Category:History
3 Oscar films for the radical individualist
February 24, 2017 | Post
This year’s Oscar nominations offer up a few really excellent stories about individuals resisting the pressures of both collectives and the state.
The bell curve of anti-slavery
February 19, 2017 | Post
Abolitionism is one of the complex historical topics that is always over-simplified in textbook accounts of history.
Reddit AMA with Fabio Rojas, Professor of Sociology at Indiana University
February 17, 2017 | Post
Join us for a conversation with Professor Rojas on Reddit this Monday, February 20th, at 2:00pm EST, where you can ask him anything!
When Nazis were Nazis: Katharine Burdekin’s Swastika Night
February 10, 2017 | Post
Swastika Night is one of the first works of fiction to address the question, “What if the Nazis won the war?”
Marxism Explained in 2 Minutes, with Deirdre McCloskey
February 6, 2017 | Video
“Marx was the greatest social scientist of the 19th century…” says Professor Deirdre McCloskey. “But he got everything wrong.”
Edgar Allan Poe’s hilarious, horrifying vision of the future
January 19, 2017 | Post
January 19, 2017 is the 208th birthday of literary great Edgar Allan Poe.
What should libertarians think about the Civil War?
January 1, 2017 | Post
Instead of looking for a “side” to champion, we are better served by recognizing that even amid the unbridled horrors of slavery and the devastation of war, there may still be a few who are fighting for something better than their country’s cause.
Did the US provoke Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor?
December 7, 2016 | Post
The common American narrative that Japan launched an entirely unprovoked attack on an American territory — and therefore the US was right to respond in self-defense — is a fiction.
How U.S. economic warfare provoked Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor
December 7, 2016 | Post
There’s more to the story than your U.S. history teacher told you.
How schools and the media cover up communist crimes
November 21, 2016 | Post
An astonishingly high percentage of millennials do not know who communist leaders like Mao Zedong and Vladimir Lenin were.
Here are 7 lesser-known classical liberal thinkers for your World Philosophy Day
November 17, 2016 | Post
Here are seven criminally underrated philosophers to celebrate this World Philosophy Day.
A hero is worth 1,000 words
November 12, 2016 | Post
Truly virtuous behavior cannot be compelled. Demonstrating virtue and consequently inspiring people to be virtuous is a fundamental and necessary component of a free society.
The Gothic and the Literature of Liberty
October 31, 2016 | Post
This Halloween season, as you’re contemplating shadows on the wall and things that go bump in the night, I invite you to consider that the Gothic tradition includes works deserving of a recognized place in the literature of liberty canon.If we follow the definition of the Gothic provided by Jerrod E. Hogle in The Cambridge […]
Competition makes the world beautiful: The early years of rock
October 29, 2016 | Post
Whether it’s music, art, or commerce, it’s competition that makes the world beautiful.
The dystopian novel that foresaw the nightmares of socialism
October 27, 2016 | Post
Decades before the socialists gained power, Eugene Richter saw the writing on the wall.
The Original Purpose of the US Constitution
October 4, 2016 | Video
The entire philosophy of the United States and US Constitution summed up in 93 seconds. Professor Randy Barnett reminds us of the original purpose that the government was founded, to protect our individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The history of Red China should serve as a warning about today
October 1, 2016 | Post
Mao Zedong, glorified creator of the PRC slaughterhouse, is considered responsible for the death of over 70 million fellow Chinese citizens during his reign. The carnage was for various reasons: state-enforced relocation, implementation of various socialist schemes, mass pogroms against citizens possessing counter-revolutionary tendencies and, sadly, the worst famine in human history.
The Week in Review: Presidential Debates, Police Accountability, and Overridden Vetos
September 30, 2016 | Post
Here are some links to close our September. Happy Fall everyone! Police body cameras are already failing their communities. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sparred in the first of three presidential debates. The officer who fatally shot Terrence Crutcher in Tulsa, OK has been charged with 1st degree manslaughter. The U.S. Congress overrode a presidential […]
George Washington's Letter to the Jews
September 25, 2016 | Post
Toleration is the cornerstone of liberalism. Washington understood this and urged future generations to honor this commitment.
Hamilton Tells the Story of a Great Historical Figure, but Misses Some of the History
September 12, 2016 | Post
Hamilton the Musical takes liberties with American history.
Oath Taking and Religious Liberty in American History
September 9, 2016 | Post
Historically, oaths have been seen as essential for ensuring the loyalty and fidelity of citizens and elected officials. They were also viewed as critically important for the effective functioning of judicial systems. In the West, oaths historically invoke God as the witness of the oath taker’s veracity; written oaths often end with the phrase “so […]
How the Free Market Created Impressionism
September 6, 2016 | Post
The tremendous expansion of the middle class that came along with industrialization was crucial in stimulating a new market for art. The trappings of luxury that in prior centuries were limited to the extremely wealthy became more affordable, just as there were more consumers who sought to decorate their homes in ways that signaled their social level.
“I Have a Dream,” 50 Years Later
August 28, 2016 | Post
Editor’s note: This piece was originally posted at Libertarianism.org on August 28th, 2013. Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered “I Have a Dream,” one of the most stirring and memorable speeches in American history. In the five decades since he laid out his dream at the March on Washington for Jobs […]
Emmett Till Was Murdered 61 Years Ago, But Racism Lives On
August 28, 2016 | Post
The tragic story of Emmett’s journey from Chicago to Mississippi and back is a poignant tale that resonates today. We are reminded of modern day Emmetts whose short lives and senseless deaths in some way sadly represent an ongoing cycle.