Stephen West

This logic played a substantial role in the US-Mexico War of 1846-8: the US imagined it was “liberating” Mexico from despotism and could not understand the opposition of the Mexican people to their invasion

1. Sumner's Civil Rights Bill signed , 1875 . 2. Missouri Compromise passed, 1820 . 3. Freedmen's Bureau established, 1865 . 4. James Forten , Negro anti -slavery worker , died , 1842 . 5. Crispus Attucks fell in the Boston Massacre , 1770 . 7. Daniel Webster's 7th of March Speech , 1850 . 8. Frederick Douglass advocated an industrial college for the education of Negroes , 1853 . 9. Massachusetts ratified the Fifteenth Amendment , 1869 . 12. Charles Sumner spoke against annexation of San Domingo , 1871 . 13. Union armies forbidden to return fugitive slaves , 1862 . 14. Menelik became Negus of Abyssinia , 1889 . 15. President Lincoln urged the ballot " for some of the colored people," 1864 .

17. The Republic of Texas prohibited African slave trade , 1836 . 20. New York legalized enlistment of Negroes , War of Revolution , 1781. 23. Slavery abolished in Porto Rico , 1873 . 24. Negro troops mustered into Confederate service , 1865. 25. British Parliament abolishes slave trade , 1807. 26. Richard Allen , first bishop of African M. E. Church , died , 1831 . 28. French National Assembly gave suffrage to free persons of color in San Domingo , 1790 . 29. Napoleon issued decree against slave trade , 1815 . 30. Thomas Clarkson , English abolitionist , born , 1760 . Special message of President Grant on the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment :

Historic Days in March

from the Crisis, March 1912

hdl.handle.net/2027/msu.312...

screenshot from video. Donald Trump stands at a lectern. Closed captioning reads "That was a fancy way of saying the Civil War."

"Reconstruction, what was it" challenge

"The governor called me after the last election, you won every border town and border city.... First time it's ever happened since ... you used the word reconstruction. That was a fancy way of saying the Civil War."

Donald Trump, speaking in Texas on Friday

In Iran, air power alone will not reshape the regime. Since WWI, dozens of U.S., Israeli & allied air campaigns have tried to force political change — none installed friendly governments. None! They strengthen nationalism and intensify resistance.

the guy who wrote the literal book on this stuff is dunking on the admin:

Park Service to Revive Statue of Founding Father Who Enslaved Hundreds

Caesar Rodney's statue, removed from downtown Wilmington, Del., in 2020, will be temporarily installed in DC as part of Trump's celebration of America 250.

Important reading for the toothlessness of the War Powers Resolution and the inability of Congress to reign in the executive

Freedom Plaza, located along Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 13th and 14th Streets, is one of Washington, D.C.’s most recognizable civic spaces. Completed in 1980 and originally named Western Plaza, the site was renamed in 1988 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., who had outlined plans for a “Poor People’s Campaign” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and was scheduled to lead a demonstration on the site before his assassination. from https://www.nps.gov/places/000/freedom-plaza.htm

for those unfamiliar with DC's commemorative geography:

the statue of a man who enslaved 100s of people will be erected in Freedom Plaza, dedicated in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1988

Though somewhat obscure as founding fathers go, Mr. Rodney caught President Trump’s attention during his first term. (A conservative think tank in Delaware that, like Mr. Trump, opposes offshore wind farms and advocates for cutting taxes and regulation, is named after Caesar Rodney.)

of course

Park Service to Revive Statue of Founding Father Who Enslaved Hundreds

Caesar Rodney's statue, removed from downtown Wilmington, Del., in 2020, will be temporarily installed in DC as part of Trump's celebration of America 250.

Biden flies commercial from Reagan National Airport and winds up stuck in delays like everyone else Former presidents are just like us. Joe Biden has gotten stuck in delays while flying commercially from Reagan National Airport.

this is what happens to presidents who don't extort a jet from the Qataris ...

... they have to interact with the public, who take selfies and say nice things

club champion of his own golf courses asks if Supreme Court also allows mulligans

Notable Sandwiches #140: Sloppy Joe Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where my editor David Swanson and I slip messily through Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches. This week, a...

"The beef dry and granular as mortar in the temple of a forgotten god; the sauce at once totally opaque and yet watery; the bread reverting to its medieval function as a trencher to sop up this collusion of juices...."
on the sloppy joe:
buttondown.com/theswordandt...

And history does figure prominently - if seldom accurately - in his self-aggrandizement.

Would love for a White House correspondent to ask for proof that presidents have been asking for "a glorious Ballroom...for over 150 years."

It's hardly the most consequential lie he has told. Nor is it the biggest problem with the ballroom.

But accepting the little lies does set up the big ones.

Academic friends: I'm hosting a campus discussion today with real talk about the the scholarly publishing process/pipeline, and would love to share some "in the trenches" wisdom: what is something you know now about the process that you wish you'd known as a first-year/early-career academic?

