Results of an informal important-historical-figures poll conducted on the first day of the American history class.
Blog
Lincoln and FDR: Favorite lessons from American history as taught in China
A look at what Chinese students learn about American history from their textbooks and why it matters.
Echoes of Debs in Trump and Sanders campaigns
A century later Trump and Sanders echo socialist leader and five-time presidential candidate Eugene Debs.
Blackstone’s warning
“It is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” Does this statement ring true to you? If so, you are probably over 40.
The execution standard
As the oldest constitutional democracy in the world, the United States is often criticized for continuing to carry out state-sanctioned executions. Three hundred years ago Pennsylvania had fewer capital laws than any European state.
Long before King, a Philadelphia voice
Philadelphian James Forten was leading the fight for equal rights 200 years ago with the publication of his “Letters from a Man of Color” in 1813.
In wartime, a push for colleges
While studying the Civil War, my students were surprised to discover that among its many consequences were the founding and expansion of hundreds of colleges and universities.
A shortage of greatness
George M. Dallas was Vice President of the United States from 1845-49. No other Philadelphian came as close to the White House.
Submarines and Drones
Woodrow Wilson’s 1917 description of submarine warfare reminded the class of the current debate over the use of drones to target terrorists.
Painstaking steps forward
The 13th amendment abolishing slavery was ratified in 1865 but a generation later most blacks in the South were not free.