Free Republic

On July 7, 1846, a contingent of Marines raised the American flag over Monterey, California, to mark a proclamation by U.S. consul Thomas Larkin that the territory was being annexed as a consequence of the war with Mexico. Much of the future state had already been taken from Mexico's nominal control by an uprising of American settlers under the Bear Flag. Victory in the Mexican War meant that the country gained Texas, California, and everything in between, comprising most of what is now New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Next to the War of Independence and the Civil...

I have always felt that some of the neatest factoids and stories from The Bible are those describing historic events that are often talked about outside of churches and studies, especially those in which a large chunk of time elapsed between two points in fulfillment. Take the kingdoms prophesied to come by Daniel, or maybe the story of Alexander the Great’s Destruction of Tyre, which was prophesied in Ezekiel, as a couple prominent examples. History remains an immaculate guide for the present and future and is a living, breathing study for us to draw from. In stunning fashion, yet another...

Some conservatives have begun speculating the unrest in American cities—even as late as Monday night in Washington, DC, as “protestors” unsuccessfully worked to tear down a statue of Andrew Jackson and set up an autonomous zone across the street from the White House—may in part be an attempt to affect the upcoming presidential election, with the chaos and violence intended to make it as difficult as possible for Donald Trump to win a second term. Lending credence to this idea is the fact that at least one board member of Thousand Currents—the group fiscally sponsoring the most organized part of...

Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, calling for a national "atonement" over the treatment of Native Americans, vowed Monday to rescind medals of honor for those who fought against them and even take down President Andrew Jackson's portrait from the Oval Office if she's elected. The spiritual author, who has gained a devoted following in recent weeks for her memorable debate performances, called for a “new era of American history” with Native Americans during an appearance at the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum. "We can atone. We can make amends," Williamson said. "And if and when I'm president of the...

Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera quit his position at Yale University after the Ivy League school announced it would remove the name of a pro-slavery lawmaker from one of its residential colleges. Yale's Calhoun College was named after Vice President John C. Calhoun, a 19th-century slavery supporter and white supremacist from South Carolina who attended Yale. Yale announced plans to rename Calhoun College after Grace Murray Hopper, an alum of the school and a renowned computer scientist and Navy rear admiral, the New York Times reported. Rivera announced his decision to resign from his position at the university on Sunday...

In his August 20 rally in Fredericksburg, Va., Donald Trump continued to say things surprisingly basic. I paraphrase: We are going to take our country back. It is going to be a new day in America. It is going to be a great day in America. Government will listen to the people again. The voters, not the special interests, will be in charge. Ours will be a government of, by, and for the people. Our economy will grow. Jobs will come back. New factories will stretch all across the nation. Families will be safe and secure. Crime will go down....

So if we use the same logic used in regards to Confederate figures and icons in the South, Yale should change its name. Why don't we hear that demand from the "historians" in the blogosphere? That's simple. It does not serve the purpose of their agenda, at least not yet. And maybe, in this instance, the administration at Yale realized that Calhoun was the low-hanging fruit and once he had been vanquished, the offended would aim higher - at Elihu Yale. And what might alumni benefactors have to say about that? All that there moral reformin' could get expensive. Virtue-signaling...

Mayor de Blasio said his son Dante has been active in protests over racial issues at Yale — and they both agree the school should drop the name of a prominent defender of slavery. Dante, a freshman, is assigned to Yale’s Calhoun College, named for John C. Calhoun, a U.S. vice president and South Carolina senator who vehemently backed slavery as a “positive good” for the nation. “He’s very concerned, and he certainly notes the fact that the college he’s in, Calhoun College, is named for someone it shouldn’t be named for,” de Blasio told reporters Monday. “ That’s quite...

Today in America, we see two kinds of libertarianism, which we might call “Calhounian” and “Heinleinian.” Both kinds believe in freedom, but they are very different in their emphasis—and in their politics. The names behind the adjectives are John C. Calhoun (1782-1850), of South Carolina, and Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988), of California. [Calhoun] was also a proud slaveholding South Carolinian who rose in politics to be vice president of the United States. Indeed, Calhoun spent the last two decades of his life making the case for states’ rights over national unity In particular, he was a passionate advocate of “nullification”—that...

WASHINGTON -- It has happened again. Sam Tanenhaus, the editor of the New York Times Book Review referred to by Paul Krugman the other day as "a long-time conservative," has essayed in the New Republic the modern conservative movement, and traced us all back to John C. Calhoun. I suppose our point of origin could have been more sinister. Sam could have traced us back to Nathan Bedford Forrest, the former Confederate General who went on to be an early member of the Ku Klux Klan, but John C. Calhoun is bad enough. Of course, Calhoun is no kind of...

Equipped with an abundant knowledge of history, Michael Tuggle has cast a discerning eye on the trends of the present. Not the 'trendy' trends but the real ones, those which can guide our steps into the future (as far as the future can be known to us mortals). The trends suggest to him something very hopeful - the probability and suitability of a change in the principle by which human affairs are governed. We have been living for a long time by the organising principle of command from the top down - something the American Founding Fathers decried as 'consolidation'-...