6 Posts found for Author: Heather Cox Richardson

Our peculiar history of racism has meant that every time it seems we are approaching equality before the law, those determined to prevent that equality have turned people against it by insisting that government protection of equality will cost tax dollars, thus amounting to a redistribution of wealth from those with property to those without. That is, if Black and Brown Americans, and poor people, … [ Read more ]

Author: Heather Cox Richardson | Subjects: America, History, International, Politics & Public Policy, Race Relations

Throughout our history, America has swung between the defense of equality outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the defense of private property outlined in the Constitution.

Author: Heather Cox Richardson | Subjects: America, History, International, Politics & Public Policy

When those accustomed to breaking things try to build them, they seem to have little idea of how much work it actually takes. They seem to think that actual accomplishments are there for the taking, and that splashy announcements and dramatic actions can solve intricate problems.

Author: Heather Cox Richardson | Subjects: Life & Society, Politics & Public Policy

Once you give up the principle of equality, you have given up the whole game. You have admitted the principle that people are unequal, and that some people are better than others. Once you have replaced the principle of equality with the idea that humans are unequal, you have stamped your approval on the idea of rulers and subjects. At that point, all you can … [ Read more ]

Author: Heather Cox Richardson | Subjects: Life & Society, Politics & Public Policy

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln, then a candidate for the Senate, warned that arguments limiting American equality to white men and excluding black Americans were the same arguments “that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world…. Turn in whatever way you will—whether it come from the mouth of a King, an excuse for enslaving the people of his country, or … [ Read more ]

Authors: Abraham Lincoln, Heather Cox Richardson | Subjects: Concepts, Freedom | Liberty, Life & Society, Politics & Public Policy, Race Relations

After World War II, so many Americans believed in the new, activist New Deal state, the “liberal consensus,” that politicians could not motivate voters with sweeping stories of what it meant to be an American: almost all Americans agreed on those basic principles. So political scientists concluded that there was no longer any real defining ideological difference between Republicans and Democrats. In a famous book … [ Read more ]

Author: Heather Cox Richardson | Source: Facebook (February 9, 2020) | Subjects: Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy