Category: Political Science

The Shot Heard Round The World

The following is a guest blog post by Robert G. Parkinson, author of Thirteen Clocks: How Race United the Colonies and Made the Declaration of Independence, published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press. In Thirteen Clocks, Parkinson argues that patriot leaders used racial prejudices to persuade Americans to declare independence. Sixty… Continue Reading The Shot Heard Round The World

The Last News Story of Colonial America

Guest blog post by Robert G. Parkinson, author of Thirteen Clocks: How Race United the Colonies and Made the Declaration of Independence What was the tipping point that pushed Americans into taking the step of declaring their independence? After all, the colonies had been at war with Britain for more than a year by the end of the spring of 1776.… Continue Reading The Last News Story of Colonial America

“Colored Conventions Show Us Where Democracy Really Happens”, Democracy Works Podcast featuring P. Gabrielle Foreman and Jim Casey

In April, P. Gabrielle Foreman and Jim Casey, contributors to The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century, were featured on Penn State’s Democracy Works podcast. If you’re not already familiar with these two, they’ve been doing some incredible work to detail the history of The Colored Conventions movement, the nineteenth century’s longest campaign for Black civil rights. The Colored Conventions… Continue Reading “Colored Conventions Show Us Where Democracy Really Happens”, Democracy Works Podcast featuring P. Gabrielle Foreman and Jim Casey

Cuba’s Fight for Freedom: A Recommended Reading List

Due to the protests happening in Cuba currently, we’ve decided to publish a recommended reading list pertaining to Cuba’s fight for freedom. This isn’t the first time revolts have taken place in Cuba, but what’s going on now has been referred to as the biggest protests Cuba has seen in decades. When I began researching what was going on in… Continue Reading Cuba’s Fight for Freedom: A Recommended Reading List

Time to Reset Your Syllabi, Vast Early America

Guest blog post by Catherine E. Kelly of the Omohundro Institute I came to the project that would become Thirteen Clocks: How Race United the Colonies and Made the Declaration of Independence the hard way – through the college classroom. Before joining the Omohundro Institute, I taught American history first at Case Western Reserve University and then at the University of Oklahoma.… Continue Reading Time to Reset Your Syllabi, Vast Early America

Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

Happy early JuneTeenth again! I’m back with part two of the recommended reading list in celebration of JuneTeenth, “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.” Part one of the recommended reading list focused on the experiences of black American slaves whose labor helped shape the fabric of America. Part two of the reading… Continue Reading Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

P&P Live! Anthea Butler discusses White Evangelical Racism with Jeff Sharlet

Just a day ago, author of Ferris & Ferris book White Evangelical Racism, Anthea Butler spoke with Book People, but today we have footage from Anthea’s discussion with Jeff Sharlet, author and associate professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth, hosted by Washington, D.C.-based independent bookstore Politics & Prose. Anthea and Jeff discuss White Evangelical Racism and everything from… Continue Reading P&P Live! Anthea Butler discusses White Evangelical Racism with Jeff Sharlet

New Series Announcement: Boundless South

The Boundless South publishes books that are regional, readable, and deeply researched while capturing the stories of people, places, and culture. Connecting audiences to real southerners, Boundless South presents the diversity of “southernness” and the extent of the southern diaspora with nuance and broad appeal. The Boundless South seeks to harness a new energy surrounding the discipline of history and calls on… Continue Reading New Series Announcement: Boundless South

Celebrating International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (#IDAHOBIT)

If you don’t already know, May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, commonly referred to as IDAHOBIT. This day is used to celebrate LGBTQIA+ people all over the world and raise awareness to fight the discrimination they deal with on a regular basis. We’ve created this recommended reading list to highlight the usually unheard voices… Continue Reading Celebrating International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (#IDAHOBIT)

Do Boycotts Work?

Guest post by Allyson P. Brantley, author of Justice, Power and Politics series book Brewing a Boycott: How a Grassroots Coalition Fought Coors and Remade American Consumer Activism Boycotts seem to be everywhere these days. Most recently, the April 2021 passage of Georgia’s new, restrictive voting law sparked significant backlash and boycotts – ranging from Major League Baseball’s decision to move the All-Star… Continue Reading Do Boycotts Work?

