USA 🇺🇸
The True Story of Frankland: America's Short-Lived 14th State
Frankland, the "Almost" 14th State, is a forgotten chapter in American history, a tale of ambition, rebellion, and the quest for statehood in the wilds of the 18th-century frontier.
Hamilton's Bold Blueprint: How Federalist No. 78 Shaped American Justice
Picture this: 1788, quills are the keyboards, and Alexander Hamilton drops Federalist No. 78, a defense of judicial power that still echoes in courtrooms today. Let's unpack this old-school essay that came to shape modern justice...
Mapp vs Ohio summary: Impact of a landmark legal case explained simply
Mapp v. Ohio, 1961, is a landmark legal case that forms the bedrock of privacy rights and a shield against unlawful searches and seizures in the U.S. Why? Let's find out...
7 key insights from Bharati Mukherjee's 'Two Ways of Belonging in America' (Summary)
Bharati Mukherjee's essay 'Two Ways of Belonging in America' explores the contrasting immigrant experiences of two sisters: one who fully embraces American citizenship and another who retains her Indian identity.
Decoding the Compromise of 1850: A balancing act amid rising tensions
The Compromise of 1850 was a landmark legislative package aimed at resolving disputes between free and slave states in the United States during a period of heightened tensions over the expansion of slavery.
James Webb Telescope: A picture worth a billion dollars
The James Webb Telescope has been three decades and billions in the making. As the first pictures were published, many have said the wait and cost were totally worth it. Getting the project off the ground (pardon the pun) wasn't always a sure thing.
The US and Taliban fought, and China won
The US hastily withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021. As the Taliban wrested control from the Afghan government faster than anyone predicted, there were a lot of loose ends. One of them: advanced equipment left behind. Read on👇👇👇
History as a curse - and a blessing
Robert Heilbroner is best known for The Worldly Philosophers - the second best selling economics book of all time. He wrote many essays too. In The Impasse Of American Optimism (1959) he discusses how a nation’s history can both be a blessing and a curse.
What are China's real intentions?
Successive US administrations, from Nixon to Trump, have had a policy of constructive engagement with China.
The Revolutionary Spirit of Thomas Paine: Challenging Authority Then and Now
Thomas Paine, a name synonymous with revolution, wielded his pen like a sword, cutting through oppression and igniting the flames of freedom with works like "Common Sense" and "The Rights of Man."
Schenck v United States summary: How a 100-year-old Case Shaped Free Speech Laws
Schenck v. United States, a 1919 Supreme Court case, is a cornerstone of U.S. free speech law, where the phrase "shouting fire in a crowded theater" was born.
Gideon v. Wainwright: A Landmark Case that Birthed "If You Cannot Afford an Attorney"
Clarence Gideon turned out to be an unlikely hero in US history. Denied counsel for stealing $5, his handwritten appeal to the Supreme Court cemented the right to legal defense for all.
How did Spain assert its claim to Texas in 1519?
In 1519, Spanish exploration led by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda mapped the Gulf Coast, likely the first European contact with Texas. This mapping expedition laid the groundwork for Spain's territorial claim.
Timeline: The Stormy Daniels Scandal
1979: Stephanie A. Gregory (later known as Stormy Daniels) was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was raised by a single mother in what she describes as a "bad neighborhood", even going without electricity at times.
Why the U.S. is unlikely to go to 'war' with Russia.
When was the last time America was at war? If you thought it was Afghanistan or Iraq, you'd be wrong. The United States has only gone to war 5x. If that seems way off, you might be thinking of the 102x America has been involved in a conflict or rebellion that weren't 'wars.'
Should America Triple Its Population?
Matthew Yglesias makes a bold argument in his book, One Billion Americans: for America to remain a superpower, it needs to triple its population of 330 million to 1 billion. Here's why he thinks this will be a net positive for the US👇👇👇
Why do nations fail? One reason stands out...
The city of Nogales straddles the US-Mexican border. The fence that runs down the middle of it demarcates two different countries – and two starkly different levels of economic development.
How Brown vs. Board of Education Changed America Forever
Imagine a world where the color of your skin dictates the quality of your education. This was America before 1954. It's why "Brown vs. Board of Education" wasn't just a court case; it was the dawn of a new era in the fight for equality.
Commerce Clause explained simply: Why you should know about it now
In the heart of the US Constitution lies a hidden gem—the Commerce Clause, often overlooked but poised to reshape our economy.
A quick primer on Marbury v. Madison: Background, Summary & Significance
Marbury v. Madison (1803) is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review, a cornerstone of American law.
The Monroe Doctrine & its significance explained in 1 minute
The Monroe Doctrine, declared by President James Monroe in 1823, aimed to prevent European colonization in the Americas.
Sports Contracts: Damar Hamlin and his 'split' clause
Contracts for professional athletes--called standard player contracts--are just like any other. It's an agreement between competent parties based upon the genuine assent of the parties supported by consideration made for a lawful objective in the form required by law.
The flaw in America's foreign policy
The fall of Afghanistan to Taliban have raised fresh questions about America's foreign policy. How should the US project its power abroad? What aims justify military interventions? In Russell Kirk's essay Towards a prudent foreign policy, we find interesting answers 👇
The cost of intellectual independence
In World War 2, the US and the USSR fought on the same side. After the war, the prevailing consensus in American foreign policy establishment was that the USSR and the US could pursue their (different) geopolitical goals without fearing interference or pu
Why are some countries so wealthy, and others so poor?
The world has never been a level playing field.