There is an old, deeply rooted story about America that goes like this: Columbus “discovers” a strange continent and brings back tales of untold riches. The European empires rush …
The Aztecs of central Mexico had a rich philosophical tradition, recorded in Latin script by Spanish clergymen—one of the earliest transcripts being Huehuetlatolli, or Discourses …
Washington Post humour columnist Alexandra Petri is perhaps America’s most beloved political satirist. Her new, side-splitting work of historical humour uses imagined documents to …
Few legal cases in American history are as riveting as the controversy surrounding the will of Virginia Senator John Randolph (1773–1833), which—almost inexplicably—freed all 383 …
In 1885 Jane and Leland Stanford co-founded a university to honour their recently deceased young son. After her husband’s death in 1893, Jane Stanford, a devoted spiritualist who …
Conceived in the Gilded Age, the Ferry Building opened in 1898 as San Francisco’s portal to the world—the terminus of the transcontinental railway and a showcase of civic ambition. …
In roughly five decades, between 1848 and 1899, more gold was removed from the earth than had been mined in the 3,000 preceding years. But friction between Chinese and white …
Nominally Christian churches glorify materialism, a gluttony of the soul, while others celebrate an ecstatic indulgence in hate, citing Scripture whilst preparing for civil war. …
New attention from historians and journalists is raising pointed questions about the founding period: was the American revolution waged to preserve slavery, and was the …
An urgent and fractious debate over public monuments has erupted in America. Some people risk imprisonment to tear down long-ignored hunks of marble; others form armed patrols to …
