Latest news with #AmericanCreed
Boston Globe
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Coming to America? In 2025, the US to some looks less like a dream and more like a place to avoid
There has long been a romanticized notion about immigration and America. The reality has always been different, with race and ethnicity playing undeniable roles in the tension over who can be an American. The US still beckons to the 'huddled masses' from the pedestal of the Early clues across industries — like Advertisement Polling by Pew Research Center from January through April found that opinions of the US have worsened over the past year in 15 of the 24 countries it surveyed. Trump and many of his supporters maintain that migrants in the country illegally threaten American safety, jobs, and culture. But people in the country legally also have been caught in Trump's dragnet. And that makes prospective visitors to the US, even as Advertisement Trump's global tariff war and his campaign against 'The chances of something truly horrific happening are almost certainly tiny,' Duncan Greaves, 62, of Queensland, Australia, advised a Reddit user asking whether to risk a vacation to the land of barbeques, big sky country, and July 4 fireworks. 'Basically it's like the Dirty Harry quote: 'Do you feel lucky?'' For much of its history, America had encouraged immigration as the country sought intellectual and economic fuel to spur its growth. But from the beginning, the United States has wrestled with the question of who is allowed to be an American. The new country was built on land brutally swiped from Native Americans. It was later populated by millions of enslaved Africans. The Still, the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, steered by the 'American Creed' developed by Thomas Jefferson, which posits that the tenets of equality, hard work, and freedom are inherently American. Everyone, after all, comes from somewhere — a fact underscored on-camera in the Oval Office this month when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave the president the framed birth certificate of Trump's grandfather, also named Friedrich, who emigrated from Germany in 1885. He was one of millions of Germans who fled war and economic strife to move to the United States in the late 19th Century. Advertisement There's a story there, too, that suggests the Trump family knows both the triumphs of immigration and the struggle and shame of being expelled. After marrying and making a fortune in America, the elder Trump attained US citizenship and tried to return to Germany. He was expelled for failing to complete his military service — and 'Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family,' Friedrich Trump wrote to Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria in 1905, according to a translation in Harper's magazine. 'What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur.' Trump himself has married two immigrant women: the late Ivana Zelníčková Trump, of what's now the Czech Republic, and his current wife, Melania Knauss Trump of Slovenia. It's hard to overstate the degree to which immigration has changed the face and culture of America — and divided it. Advertisement Immigration accounted for all of the growth in 16 states that otherwise would have lost population, according to the Brookings Institution. But where some Americans see immigration largely as an influx of workers and brain power, Trump sees an 'invasion,' a longstanding view. Since returning to the White House, In his second term, unlike his first, A June survey from The US is still viewed as an economic powerhouse, though people in more countries consider China to be the world's top economy, according to the Pew poll, and it's unclear whether Trump's policies could cause a meaningful drain of Advertisement Netherlands-based Studyportals, which analyzes the searches for international schools by millions of students worldwide, reported that weekly pageviews for degrees in the US, collapsed by half between Jan. 5, and the end of April. It predicted that if the trend continues, the demand for programs in the US could plummet further, with US programs losing ground to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. 'International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future,' said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. 'The US government's recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.'
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Coming to America? In 2025, the US to some looks less like a dream and more like a place to avoid.
There has long been a romanticized notion about immigration and America. The reality has always been different, with race and ethnicity playing undeniable roles in the tension over who can be an American. The U.S. still beckons to the 'huddled masses' from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The strong economy has helped draw millions more every year, with the inflow driving the U.S. population over 340 million. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Early clues across industries — like tourism, trade, entertainment and education — suggest the American dream is fading for foreigners who have historically flooded to the U.S. Advertisement Polling by Pew Research Center from January through April found that opinions of the U.S. have worsened over the past year in 15 of the 24 countries it surveyed. Trump and many of his supporters maintain that migrants in the country illegally threaten American safety, jobs and culture. But people in the country legally also have been caught in Trump's dragnet. And that makes prospective visitors to the U.S., even as tourists, leery. Advertisement Trump's global tariff war and his campaign against international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian sympathies stick especially stubbornly in the minds of people across American borders who for decades clamored to participate in the land of free speech and opportunity. 'The chances of something truly horrific happening are almost certainly tiny,' Duncan Greaves, 62, of Queensland, Australia, advised a Reddit user asking whether to risk a vacation to the land of barbeques, big sky country and July 4 fireworks. 'Basically it's like the Dirty Harry quote: 'Do you feel lucky?'' 'American Creed,' American dilemma For much of its history, America had encouraged immigration as the country sought intellectual and economic fuel to spur its growth. But from the beginning, the United States has wrestled with the question of who is allowed to be an American. The new country was built on land brutally swiped from Native Americans. It was later populated by millions of enslaved Africans. The American Civil War ignited in part over the same subject. The federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for a decade. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in 10 concentration camps. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Still, the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, steered by the 'American Creed' developed by Thomas Jefferson, which posits that the tenets of equality, hard work and freedom are inherently American. Everyone, after all, comes from somewhere — a fact underscored on-camera in the Oval Office this month when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave the president the framed birth certificate of Trump's grandfather, also named Friedrich, who emigrated from Germany in 1885. He was one of millions of Germans who fled war and economic strife to move to the United States in the late 19th Century. Advertisement There's a story there, too, that suggests the Trump family knows both the triumphs of immigration and the struggle and shame of being expelled. After marrying and making a fortune in America, the elder Trump attained U.S. citizenship and tried return to Germany. He was expelled for failing to complete his military service — and wrote about the experience. 'Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family,' Friedrich Trump wrote to Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria in 1905, according to a translation in Harper's magazine. 'What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur.' Trump himself has married two immigrant women: the late Ivana Zelníčková Trump, of what's now the Czech Republic, and his current wife, Melania Knauss Trump of Slovenia. They're still coming to America. To Trump, that's long been a problem It's hard to overstate the degree to which immigration has changed the face and culture of America — and divided it. Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the U.S. Census Bureau said in December. Almost 2.8 million more people immigrated to the United States last year than in 2023, partly because of a new method of counting that adds people who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Net international migration accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million-person increase in the most recent data reported. Advertisement Immigration accounted for all of the growth in 16 states that otherwise would have lost population, according to the Brookings Institution. But where some Americans see immigration largely as an influx of workers and brain power, Trump sees an 'invasion,' a longstanding view. Since returning to the White House, Trump has initiated an far-reaching campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him over his invocation of special powers to deport people, cancel visas and deposit deportees in third countries. In his second term, unlike his first, he's not retreating from some unpopular positions on immigration. Instead, the subject has emerged as Trump's strongest issue in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment. A June survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of immigration, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade. The poll was conducted at the beginning of the Los Angeles protests and did not include questions about Trump's military deployment to the city. Other countries, such as Denmark, open their doors The U.S. is still viewed as an economic powerhouse, though people in more countries consider China to be the world's top economy, according to the Pew poll, and it's unclear whether Trump's policies could cause a meaningful drain of international students and others who feel under siege in the United States. Netherlands-based Studyportals, which analyzes the searches for international schools by millions of students worldwide, reported that weekly pageviews for degrees in the U.S, collapsed by half between Jan. 5 and the end of April. It predicted that if the trend continues, the demand for programs in the U.S. could plummet further, with U.S. programs losing ground to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. Advertisement 'International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future,' said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. 'The U.S. government's recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.'
