This Day in History 1869: “First-Class Men” Torture and Try to Kill Congressman Who Voted for President Grant

Documented in the 1872 Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, Abram Colby was an elected member of Congress called to testify on domestic terrorism: Colby: On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansmen] broke my door open, took me out of bed, took me to the … Continue reading This Day in History 1869: “First-Class Men” Torture and Try to Kill Congressman Who Voted for President Grant

“Fight Club” Ruling by Racist Judge Overturned, Yet Threat Grows in America

A US judge in southern California tried to rule that “freedom of speech” protects “fight clubs” meant to spread across the U.S. even when they clearly exist only to physically terrorize people. On multiple occasions, [southern California white supremacist street-fighting gang] members showed up at protests in California and at the violent Unite the Right … Continue reading “Fight Club” Ruling by Racist Judge Overturned, Yet Threat Grows in America

1944: “The American fascist method is to poison channels of public information”

Here’s a sage warning from the controversial U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace, as recorded by the Senate on April 17th, 1944: Wallace wrote this for the New York Times, which had sent him a request to “write a piece answering the following questions”: What is a Fascist? How many Fascists have we? How dangerous are … Continue reading 1944: “The American fascist method is to poison channels of public information”

Robert Carter’s 1791 Blueprint for American Abolition of Slavery

A man well known to Washington and Jefferson, Robert Carter III, freed all his own slaves while those two “great men” dithered and did nothing of the kind. Chattel slavery was wrong, the men said, but they supposedly worried it was not practical to abolish the institution without societal and economic consequences. “As it is, … Continue reading Robert Carter’s 1791 Blueprint for American Abolition of Slavery