The 1856 caning of Senator Charles Sumner, an anti-slavery Republican, by a pro-slavery U.S. Representative Preston Brooks was a step on the road to the Civil War and has echoes in our own violent times.
Paul Finkelman
Paul Finkelman, PhD, teaches at the University of Toledo College of Law and is the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy, Emeritus, at Albany Law School.
Posted inPolitics
Why Trump’s White Refugee Gambit Could Backfire
The president is shutting the door to millions seeking refugee status—but reportedly seeking preferences for white South Africans, English speakers, and Europeans who oppose migration. He may be in for a surprise.
Posted inFeatured
Slavery Was Bad and Must Be Remembered
President Trump declared “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL,” but what’s awry, writes a constitutional scholar, is forgetting American history.
Posted inPolitics
Elon Musk’s America Party: Lessons from History
We’ve had a lot of parties with America in the name. They’ve been, um, problematic.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Listen, MAGA: Presidents Rarely Defy the Courts
Trump and his MAGA allies may point to Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, and others, but if he balks at judicial orders, he’ll be an outlier.
Posted inPolitics
J.D. Vance, “Cat People,” and the “Childless” Presidents
The Republican vice presidential nominee has some odd notions about having kids and government service. He should learn a little bit about George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and other presidents.
Posted inMain
Before the NBA Coped with Kyrie Irving’s Anti-Semitism, Baseball Faced a Similar Dilemma
Jake Powell had a solid swing—and a big bigoted mouth. What happened to the slugger is instructive today.
Posted inPolitics
The Racist Roots of Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law
Crackdowns on free speech were a staple of the antebellum and Jim Crow South.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Ketanji Brown Jackson and the Real History of Choosing Supreme Court Justices
Joe Biden joins Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and other presidents who changed a narrow definition of what it means to be a justice.
