What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how historical events inform present societal issues and challenges in understanding history.

February 16, 2026

A-Mouldering in Our Graves?

Key Points

To examine how historical events inform present societal issues and challenges in understanding history.
Thematic analysis of historical analogies and their relevance to modern sociopolitical contexts.
Comparative examination of Andrew Jackson's presidency and contemporary issues.
Discussion of public reactions to historical events and their implications for current social movements.
Identified significant parallels between past and present polarization.
Discussed the harmful effects of historical analogies on public discourse regarding diversity and equity.
Noted that different historical responses, like secession and modern protests, reflect ongoing societal tensions.

Abstract

Abstract: This essay reflects on the challenges of using the past to make the present more legible to students who may be alienated by the implications. Always susceptible to abuse, historical analogies are even more fraught in an era of intense polarization. Nevertheless, Andrew Jackson's rise to the presidency with the support of "the common man," the implementation of the spoils system, racialized conceptions of citizenship, distrust of professional expertise, partisan suspicion of the loyalties of the US military's officer corps, and isolationist foreign policy impulses all resonate in the present crisis. The essay further notes similarities between the sectional reaction to John Brown's execution in 1859 and partisan reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, observing that the earlier case produced secession whereas the latter has resulted in an assault on progressive orthodoxy regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and, indeed, the truths of American history.

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