A new year, but the same concerns for democracy dating back to the Civil War (and before). To better understand the connections and to take lessons for today, I spoke with an expert on Reconstruction: @profmsinha.bsky.social . We covered a lot so I broke it up into two episodes. Here’s part 1.

Happy New Year Civics and Coffee named #theriseandfallofthesecondamericanrepublic one of the best books of 2025 “Sinha does an exquisite job of arguing that Reconstruction is a much broader period in history than we think and expertly covers its impact on various populations & regions” Pub date 2024

Our own Manisha Sinha recently featured in The NY Times! Check it out here:

Folks if you want to take a break from the end of semester and holiday preparations, come join me for this free virtual program at 7 pm EST part of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's online programs via zoom. gilderlehrman.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/dec250-rise-...

So this is what I did over the weekend, an interview on the Trump regime’s idiotic plan to make the national parks free on his birthday but cancel it for MLK Day with ABC News. The Pastor was far more eloquent than me but I could not help myself with the Nobel dig. abcnews.go.com/US/video/jun...

“We don’t have to wait for somebody to tell our own story, we can tell our own story,” said Fiona Vernal @uconnhistory.bsky.social

Tonight at 7, featuring @profmsinha.bsky.social !

Very grateful to American Nineteenth Century History’s David Cox for putting together this wonderful symposium on #theriseandfallofthesecondamericanrepublic which grew out of the panel on the book at the United States Intellectual History conference organized by Benjamin Park.

Check out @profmsinha.bsky.social on Dec. 2 if you’re around Cambridge!

Reminder that our next Wednesday Workshop will be TOMORROW (11/19) at 12:15. Info below: history.uconn.edu/news/wednesd...

For any of our London followers!

Today's read: former UCHI fellow Fiona Vernal and UCHI graduate assistant Timothy Brown (@uconnhistory.bsky.social) premiered an exhibit titled: “Bloomfield Mosaic: Stories from our Jewish, African American, and West Indian Communities.” This exhibit features over 40 oral histories.

Huge shout out to our own Timothy Brown! Check it out:

For any of our followers at the SHA conference today!

This historian flew around the world for the Chinese book launch of #theslavescause and is happy to be back home!

Historian in China here, some photographs from my talk at Peking University, a beautiful campus.

Very much enjoyed doing these lectures at Shanghai Normal and East China Normal University today!

Pics from the second lecture at Wuhan University and we are now in the amazing city of Shanghai, which seems like the center of capitalism in the world.

First leg of the China lecture trip is over. The Americanists from all over the country who came for my talks were impressive. Many had spent time in the U.S. and were taken by American higher education now under severe attack.

Read the first chapter of The First Right: Self-determination and the Transformation of International Order, 1941-2000 here: www.google.com/.../The_Firs.... On Kindle here read.amazon.com/sample/B0FR5... ! Order from OUP: global.oup.com/.../the-firs.... and use promotion code AUFLY30 to save 30%

did you know Jorell has a @uconnhistory.bsky.social PhD and advised Bad Bunny on his videos? we stan!! ⬇️

Our own @profmsinha.bsky.social is heading to China for a series of lectures! Info below: history.uconn.edu/2025/10/20/m...

Happening TOMORROW with @profmsinha.bsky.social history.uconn.edu/2025/10/14/m...

Check out this wonderful article from The Daily Campus about last week’s Wednesday Workshop with Jan Stievermann! dailycampus.com/2025/10/09/t...

Enjoyed this episode and I second @jamellebouie.net's recommendation at the end of Andy Horowitz's Katrina: A History, 1915-2015

The history of abolition is so important in these dark days of the republic. They succeeded when enslavers controlled the entire federal government, the Supreme Court, the Electoral College and Congress through the three fifths clause. Join me tonight! www.gilderlehrman.org/itv-registra...

@profmsinha.bsky.social will deliver the 2025 Richard T. Greener Lecture, “The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic.” Wednesday, October 15, 5:00 p.m. in the South Caroliniana Library at the @sc.edu Sponsored by the Museum of Education and the History Center

Our second Wednesday Workshop of the semester, "Rediscovering James W.C. Pennington, Black Reformed Minister and Activist" with Jan Stievermann, is this Wednesday!

Check out @profmsinha.bsky.social ‬⁩ on the CBC this week! Link here: history.uconn.edu/2025/10/06/p...

Hey undergrads! Experience China in the summer with a program which will immerse you in the history, arts, culture, and social life of China. You will visit world famous heritage sites such as The Great Wall of China, Terracotta warriors, and Forbidden City. Info session Oct 28th!

Nicolas Weber will give a lecture on Vietnam's colonial expansion in the 19th century. The event entitled "Vietnam's Buried Colonial Past: Cham and Khmer Voices of Survivance," will highlight indigenous Cham and Khmer experiences of dispossession and displacement. 5pm Oct 30 in Storrs WW01.

Enjoyed doing this interview with Luke Pickrell from Berkeley on his podcast Democratic Constitution. Do support his podcast on Apple. youtu.be/nEb4izWdf8k?...

THIS WEEK! Join UConn History as we host Rose Miron for two talks about her work as Vice President for Research and Education for the Newberry Library.

Folks if you would like to listen in, I did a podcast on the new book with the wonderful @mkn.bsky.social for the Massachusetts Historical Society. #theriseandfallofthesecondamericanrepublic audio book is selling at a promotional discount, link in the comments! www.masshist.org/podcast/hath...

ICYMI: our own @profmsinha.bsky.social discussed her most recent book on The Long View last week! Check it out here:

What a showing out of UConn graduate students at the 2025 SHEAR conference!

history.uconn.edu/2025/07/21/u... The extended UConn History family had a great time at @shearites.bsky.social this past weekend! Special congratulations to @profmsinha.bsky.social on a successful term as SHEAR President!

Have a great weekend at the 2025 SHEAR meeting to the UConn faculty and grads in attendance, including our own Maisha Sinha, who is the current president of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic!

PUB DATE today folks happy to have written the foreward to Sylvia Frey's classic on black resistance in the south during the American Revolution, one of my favorite books in grad school. @princetonupress.bsky.social did a great job with the new edition. press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

Congratulations to the UConn History faculty, grads, and affiliates attending the annual SHAFR Conference in Arlington, VA! Frank Costigiola Bradley Simpson Grace Easterly Gabrielle Westcott

Folks avoid the heat and join us for this zoom webinar today www.americanancestors.org/events/march...

this wonderful piece from @profmsinha.bsky.social gets to what was truly great about lincoln — his open mind and great capacity for moral growth www.theunpopulist.net/p/abraham-li...

Congratulations to Mamiri Imai of @uconnhistory.bsky.social for being selected and completing the Sex Gender and Print seminar at the American Antiquarian Society!

My interview for a blog series to discuss my Graduate Assistantship with @uconnhumanities.bsky.social and share advice about applying skills to different positions. I also talked about my work with EPOCH (w/ @uconnhistory.bsky.social) and @shearites.bsky.social. career.uconn.edu/blog/2025/06...

Historian here presidential pardon is in the Constitution but the founders did not imagine they could be solicited through bribes or upend the rule of law. My take here.https://www.wfsb.com/2025/05/28/former-connecticut-governor-john-rowland-receives-pardon-by-president-trump/

Check out @profmsinha.bsky.social featured in a recent @nytimes.com piece! Link below: history.uconn.edu/2025/05/27/m...

More exciting work from Prof. Vernal! Check it out here: