Letters from an American
Heather Cox Richardson's narrated newsletter about the history behind today's politics.
Heather Cox Richardson's narrated newsletter about the history behind today's politics.Listen on
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Garamond
Great reading of the reality of history and what most of us thought was SETTLED. Mr. Trump is changing it back by any means possible. Fight him everywhere all the time all at once
You were correct to think it was settled. Past practice is some very high percentage of accepted law. I would hope Joyce Vance would address this more professionally. Sadly, she needs money to converse with, but many herein do. I can't speak to whether she answers relevant questions or not. Pity there's no search function on substack - that I'm aware of yet.
So should everybody reading this donate to Joyce Vance ?
I can't say what folks should or shouldn't do. I know I can't afford to, but if I could I likely would. For me, she clarifies a lot of fine points of law I don't have any expertise with. There are others though and I read them too, especially when she puts her paywall up for contributors only sections. I will offer this too. She is a former regional federal prosecutor and she's brilliant, and not difficult to read; she is good at breaking down the legalese to my satisfaction. Hope that helps.
Yes, Joyce Vance is brilliant and very readable. Highly recommend her. She is to law what Heather is to history.
I’ve been listening to her now for nearly a decade in her (opposition to trumps lawlessness in almost every area) so I recommend that people who CAN, must donate because she is a relatively powerful lawyer who fights for TRUTH.
Keep being loud!
Use this spreadsheet to call/email/write any of our representatives as often as possible. Not just your own state reps, reach out to those in other states. Be as loud as you can and share this. Use your voice and make some “good trouble.”
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit
Thank you Megan
When I taught my US History students (highschool) about the 60s Civil Rights efforts, I reminded them that racism had become illegal but therfore more subtle. It would have to be their generation that would have to eradicate it. We are, in fact, in a new Civil War for the heart and soul of our nation. Before he was president, Lincoln warned that no external force could defeat us, only by ourselves would we fail as a nation.
Yes, and then Kruschev co-opted it.
Every day I wonder why people prefer hate over acceptance. I'm 80 and fought like many others, back ln the sixties with conviction and hope that humans would evolve enough that we could settle our differences without killing each other. Needless to say, America and the world have been a great disappointment.
This is such a wonderful episode. She (Heather) could tell us all much more about the history of now and the Civil War which we all know so much more about.!
Thank youy Heather.
Every line herein, I wish to remember, for the storytelling of what was, and whose remnants remain.
For now, these I will hold near:
“The events of April 9 reassured Americans that they had, in fact, saved “the last best hope of earth”: democracy. Writing from Washington, D.C., poet Walt Whitman mused that the very heavens were rejoicing at the triumph of the U.S. military and the return to peace its victory heralded. “Nor earth nor sky ever knew spectacles of superber beauty than some of the nights lately here,” he wrote in Specimen Days. “The western star, Venus, in the earlier hours of evening, has never been so large, so clear; it seems as if it told something, as if it held rapport indulgent with humanity, with us Americans.”’
As in these:
“At the end of his life, General Grant recalled the events of April 9, 1865. “What General Lee's feelings were I do not know,” Grant wrote. “[M]y own feelings, which had been quite jubilant on the receipt of his letter [asking to surrender], were sad and depressed. I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse.”’
Thank you for this extremely valuable recording, Heather! Everyone should have this total and cumulative awareness with the details you have shared.
I second that, these letters never fail to expand & deepen my understanding of where we've been, where we are, & where we can go.
Ditto
Ditto
Thinking of January 6th, the cycle is now in full swing as the attack on our democracy is coupled with greed, dishonesty and a complete departure from what the United States has meant to the rest of the world 🇺🇸 , remember when we fight we win.
We must keep this fight up. Please contact your reps today as the SAVE ACT is moving to the Senate and must not pass. Call and leave messages on any and all of these senators. Or we will never see free and FAIR elections again.
Biggest mistake was not executing the Confederate elites
Beautifully written and read. You sure tied the happenings of the 1850s-1860s to today. The similarities are many, and that should be a sad thought; that we haven’t grown one bit in 150 years. Thank you for sharing your profound knowledge with us.