"The framers [of the 14th Amendment] constitutionalized the universal view of birthright citizenship that free Black Americans advanced and the common law guaranteed."

@marthasjones.bsky.social and @katemasur.bsky.social provide a powerful history lesson in the form of a legal brief

this is a great brief and it appropriately ends with a killshot: the simple observation that if trump's meaning held, the birthright clause would not have overturned dred scott, the one thing it was absolutely meant to do.

Historians’ Amicus Brief in Trump v. Barbara Two historians and professors of legal history represented by Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP have filed a brief supporting a challenge to President Trump’s executive order purporting to end birthright citi...

« The historians’ brief — authored by Professor Martha S. Jones and Professor Kate Masur — centers on the pre–Civil War advocacy of free Black Americans for a broad and inclusive principle of birthright citizenship. » www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Showing students the actual language of secession highlighting slavery doesn’t fail

To be clear: he's saying that the war won't last for "years with no end in sight."

So: if the war lasts less than years (plural), and/or if future JD Vance claims there's an "end in sight," his weaselly conditions will have been met.

after snowball fight, charges melt

This claim of the lowest "murder rate in recorded history" appears to come from a report from the Council of Criminal Justice.

It presents as comparable data collected about different places in different ways (the fine print is clear about the different data sources - the headlines are not)

The Conference of Catholic Bishops is... not playing around in this brief.

www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

Unfortunately for Plaintiff, its challenge fails because the White House office in question is not an "agency" under the APA and because Plaintiff did not bring the ultra vires claim necessary to challenge the President's statutory authority to complete his construction project with private funds and without congressional approval! 1 Case 1:25-cv-04316-RJL Document 47 Filed 02/26/26 Page 2 of 22 As such, unless and until Plaintiff amends its existing complaint to include the necessary ultra vires claim, the Court cannot address the merits of the novel and weighty issues raised by this statutory challenge, and Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction must therefore be DENIED.

If Plaintiff is inclined to amend its complaint with the necessary ultra vires cause of action to test the President's statutory authority, the Court will expeditiously consider it and, if viable, address the merits of the novel and weighty issues presented. Until then, however, I have no choice but to deny Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction for lack of likelihood of success on the merits. For all the reasons stated above, it is hereby ORDERED that the National Trust's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [Dkt. #2] is DENIED. An Order consistent with the above will issue with this Memorandum Opinion. SO ORDERED. RICHARD J. LEON United States District Judge

NEW: Judge Leon denies the National Trust's preliminary injunction request in the White House East Wing/ballroom case, but basically begs the National Trust to amend its complaint to bring an ulta vires claim — alleging Trump acted without legal authority. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Judge rejects request to block Trump White House from building its $400 million ballroom project A federal judge has rejected a preservationist group’s request to block the Trump administration from continuing construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White ...

"U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the National Trust for Historic Preservation was unlikely to succeed on the merits....

"He said the privately funded group based its challenge on a 'ragtag group of theories' ... and would have a better chance of success if it amended the lawsuit."

A professor challenged the Smithsonian. Security shut the gallery. As President Donald Trump seeks to reshape museums and other cultural institutions, historian James Millward has been “guerrilla teaching” visitors about changes that have been made.

A professor challenged the Smithsonian. Security shut the gallery.

As President Donald Trump seeks to reshape its museums and other cultural institutions, wall text has become a battleground and documentation a form of resistance.

cover of The United States Secret Service in the late war : comprising the author's introduction to the leading men at Washington, with the origin and organization of the United States Secret Service Bureau, and a graphic history of rich and exciting experiences, North and South, by Lafayette C. Baker Images on the cover include fire and smoke, from which a man holding a rifle recoils cobwebs a full moon men on horseback with pistols drawn a steamboat US flags an eagle a dragon

you should definitely judge this book by its cover

archive.org/details/usse...

cover of The United States Secret Service in the late war : comprising the author's introduction to the leading men at Washington, with the origin and organization of the United States Secret Service Bureau, and a graphic history of rich and exciting experiences, North and South, by Lafayette C. Baker Images on the cover include fire and smoke, from which a man holding a rifle recoils cobwebs a full moon men on horseback with pistols drawn a steamboat US flags an eagle a dragon

you should definitely judge this book by its cover

archive.org/details/usse...

The country and the world will not fail to mark the contrast between the Message just transmitted to Congress by President Lincoln and that so recently addressed to the rival rebel conclave by Jefferson Davis. The latter is quite commonly presumed the abler of the two; he is certainly the better grammarian; and he knows how to use the English language with decided perspicuity and force. But the spirit of his manifesto is truculent, sanguinary, demoniac; he “clothes himself with curses as “with a garment;” and he does not scruple to assert the most atrocious falsehoods with regard to the aims and impulses of the Federal Government and of the loyal States.

"The spirit of his manifesto is truculent, sanguinary, demoniac; he 'clothes himself with curses as with a garment;' and he does not scruple to assert the most atrocious falsehoods with regard to the aims and impulses of the Federal Government."

The NY Tribune on Jeff Davis's 1861 annual message