In the wake of what happened yesterday at the US Capitol, I wanted to share some resources I came across to help us make sense of it all. I am a big proponent of history as without our history who are we even?! That’s why I deem it important to look back on the past to inform our future and/or simply understand our present. All articles shared below are fairly short by the way.
Let’s go!
Portrait of John Adams, ca. 1792–93, painted by John Trumbull. White House Collection/White House Historical Association. Public domain.
Let us start with the origins of the peaceful transfer of power as related in this short article (opens in a new window). How and why things are done peacefully and what does it mean to not do them so.
[plain text URL: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/september-2020/on-the-peaceful-transfer-of-power-lessons-from-1800]
But not all transfer of power went smoothly. Indeed, we had a civil war in this country, and senators from the south who opposed the election of Abraham Lincoln were expelled when they refused to accept his victory (opens in a new window). Does this past history shed some light on what our present history holds for the senators opposing the presidential election certification?
[plain text URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/05/senators-expelled-lincoln-election-trump/]
“I wish to live in no country where the man who blacks my boots or curries my horse is my equal,” expelled Tex. Sen. Louis T. Wigfall said in 1865, according to abolitionist George William Curtis. (Prints & Photographs Division/Library of Congress)
Cartoonist Thomas Nast depicted the Compromise of 1877 as a “truce, not a compromise.” Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, public domain
What really happened during the Messy Election of 1876 (opens in a new window). Although more than 80% voted in that election it took five months to figure it out and the damage that was done eroded citizen’s trust in the US institutions … sounds awfully familiar.
[plain text URL: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2020/if-anybody-says-election-to-me-i-want-to-fight-the-messy-election-of-1876]
Let’s now take a detour by the dictionary aisle with its definitions while going beyond buzzwords and diving deep into what populism truly means (opens in a new window). The exploration is done through the lens of American history and the Ku Klux Klan. It may surprise you to learn that not all grassroots (aka popular) movement is populist!
[plain text URL: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/september-2017/what-do-we-mean-by-populism-the-second-klan-as-a-case-study]
A Klan gathering c. 1925, location unknown. National Photo Company Collection/Library of Congress
Because history is complex and because I personally love maps, here is an invaluable resource to peruse at length (opens in a new window). I’ll simply quote below the website description:
”This project produces and displays free interactive maps showing the historical geography of dozens of social movements that have influenced American life and politics since the late 19th century, including radical movements, civil rights movements, labor movements, women's movements, and more. Until now historians and social scientists have mostly studied social movements in isolation and often with little attention to geography. This project allows us to see where social movements were active and where not, helping us better understand patterns of influence and endurance. It exposes new dimensions of American political geography, showing how locales that in one era fostered certain kinds of social movements often changed political colors over time.”
[plain text URL: https://depts.washington.edu/moves/]
Another incredible resource compiling all protests that took place in Lafayette Park across from the White House (opens in a new house). The first amendment right is a beautiful thing and needs to be protected to allow a healthy democracy to thrive. This project combines extensive story reporting with beautiful pictures to depict each social protest over the years. This resource helps us put in perspective all of the protests from 2020 and now 2021.
[plain text URL: https://www.whitehousehistory.org/collections/protest-at-the-peoples-house]
In 1965, Black protesters gathered outside of the White House to demand the expansion and protection of their voting rights after “Bloody Sunday.” Library of Congress/Warren K. Leffler, 2014645538
One of those protests was the movement for the expansion of voting rights following Bloody Sunday in 1965 (opens in a new window). It culminated in what is now known as the “Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA)“ but problems remain … can exploring the past help us understand those problems? Learn how the specter of voter fraud has been used for a long time to reduce voting access.
[plain text URL: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/september-2020/so-far-away-from-1965-voting-rights-in-the-united-states]
Is it too early to draw conclusions about the historical nature of President Obama’s election back in 2009? Maybe, but we can learn from it already. Read this piece on “A remarkable election” (opens in a new window). Several surprising things are touched upon here:
Was race really important in that election?
Were we too optimistic about transformations in our “race relations” following his election?
What do we mean about race relations transformation?
Why do we keep thinking the world is that hypothetical zero-sum game?
[plain text URL: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/april-2009/a-remarkable-election]
Lots of things have been said about the Confederate monuments and it can seem daunting at times to even try to make sense of it. I cannot really alleviate the daunting feeling, but I can provide some extensive resources about the controversy as compiled by the American Historical Association (opens in a new window). Instead of telling you my own (irrelevant) opinion, I’d rather leave you to your own exploration of the issue. I still want to share a bit of wisdom though as regardless of what one thinks about this, the fact that so many people discuss this issue intrinsically means that we need to reckon with the issue, debate it, and make a decision. Just saying “let’s change nothing” is not going to cut it (although I recognize that inaction is a form of action).
[plain text URL: https://www.historians.org/news-and-advocacy/everything-has-a-history/historians-on-the-confederate-monument-debate]
To conclude this blog post I want to share this compilation of resources about race and health (opens in a new window). Start first with the exploration of past history between race and pandemics/epidemics before diving into the now extensive COVID-19 related resources tying health and race in our day and age.
[plaint text URL: https://www.historians.org/news-and-advocacy/everything-has-a-history/a-bibliography-of-historians-responses-to-covid-19/race-and-health]
Your own pursuit of knowledge on those issues should not be ending with this blog post though :-).