Thank you for your support and knowledge
Magnificent talk, Dr.Heather! & Great closing!
The latest news blasts from DC: While the SCrOTUS was keeping the attention, ruling that the executive dept, aka emperor cfg dept's. must deliver Mr Abrego Garcia, the gop monopoly congress was busy drafting new voting rights 'law of the land' which is a farce on two levels at least, but must be broadcast far and wide to keep pressure on these Federalist's as they proceed apace with Project 2025. I long for what I saw on a protest sign that read, "Project 2026: trump and elon behind bars". Please see and spread via Dan Rather >
https://steady.substack.com/p/its-not-just-trump-destroying-democracy
** **Clarification in order: Joyce Vance White, former Fed prosecutor reports that the court 'did not' order ICE and trump to deliver Garcia; it merely asked for more info (private). So in other words, SCrOTUS curtsied and kissed the ring. For complete details, see her post. > https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-supreme-court-finally-rules/comments?publication_id=607357&post_id=159002594&isFreemail=true&comments=true&action=post-comment
I'm SO TIRED of it all...
I wish my subscription was still coming as a letter rather than audio....thank you for your wisdom Heather.
If you are a subscriber you should also be getting the letter.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/april-9-2025-wednesday?r=osyrt&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
The audio version follows the letter by one day.
Heather, thank you for drawing the through-line of history to orient us to our task today, the fight to preserve our democracy. Thank you is a weak word to describe the gratitude I feel for your work.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it—George Santayana
Although the South lost the war, America never purged the ugly and dangerous poison of racism and authoritarianism. It has festered and now threatens us again.
I am so happy to hear the truth about the illiberal GOP told. The GOP started as a liberal party, that opposed slavery, then focused on business interests after the Civil War and then became the party of white grievance at the passage of the Civil Rights Act and now have become the oligarchy that they have dreamed of since the passage of the income tax. The GOP is the enemy.
Ms. Richardson is both a historian and a poet. I believe it is impossible to understand where you are unless you know where you came from. This piece is an eloquent explanation of where we came from. Nicely done.
Heather continues to say that if 3% of the country rallied against Trump and the government, we could take the power back. I don’t understand this. I feel like if 40% of the country wanted to change the government, nothing could happen until the elections - if we even have elections again.
I think there’s wrong presumptions about how diabolic the administration and complicit Congress will be.
I have received three solicitations to renew my PAID SUBSCRIPTION to your Letters From An American. I know you don't charge for any of your podcasts or Substack posts, and I wanted to alert you that whoever it is is still soliciting in your name.
The confederate states fought and lost the Civil War over their insistence to put people in bondage, treat them worse than animals, deprive them of education, and rape and murder them at will. All true; however it seems that some large parts of the Union state’s populations were also virulently racist. Perhaps this can be attributed to the Jim Crow and Juan Crow era, and the exclusion of Asians, not to mention the deep and loudly expressed racism that European immigrants brought here with them (I remember my Grandmother was very prejudiced, based on some of the things I heard her say). So it seems that the only issue the Civil War really resolved was that of slavery and bondage. All of the incipient fears, hates, prejudices and ignorance were so widespread in the country that prominent leaders such as Woodhead Wilson and titans of industry, plus the working population were strongly racist. The war only got us a part of the way out of the practice of slavery, which goes at least as far back as the Vikings, and probably a lot farther. The J6 crowd and their billionaire right wing media support network are today’s manifestation of the “Noble Lost Cause”. Co-King Donald will call them to action; probably if there is some kind of “antifa” riot (or a provocation that looks like a bunch of crazy lefties set out to kill and burn). These are very dangerous times, and now everyone in the world is losing faith in America. It is all by design.
Subscriber, and I do not get the letter. And I can’t hear well enough for the audio. I just had a 30-minute fight with Substack’s chat… and they kept telling me that they could enable different Substack writers, but never HC-Rs letters. I can’t count on Bob to send me a link every day. what can I do?
Contact / reach out to Heather. ?
Problem is: I am a paid