History Archives

The Struggle to Survive: Biology’s Influence on History

Have you considered biology’s place in history? How has humanity’s struggle to survive been a factor? In The Lessons of History, Will and Ariel Durant assert that biology is a driving force in history. Specifically, there are three biological forces that shape human behavior and thus human history: competition, selection, and the need to reproduce. These forces are part of life’s struggle to survive. Read more to learn how the struggle to survive shapes human history.

What We Can Learn From History: 8 Quick Lessons

Do you wonder what we can learn from history? What can it tell us about the world and ourselves today? In The Lessons of History, Will and Ariel Durant present the most compelling patterns they found in their extensive research of human history. These patterns teach us important lessons about human nature, society, economics, government, religion, war, and civilization itself. Read more to see what we can learn from history.

The Color of Law Book: A Tale of Racial Segregation

What is the main argument of The Color of Law book? Why are the policies of the government primarily responsible for racial residential segregation? The main argument of The Color of Law book is that the racial residential segregation of African Americans is a direct result of unconstitutional, discriminatory government policy and not due to personal choices. Past government actions like segregated public housing, exclusionary zoning laws, and racial discrimination by federal agencies laid the foundation for residential segregation. Read on to discover how The Color of Law book highlights the central role of public policy in residential segregation.

Labor Market Discrimination and Income Inequality

What is the relationship between labor market discrimination and income inequality? What was the impact of discrimination in unions on racial income inequality? Labor market discrimination depressed Black wages and ensured they missed out on the high wages available to white employees. Discrimination in labor unions that shut out African Americans deprived Blacks of a powerful voice that could ensure wage parity. Read on to learn more about how labor market discrimination leads to racial income inequality.

The Racial Wealth Gap: A Direct Result of Segregation

How Segregation Facilitated The Racial Wealth Gap

What was the role of residential segregation in enabling the racial wealth gap? Why does the racial wealth gap persist today? Residential segregation contributed to the racial wealth gap because it prevented American Americans from building wealth through the ownership of property in high-value neighborhoods. The Black wealth gap has persisted because historical segregation has created a vicious cycle that ensures Blacks are less upwardly mobile than whites. Read on to learn more about the role of segregation in creating the racial wealth gap.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway’s Friendship

How did F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway know each other? What was their friendship like? F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway met and became good friends in Paris. The friendship was difficult on Hemingway because Fitzgerald was unstable and an alcoholic, but he stuck by his side nonetheless. Here’s what Hemingway wrote about his friendship with Fitzgerald in A Moveable Feast.

Segregated Communities Created by Municipalities

Local Governments and Segregated Communities

How did municipal governments create segregated communities? What was the impact of these discriminatory policies on African Americans? Local areas became segregated communities due to racial exclusion policies like school placement, zoning laws, and state-sanctioned violence against Blacks that lived in predominantly white neighborhoods. These racial exclusion policies subjected Blacks to harassment, violence, and residential segregation. Read more to fully discover the policies and tactics local governments used to create segregated communities.

Ernest Hemingway: Memoir of the Years in Paris

What is the reason Hemingway’s memoir wasn’t published until after his death? What is the backstory of A Moveable Feast? Believe it or not, Hemingway actually forgot about the vignettes he wrote while in Paris until over thirty years after he wrote them. When he re-discovered them in an old trunk, he set out to write his final memoir which became A Moveable Feast. Here is a Ernest Hemingway’s backstory and an introduction to his memoir.

The Ultimate Guide to Reading History Books

Why does reading history books have such an impact on people’s actions? What are the different types of historical works? According to Mortimer Adler in How to Read a Book, reading history books is so impactful because rather than reading about some fantasy world or dystopia, you’re learning from actual events and people who lived. It’s important to learn how people act in different times and places. Here’s how Mortimer Adler says you should read history books and why you should read them.

The Color of Law Review: Segregation by Law

Are you looking for a review of The Color of Law? What’s the main argument of The Color of Law? This review of The Color of Law explores the causes of racial residential segregation as identified in the book. The Color of Law argues that discriminatory government policy is primarily responsible for segregation in America. Read the review of The Color of Law to better understand the role of the government in racial segregation.