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Articles on US history

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‘I don’t care what they say about me,’ P.T. Barnum once said, ‘as long as they spell my name correctly.’ Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com

How the ‘Greatest Showman’ paved the way for Donald Trump

The new movie about P.T. Barnum couldn’t come at a better time: It’s impossible not to see his ghost in our culture, in our advertisements and in our president.
‘Fearless Girl’ dons a pink hat on March 8, 2017, on Wall Street in New York. An inscription at the base reads, ‘Know the power of women in leadership. She makes a difference.’ AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Could the ERA pass in the #Metoo era?

A huge majority of Americans support equal rights for women. Is now the right time to get an amendment passed?
Women shipfitters working on board the USS Nereus at the U.S. Navy Yard in Mare Island, circa 1943. Department of Defense

Rosie the Riveters discovered a wartime California dream

Thousands of American women moved west to take advantage of wartime employment opportunities during WWII. For some, this version of the California dream was temporary; for others, it lasted a lifetime.
Political reporter William D. Workman speaks at a GOP event in 1962. Courtesy of South Carolina Political Collections, University of South Carolina

Before Breitbart, there was the Charleston News and Courier

In the 1960s, white newspaper journalists exploited racial divisions to help build the GOP’s southern firewall.
Atlanta mayoral candidates Keisha Lance Bottoms (left) and Mary Norwood will face off in December. AP Photo/David Goldman

Could Atlanta be on track to elect a white mayor?

Atlanta is a black majority city that has elected black mayors since 1973. Two candidates now face a runoff in December.
Female protesters in Petrograd (now St Petersburg) in 1917 on International Women’s Day. Wikimedia Commons

One American woman’s life in revolutionary Russia

How a journalist from Nebraska chased the ‘Soviet dream’ all the way to Russia, only to be expelled on accusations of espionage.
Soldiers deliver food and water following Hurricane Maria. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Maria will fundamentally change US policy toward Puerto Rico

Two hurricanes in Puerto Rico’s past fundamentally transformed the island’s economy and politics. Maria will be the third, says a historian.
Were muskets in 1777 better regulated than assault rifles in 2017? Jana Shea/Shutterstock.com

Five types of gun laws the Founding Fathers loved

A leading historian of constitutional thought says the contemporary Second Amendment debate is founded on serious misunderstandings.

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