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Coming to America? In 2025, the US to some looks less like a dream and more like a place to avoid
LONDON (AP) — The world may be rethinking the American dream. For centuries, people in other countries saw the United States as place of welcome and opportunity. Now, President Donald Trump's drive for mass deportations of migrants is riling the streets of Los Angeles, college campuses, even churches — and fueling a global rethinking about the virtues and promise of coming to America. 'The message coming from Washington is that you are not welcome in the United States,' said Edwin van Rest, CEO of Studyportals, which tracks real-time searches by international students considering studying in other countries. Student interest in studying in America has dropped to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, it found. 'The fact is, there are great opportunities elsewhere.' There has long been a romanticized notion about immigration and America. The reality has always been different, with race and ethnicity playing undeniable roles in the tension over who can be an American. The U.S. still beckons to the 'huddled masses' from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The strong economy has helped draw millions more every year, with the inflow driving the U.S. population over 340 million. Early clues across industries — like tourism , trade , entertainment and education — suggest the American dream is fading for foreigners who have historically flooded to the U.S. Polling by Pew Research Center from January through April found that opinions of the U.S. have worsened over the past year in 15 of the 24 countries it surveyed. Trump and many of his supporters maintain that migrants in the country illegally threaten American safety, jobs and culture. But people in the country legally also have been caught in Trump's dragnet. And that makes prospective visitors to the U.S., even as tourists , leery. Trump's global tariff war and his campaign against international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian sympathies stick especially stubbornly in the minds of people across American borders who for decades clamored to participate in the land of free speech and opportunity. 'The chances of something truly horrific happening are almost certainly tiny,' Duncan Greaves, 62, of Queensland, Australia, advised a Reddit user asking whether to risk a vacation to the land of barbeques, big sky country and July 4 fireworks. 'Basically it's like the Dirty Harry quote: 'Do you feel lucky?'' 'American Creed,' American dilemma For much of its history, America had encouraged immigration as the country sought intellectual and economic fuel to spur its growth. But from the beginning, the United States has wrestled with the question of who is allowed to be an American. The new country was built on land brutally swiped from Native Americans. It was later populated by millions of enslaved Africans. The American Civil War ignited in part over the same subject. The federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for a decade. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in 10 concentration camps. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Still, the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, steered by the 'American Creed' developed by Thomas Jefferson, which posits that the tenets of equality, hard work and freedom are inherently American. Everyone, after all, comes from somewhere — a fact underscored on-camera in the Oval Office this month when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave the president the framed birth certificate of Trump's grandfather, also named Friedrich, who emigrated from Germany in 1885. He was one of millions of Germans who fled war and economic strife to move to the United States in the late 19th Century. There's a story there, too, that suggests the Trump family knows both the triumphs of immigration and the struggle and shame of being expelled. After marrying and making a fortune in America, the elder Trump attained U.S. citizenship and tried return to Germany. He was expelled for failing to complete his military service — and wrote about the experience . 'Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family,' Friedrich Trump wrote to Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria in 1905, according to a translation in Harper's magazine. 'What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur.' Trump himself has married two immigrant women: the late Ivana Zelníčková Trump, of what's now the Czech Republic, and his current wife, Melania Knauss Trump of Slovenia. They're still coming to America. To Trump, that's long been a problem It's hard to overstate the degree to which immigration has changed the face and culture of America — and divided it. Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the U.S. Census Bureau said in December. Almost 2.8 million more people immigrated to the United States last year than in 2023, partly because of a new method of counting that adds people who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Net international migration accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million-person increase in the most recent data reported. Immigration accounted for all of the growth in 16 states that otherwise would have lost population, according to the Brookings Institution. But where some Americans see immigration largely as an influx of workers and brain power, Trump sees an 'invasion,' a longstanding view. Since returning to the White House, Trump has initiated an far-reaching campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him over his invocation of special powers to deport people, cancel visas and deposit deportees in third countries . In his second term, unlike his first, he's not retreating from some unpopular positions on immigration. Instead, the subject has emerged as Trump's strongest issue in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment. A June survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of immigration, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade. The poll was conducted at the beginning of the Los Angeles protests and did not include questions about Trump's military deployment to the city. Other countries, such as Denmark, open their doors The U.S. is still viewed as an economic powerhouse, though people in more countries consider China to be the world's top economy, according to the Pew poll, and it's unclear whether Trump's policies could cause a meaningful drain of international students and others who feel under siege in the United States. Netherlands-based Studyportals, which analyzes the searches for international schools by millions of students worldwide, reported that weekly pageviews for degrees in the U.S, collapsed by half between Jan. 5 and the end of April. It predicted that if the trend continues, the demand for programs in the U.S. could plummet further, with U.S. programs losing ground to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. 'International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future,' said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. 'The U.S. government's recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Coming to America? In 2025, the US to some looks less like a dream and more like a place to avoid
