Johann N. Neem | Lightnews

Johann Neem

@johannneem.bsky.social

1.6K followers 140 following 200 posts

Scholar of the American Revolution and the Early American Republic, education. Author of "What's the Point of College? Seeking Purpose in an Age of Reform" and "Democracy's Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America." Website: https://johannneem.com .. more

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Education 17%

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Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · Aug 11

In my contribution to @newrepublic.com's issue on Trump and history, I argue that Trump has wrapped himself in the mantle of the American Revolution while undermining its principles.

Trump Is the Enemy of the American Revolution

He has produced a crisis much like the one the colonists faced two and a half centuries ago. Now it’s our responsibility to uphold the Founders’ legacy.

newrepublic.com

Reposted by Johann N. Neem

The JER Pano @thejerpano.bsky.social · 3d

The #JERPano Early Republic Tracker has logged interpretive changes at Lowell Mass. Park on immigrant labor & working conditions - erasing labor history from public view.

See this and other changes to history interpretation at: thepanorama.shear.org/2026/02/06/l...

Interpretive Changes Erase Labor History at Lowell

Visit the post for more.

thepanorama.shear.org

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 4d

"It seems worth asking whether America250 will celebrate the ideals of the country’s founders—or those of the monarch they rebelled against," writes @dfriedman.bsky.social and @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social in @motherjones.com.

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 5d

I'm quoted in this in-depth story about how Trump uses history to support his authoritarian agenda and to go after his enemies. As I put it, the "enemies that matter [to Trump] are in the present: us, history professors, journalists." tinyurl.com/32n7948b

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 5d

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 7d

3) In 2018, I argued that the shift to "vast early America" and the broader push for globalizing history draw on the rhetoric of and reinforced the values of neoliberal globalization.

FROM POLITY TO EXCHANGE: THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY IN THE CHANGING FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY | Modern Intellectual History | Cambridge Core

FROM POLITY TO EXCHANGE: THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY IN THE CHANGING FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY - Volume 17 Issue 3

www.cambridge.org

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 7d

2) In 2011, I argued in favor of national history as a disciplinary practice at a time when globalization was all the rage.

AMERICAN HISTORY IN A GLOBAL AGE on JSTOR

JOHANN N. NEEM, AMERICAN HISTORY IN A GLOBAL AGE, History and Theory, Vol. 50, No. 1 (February 2011), pp. 41-70

www.jstor.org

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 7d

1) I recently published the third in a series of articles about why we need national history. In this piece, I explore why globalization of history/the humanities was bound to fail... and the competing narratives available to reshore American history at the end of the global era.

Re-Enchanting American History | Critical Historical Studies: Vol 12, No 2

Abstract Around the world, citizens and leaders seek to realign collective identities with political boundaries. These aspirations are reshaping the ways we discuss—and divide over—US history. This ar...

www.journals.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Jack N. Rakove, Robert C. Richards, Lilian Edwards , and 10 more Jack N. Rakove, Robert C. Richards, Lilian Edwards, Aaron Sojourner, Johann N. Neem, Sara Wallace Goodman, Erol Akçay, Sarah Roberts, Nancy Langston, Ann Bartow, Andrew Rudalevige, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Melinda Baldwin

Tiffany C. Li @tiffanycli.bsky.social · 9d

Federal judge has ordered the release of Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy) and his father. A brief and rather remarkable order. Clearly written to be shared widely, so please do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of the arcane United States immigration system, return to
their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more
orderly and humane policy than currently in place.
Philadelphia, September 17, 1787: "Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?" "A republic, if you
can keep it."
With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike,
It is so ORDERED.
SIGNED this 31st day of February, 2026.
7um Jing
FRED BIERY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Credit: Bystander
Matthew 19:14
John 11:35

There is also the photo of the boy from the viral stories included.

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 9d

"Every one with this writ may be a tyrant; if this commission be legal, a tyrant in a legal manner also may control, imprison, or murder any one within the realm."- James Otis on general warrants by the Crown (1761).

ICE Expands Power of Agents to Arrest People Without Warrants

www.nytimes.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 14d

2) A shorter version outside the paywall can be found here:

Bringing American History Back Home for the 250th

Read an adapted and updated version of the 2025 James M. Banner, Jr., Lecture on the State of the Discipline of History.

www.historians.org

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 14d

1) My contribution to #America250: an analysis of the multiple, competing narratives of American history we have today, and why we are so divided over our past. @revolution250.bsky.social @historians.org @oah.org

Re-Enchanting American History | Critical Historical Studies: Vol 12, No 2

www.journals.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Johann N. Neem

Frank Cogliano @frankcogliano.bsky.social · 16d

"He has ... sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people ...

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power." 1/

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16d

Attorney General Pam Bondi: "Our country was founded on law enforcement"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16d

Bondi: "It's extremely organized. The signs they have are all matching, they're well written. And look at what's happening today. How did these people go out & get gas masks? These protesters. Would you know how to walk out on the street and buy a gas mask? Think about that. We're not gonna have it"

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 16d

As Trump's secret police attack and detain Americans, we must promote peaceful resistance, but also ask ourselves about the meaning of violence in an unconstitutional regime.

