is long gone, and as N.J.’s capitol, Trenton’s biggest employer is the industry of government. American manufacturers have responded to foreign competition by automating and by offshoring plants to find cheaper labor. Protectionism and tariffs haven’t been on the table in decades. But American….Read more
The Yugely Teachable Moment Provided by Donald Trump
As 2017 begins, it looks as if the ship of state will tack in a totally different direction. An historic moment that’s also a potent opportunity for American history and other humanities teachers to capitalize on the teachable moments offered by the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump. Theoretical issues come alive It was always challenging to teach political abstractions. Some….Read more
Hamilton Redefined Libel Laws Trump Wishes to “Loosen”
“One of the things I’m going to do if I win is…to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money…. We’re going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times…writes a hit piece, we can sue them….Read more
Hamilton Redux: Now It’s Faithless Electors
What would Alexander Hamilton think were he alive today? I doubt he ever dreamed he’d be the subject of a musical whose ticket price could rival a car payment, and that his Federalist papers would fuel a national movement of electors to upend the results of an….Read more
Trump Encounters the Ghost of Abraham Lincoln
Good evening Mr. Trump, welcome to the White House. You are the latest person to take on the biggest responsibility in the world. It’s Abe Lincoln. I’ve been around for a while. May I share something with you, president to president, one Republican to another? A young lawyer needs work It comes in the form….Read more
US Constitution Contest Answers
The History Dr is proud to announce the astute winner of our first U.S. Constitution Quiz and Contest that was announced before Thanksgiving. The Constitution has seven articles and a Bill of Rights, which Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, among other founding fathers, disputed for years. That debate is alive and well. Although many people are quite familiar with the amendments, particularly the First….Read more
(VIDEO) How an Unprepared President from Another Century Fared in Office
Imagine a president with no training for the job. No political experience. Never held a government job. Could he succeed? In 1881, Chester Arthur was quaking in his boots at the thought of becoming the president, as President James Garfield valiantly struggled to recover from an assassin’s bullet in his chest. Even Alexander Graham Bell, using his prototype for….Read more
Power to the People, Not Elites, Said Jefferson (VIDEO)
Republicans were unhappy with Obama. Now the United States has a president-elect who Democrats (and not a few Republicans) think is a dangerous affront to our society. President-elect Trump’s supporters contend that the people have spoken and have rejected the self-serving opinions of the elites. What would Jefferson say today? In the early America of the 1790s, Alexander Hamilton felt his….Read more
Does Business Acumen Help Presidents Succeed?
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said in 2012 that a candidate for president should spend at least three years working in business before becoming president of the United States, quoting a small business owner who thought that this requirement should be enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Interesting proposal. (Ironically, it would have disqualified his own running mate, Paul Ryan.) The idea, an old one, is….Read more
Video: Titans of the Gilded Age
This video tells the stories of some of the big business titans of the Gilded Age. When the Civil War ended in 1865, an old and pressing set of issues—slavery, states’ rights and secession– went off the national stage. Arriving on stage were mining, manufacturing and railroads. America’s history had turned the page. The age of corporate consolidation was….Read more