LONDON (AP) — The world may be rethinking the American dream. For centuries, people in other countries saw the United States as place of welcome and opportunity. Now, President Donald Trump's drive for mass deportations of migrants is riling the streets of Los Angeles, college campuses, even churches — and fueling a global rethinking about the virtues and promise of coming to America. 'The message coming from Washington is that you are not welcome in the United States,' said Edwin van Rest, CEO of Studyportals, which tracks real-time searches by international students considering studying in other countries. Student interest in studying in America has dropped to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, it found. 'The fact is, there are great opportunities elsewhere.' There has long been a romanticized notion about immigration and America. The reality has always been different, with race and ethnicity playing undeniable roles in the tension over who can be an American. The U.S. still beckons to the 'huddled masses' from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The strong economy has helped draw millions more every year, with the inflow driving the U.S. population over 340 million. Early clues across industries — like tourism, trade, entertainment and education — suggest the American dream is fading for foreigners who have historically flooded to the U.S. Polling by Pew Research Center from January through April found that opinions of the U.S. have worsened over the past year in 15 of the 24 countries it surveyed. Trump and many of his supporters maintain that migrants in the country illegally threaten American safety, jobs and culture. But people in the country legally also have been caught in Trump's dragnet. And that makes prospective visitors to the U.S., even as tourists, leery. Trump's global tariff war and his campaign against international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian sympathies stick especially stubbornly in the minds of people across American borders who for decades clamored to participate in the land of free speech and opportunity. 'The chances of something truly horrific happening are almost certainly tiny,' Duncan Greaves, 62, of Queensland, Australia, advised a Reddit user asking whether to risk a vacation to the land of barbeques, big sky country and July 4 fireworks. 'Basically it's like the Dirty Harry quote: 'Do you feel lucky?'' 'American Creed,' American dilemma For much of its history, America had encouraged immigration as the country sought intellectual and economic fuel to spur its growth. But from the beginning, the United States has wrestled with the question of who is allowed to be an American. The new country was built on land brutally swiped from Native Americans. It was later populated by millions of enslaved Africans. The American Civil War ignited in part over the same subject. The federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for a decade. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in 10 concentration camps. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Still, the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, steered by the 'American Creed' developed by Thomas Jefferson, which posits that the tenets of equality, hard work and freedom are inherently American. Everyone, after all, comes from somewhere — a fact underscored on-camera in the Oval Office this month when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave the president the framed birth certificate of Trump's grandfather, also named Friedrich, who emigrated from Germany in 1885. He was one of millions of Germans who fled war and economic strife to move to the United States in the late 19th Century. There's a story there, too, that suggests the Trump family knows both the triumphs of immigration and the struggle and shame of being expelled. After marrying and making a fortune in America, the elder Trump attained U.S. citizenship and tried return to Germany. He was expelled for failing to complete his military service — and wrote about the experience. 'Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family,' Friedrich Trump wrote to Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria in 1905, according to a translation in Harper's magazine. 'What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur.' Trump himself has married two immigrant women: the late Ivana Zelníčková Trump, of what's now the Czech Republic, and his current wife, Melania Knauss Trump of Slovenia. They're still coming to America. To Trump, that's long been a problem It's hard to overstate the degree to which immigration has changed the face and culture of America — and divided it. Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the U.S. Census Bureau said in December. Almost 2.8 million more people immigrated to the United States last year than in 2023, partly because of a new method of counting that adds people who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Net international migration accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million-person increase in the most recent data reported. Immigration accounted for all of the growth in 16 states that otherwise would have lost population, according to the Brookings Institution. But where some Americans see immigration largely as an influx of workers and brain power, Trump sees an 'invasion,' a longstanding view. Since returning to the White House, Trump has initiated an far-reaching campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him over his invocation of special powers to deport people, cancel visas and deposit deportees in third countries. In his second term, unlike his first, he's not retreating from some unpopular positions on immigration. Instead, the subject has emerged as Trump's strongest issue in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment. A June survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of immigration, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade. The poll was conducted at the beginning of the Los Angeles protests and did not include questions about Trump's military deployment to the city. Other countries, such as Denmark, open their doors The U.S. is still viewed as an economic powerhouse, though people in more countries consider China to be the world's top economy, according to the Pew poll, and it's unclear whether Trump's policies could cause a meaningful drain of international students and others who feel under siege in the United States. Netherlands-based Studyportals, which analyzes the searches for international schools by millions of students worldwide, reported that weekly pageviews for degrees in the U.S, collapsed by half between Jan. 5 and the end of April. It predicted that if the trend continues, the demand for programs in the U.S. could plummet further, with U.S. programs losing ground to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. 'International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future,' said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. 'The U.S. government's recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.'
