Category: 14th Amendment
Video: Preserving the Legacy of Thad Stevens, New Stevens Statue in Gettysburg
The dedication of a new statue of Thad Stevens in Gettysburg led to the creation of a short documentary about Stevens and how he is…
Charles Blow Celebrates July 9 as the Anniversary of the 14th Amendment Granting Universal Birthright Citizenship
July 9 is the 153rd Anniversary of the ratification of the 14th Amendment by Louisiana, the last state needed for its incorporation into the Constitution….
New Yorker: Should Dred Scott Decision Be Taught in Law School?
The New Yorker has an essay on the trend in some law schools to no longer have students read the entire Dred Scott Decision in…
Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction by Kate Masur
Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction by Kate Masur published by W.W. Norton (2021) One of my…
The Challenge for Frederick Douglass: Lee’s Death, Black Soldiers & the Memory of the Civil War
Frederick Douglass ECW I sometimes hear comedians joke that Black History Month, celebrated annually in February, is during the shortest month of the year. Rather…
When Frederick Douglass Met Pres. Johnson to Ask for Right to Vote, Johnson Warned of Race War
On February 7, 1866 Frederick Douglass led a delegation of 13 representatives of the National Convention of Colored Men to the White House to meet…
Freedmen’s Bureau Report for Virginia Sept. 30, 1868-The trials of whites for the murder of Negroes
By October, 1868, when this report on the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Virginia was published, the Bureau was just three months away from…
Randall Kennedy Reviews Eric Foner’s Recent Book on the Reconstruction Amendments in LRB
Legal scholar Randall Kennedy reviews Eric Foner’s new book on the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in the London Review of Books. Foner’s The Second…
Irish World Cartoon: White League “Leave the Negro Alone” Deep Dive
The Irish World, the most popular Irish immigrant newspaper in late 19th Century America, took a firm stand against white supremacist violence during Reconstruction. I…
Profiles in Courage, Adelbert Ames, JFK and Reconstruction Racism
Today’s New Yorker has an article by Nicholas Lemann on persistent questions he has about John F. Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Profiles in Courage….