Ask the Author: Daniel Williams on God’s Own Party

by Kristin Du Mez. I’m not sure I’ve assigned a monograph in a history course before that was more eagerly devoured than Daniel Williams’ God’s Own Party. “I can’t believe I didn’t know any of this before!” was a frequent refrain, and this in a class of upper-level History and Political Science majors, self-proclaimed political …

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Ask the Author: David Swartz on Moral Minority

by Kristin Du Mez. We’re in the midst of a fascinating political season. As we look to potential realignments, particularly when it comes to the role of evangelicals in party politics, it is worth looking to history to see if we might be able to gain greater insight into our current situation. One important book …

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So the president who hated big banks and paper money will finally be removed from the very things he detested

by Bob Schoone-Jongen. Heroes exist in the eyes (and prejudices) of their worshiper. The big heroes—the national ones—earn places on statues, plaques, buildings, and monuments. And a very select few are chosen to appear on the money. Since 1928 Andrew Jackson’s visage, with the swirling hairdo, has graced the $20 bill. When he first appeared …

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Public Virtue

by Jim Bratt. This post originally appeared in The Twelve: Reformed Done Daily on March 12, 2016. The course had come around to the question of religion and the American founding, again. This topic I have taken up a hundred times in various classes, and at three-score more church and community education sessions, but the lesson always bears …

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Hillary Clinton and Christian America

by Kristin Du Mez. This post originally appeared in The Twelve: Reformed Done Daily on March 4, 2016. Let’s start with a disclaimer. I’m a historian, and as such I have no particular skills when it comes to prognostication. Case in point: At the start of this election season, I would have placed my money on …

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Trump and Clinton, Sanders and Cruz—They Actually Rhyme

by Bob Schoone-Jongen. Fernand Braudel sits high on my list of historian heroes. While I don’t assign his works to my classes, I make sure to mention him in every class I teach. His idea that history proceeds along three tracks appeals both to the historian and the railroad fan in me. I find the …

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