The Punitive Turn in American Life: How the United States Learned to Fight Crime Like a War

Guest blog post by Michael S. Sherry, author of The Punitive Turn in American Life: How the United States Learned to Fight Crime Like a War Advertisements urging civilians to buy guns captured how the punitive turn had played out by the 2010s. “As Close as You Can Get [to war] without Enlisting” ran one rifle ad, while another promoted… Continue Reading The Punitive Turn in American Life: How the United States Learned to Fight Crime Like a War

Root Cause Analysis

The following excerpt is taken from Robin D.G Kelly’s new foreword to Black Marxism: The Making of a Radical Tradition, Revised and updated Third Edition by Cedric J. Robinson Racial capitalism has been the subject of a robust body of scholarship and has become virtually a field unto itself since the re-publication of Black Marxism. In fact, the term has become… Continue Reading Root Cause Analysis

Maddalena Marinari: Whose Family is Worthy of Reuniting in the United States?

Today we welcome a guest post from Maddalena Marinari, author of Unwanted: Italian and Jewish Mobilization against Restrictive Immigration Laws, 1882-1965, available now from UNC Press. In the late nineteenth century, Italians and Eastern European Jews joined millions of migrants around the globe who left their countries to take advantage of the demand for unskilled labor in rapidly industrializing nations, including… Continue Reading Maddalena Marinari: Whose Family is Worthy of Reuniting in the United States?

Michael E. Woods: Lincoln and Douglas–and Breese? Another Look at the 1858 Illinois Senate Race

Today we welcome a guest post from Michael E. Woods, author of Arguing Until Doomsday: Stephen Douglas, Jefferson Davis, and the Struggle for American Democracy, out now from UNC Press. As the sectional crisis gripped the United States, the rancor increasingly spread to the halls of Congress. Preston Brooks’s frenzied assault on Charles Sumner was perhaps the most notorious evidence… Continue Reading Michael E. Woods: Lincoln and Douglas–and Breese? Another Look at the 1858 Illinois Senate Race

Michael E. Woods: Remembering the Davis-Douglas Debates

Today we welcome a guest post from Michael E. Woods, author of Arguing Until Doomsday: Stephen Douglas, Jefferson Davis, and the Struggle for American Democracy, out now from UNC Press. As the sectional crisis gripped the United States, the rancor increasingly spread to the halls of Congress. Preston Brooks’s frenzied assault on Charles Sumner was perhaps the most notorious evidence… Continue Reading Michael E. Woods: Remembering the Davis-Douglas Debates

Noeleen McIlvenna: The Long History of Public Protest

Today we welcome a guest post from Noeleen McIlvenna, author of Early American Rebels: Pursuing Democracy from Maryland to Carolina, 1640–1700, out now from UNC Press. During the half century after 1650 that saw the gradual imposition of a slave society in England’s North American colonies, poor white settlers in the Chesapeake sought a republic of equals. Demanding a say… Continue Reading Noeleen McIlvenna: The Long History of Public Protest

Philip F. Rubio: The Great Postal Wildcat Strike Jubilee

Today we welcome a guest post from Philip F. Rubio, author of Undelivered: From the Great Postal Strike of 1970 to the Manufactured Crisis of the U.S. Postal Service, forthcoming in May 2020 from UNC Press. For eight days in March 1970, over 200,000 postal workers staged an illegal “wildcat” strike—the largest in United States history—for better wages and working… Continue Reading Philip F. Rubio: The Great Postal Wildcat Strike Jubilee

Maddalena Marinari: The Fight for Immigration Reform Then and Now

Today we welcome a guest post from Maddalena Marinari, author of Unwanted: Italian and Jewish Mobilization against Restrictive Immigration Laws, 1882-1965, available now from UNC Press. In the late nineteenth century, Italians and Eastern European Jews joined millions of migrants around the globe who left their countries to take advantage of the demand for unskilled labor in rapidly industrializing nations,… Continue Reading Maddalena Marinari: The Fight for Immigration Reform Then and Now

New Talking Legal History Interviews with Kimberly M. Welch and Jane Hong

The fourth and fifth episodes of the Talking Legal History podcast series featuring UNC Press works are up! The fourth episode features Siobhan Barco talking with Kimberly M. Welch about her book Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Kimberly Welch is Assistant Professor of History and Assistant Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University. She is a… Continue Reading New Talking Legal History Interviews with Kimberly M. Welch and Jane Hong

Author Interview: Shalom Goldman on How the Arts Shaped American Passions about Israel

In this Q&A, Shalom Goldman discusses his new book, Starstruck in the Promised Land: How the Arts Shaped American Passions about Israel, out now from UNC Press. From the days of steamship travel to Palestine to today’s evangelical Christian tours of Jesus’s birthplace, the relationship between the United States and the Holy Land has become one of the world’s most… Continue Reading Author Interview: Shalom Goldman on How the Arts Shaped American Passions about Israel