One might think New York was a bastion of abolitionist sentiment before the Civil War.  Hamilton’s Federalists had led a move for gradual emancipation in…

As the nation observes the May 17 anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that ended racial segregation in public schools, a new study has found…

As democratic embers of our republic fizzle, the big question remains: what term best fits our situation, if not our degraded system? If unconscionable wealth…

This article is part of The Nation’s 150th Anniversary Special Issue. Download a free PDF of the issue, with articles by James Baldwin, Barbara Ehrenreich,…

What's happened to the Republican Party? Back on March 20, 1854, a group of abolitionists met in a small schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin, to fight back against…