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Contributor: The American Revolution has not ended ... yet
The ironies abound. As the United States looks forward to the 250th anniversary of American independence, the sitting president is pictured wearing a crown and describing himself as a king, apparently oblivious to the fact that he is proudly embracing the political identity of Britain's George III. Donald Trump can perhaps be forgiven his awkward gesture. He sings from an old songbook: 'Don't know much about history.' But the fact that Trump is embracing the title of monarch as we prepare to celebrate America's dramatic denunciation of monarchy merits more than a passing smile. Moreover, the conflict between the values of the American Revolution and the Trump political agenda goes much deeper. And that fact is likely to be fully exposed in the flood of books, op-eds, podcasts and a Ken Burns six-part documentary on the American Revolution, due out in November (full disclosure: I'm quoted in the series). Regard the following words as a preview of the coming attractions. Read more: Calmes: It's a 'break-glass' moment in Washington, but then what? In addition to the explicit denunciation of monarchy, the American Revolution was founded on what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. described as 'a promissory note' contained in the Declaration of Independence. Here are the magic words of the American founding: We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are established among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. This is the seminal statement of the American Creed, as sociologist and economist Gunnar Myrdal called it. Abraham Lincoln, who also knew how to make history with words, claimed that Thomas Jefferson was the original American oracle: All honor to Jefferson — to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth … and so to embalm it there, that today and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the harbingers of reappearing tyranny and oppression. Read more: Someday, most likely, the buck will stop with Trump We can safely assume that Lincoln had a twinkle in his eye when he wrote 'a merely revolutionary document.' His main point was to interpret Jefferson's words as a bold attempt to plant an egalitarian ideal at the very start of American history that would, over the stretch of time, slowly but surely become a social and political reality. In effect, the American Revolution did not end when Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington; it has been a living and constantly growing set of truths. In the ensuing celebrations of American independence, once the July 4th fireworks die down, we see a robust debate among historians about Lincoln's interpretation of Jefferson's words and heated battles over the reasons why the founders consciously decided to defer the full meaning of the Jeffersonian promise, most especially to tolerate slavery, an institution clearly at odds with the core values of the Cause. Here is where the Trump political agenda enters the argument. The current president not only intends to unravel the American republic, he also seeks to end the ongoing American Revolution that Jefferson launched and Lincoln described. His popular slogan 'Make America Great Again' is deliberately ambiguous. For some it could mean before a man who looked like Barack Obama occupied the White House. For others, residents of the former Confederacy, it could mean before the Civil War. Read more: Goldberg: Is Trump's Napoleon quote just idle trolling? This context suggests otherwise In between it might mean: before MLK Jr. had his dream, before the Voting Rights Act of 1995, before Roe vs. Wade, before Brown vs. Board of Education, before Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, before FDR's New Deal. The list could go on, but an overarching pattern is clear. The significant reforms of the 20th and 21st centuries, the movements that mobilized government powers to support racial and gender equality in keeping with Jefferson's vision of the founding, must be relegated to oblivion. In effect, the American Revolution must end, erased from the history books. The commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence is destined to generate a spirited debate over who and where we are as a people and a nation. Will Trump and his devoted followers be right to celebrate the end of the American Revolution? Or is the idealism of Jefferson and Lincoln still alive and the American Revolution poised to enter a new chapter? While historians are great at predicting the past we are no better than everybody else at predicting the future. The jury is still out. Joseph J. Ellis is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian. His latest book, 'The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding,' will be published in October. If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