The Problem of Violence in Authoritarian America

We must choose peace-- but what happens when others don't?

jneem.substack.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 19d

In a short talk, I explore the nature of our constitutional crisis and some of its scary implications for American liberty.

America’s Constitutional Crisis

YouTube video by Western Washington University

www.youtube.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 20d

Faculty need to reassert their moral and intellectual authority over the university, writes Michael Meranze-- the university is the corporate home of the faculty but is not itself the faculty.

Achieving Our University

By Michael Meranze In his last post , Chris made a call for increased faculty governance on budgetary matters and a proposal for how we mig...

utotherescue.blogspot.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 21d

If this is true, then the White House just obliterated Minnesota's government, violated the state's sovereignty, and occupied the state.

Stephen Miller Says MN Authorities Ordered to ‘Stand Down and Surrender’ to Federal Officers as Anti-ICE Protests Intensify

Trump’s top aide, Stephen Miller, shockingly declared that local and state law enforcement have been ordered to “stand down and surrender” as anti-ICE protests continue to grip the state.

www.yahoo.com

Reposted by Johann N. Neem

Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test @adamrothman.bsky.social · 21d

"It is a Maxim, that in every Government, there must exist Somewhere, a Supreme, Sovereign, absolute, and uncontroulable Power: But this power resides always in the Body of the People, and it never was, or can be delegated, to one Man"
- A Proclamation by the General Court, 19 January 1776

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 23d

If you want a sense of what it's like to be in occupied Minneapolis-- Americans are being terrorized by the Trump regime.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 23d

New at Can We Still Govern?
"I am writing as an ordinary citizen of Minneapolis/St Paul...to share with the outside world what is really going on ─ the terror being inflicted upon a U.S. city and state by our federal government."
Please read, share, help. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/dispatch-f...

Dispatch from the occupation

What life is like in Minneapolis now

donmoynihan.substack.com

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 23d

Dispatch from the occupation

What life is like in Minneapolis now

donmoynihan.substack.com

Reposted by Johann N. Neem

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 25d

"In our current context, conversations about violence are complicated because our political tradition recognizes the legitimacy of violence against tyrants but denies the legitimacy of violence by tyrants." --historian @johannneem.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/jneem/p/...

The Problem of Violence in Authoritarian America

We must choose peace-- but what happens when others don't?

open.substack.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · 25d

Given recent events I grapple with the complex moral and political questions raised by violence in authoritarian America.

The Problem of Violence in Authoritarian America

We must choose peace-- but what happens when others don't?

jneem.substack.com

Reposted by Mary Feeney, Eric Goldman, David R. Miller , and 3 more Mary Feeney, Eric Goldman, David R. Miller, Johann N. Neem, Mark Rice, Matthew Davis

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 26d

He really is doing all of it.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · Jan 9

Hope to see you at #AHA26 today at 1:30!

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · Jan 9

Please come by our late-breaking #AHA26 session on epistemic humility and the politics of history-- and the attack on history-- tomorrow at the AHA conference.

139th Annual Meeting (January 8-11, 2026): On Tap or On Top? Public Purpose and Epistemic Humility in the Writing and Teaching of History

aha.confex.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · Jan 9

Please come by our late-breaking #AHA26 session on epistemic humility and the politics of history-- and the attack on history-- tomorrow at the AHA conference.

139th Annual Meeting (January 8-11, 2026): On Tap or On Top? Public Purpose and Epistemic Humility in the Writing and Teaching of History

aha.confex.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · Jan 8

Minneapolis cancels schools due to ICE violence. This is not American.

Minneapolis Cancels School After Federal Agents Attack Students

A horrifying immigration raid at a high school in Minnesota has caused the entire school district to cancel class.

newrepublic.com

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · Jan 1

DHS ends the year on a high note by threatening ethnic cleansing of millions of American citizens.

'Absolutely Insane': Trump Admin On Blast After Bonkers Homeland Security Message

The agency posted a message indicating it wants to deport more than just immigrants.

www.huffpost.com

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney, Bruce D. Baker, Bonnie Honig , and 6 more Dustin Mulvaney, Bruce D. Baker, Bonnie Honig, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Johann N. Neem, Christine Kooi, Eric Hayot, Sarah Brouillette

Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · Dec 29

I wasn’t sure they were going to publish this. So good for them.

The ‘Crisis of the Humanities’ Is Over. That’s Not a Good Thing.

All of higher ed now suffers the attacks of politics and technology.

www.chronicle.com

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Dec 28

New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!

So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...

The NYT Recruiting Brochure for New College

A failing Ron DeSantis higher ed experiment gets a boost

donmoynihan.substack.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson, Naomi Klein , and 46 more Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson, Naomi Klein, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Nandita Sharma, Kimberly A. Prather, A. E. Dessler, Peter Thorne, Gordon Pennycook, Brendan Nyhan, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Steve Peers, John McLaren, Rosemary A. Joyce, Amir Attaran, Efrén O. Pérez, Guy Grossman, Philip Nel, Anders Nilsson, Juan Cole, Daniel W. Drezner, Clyde W. Barrow, David R. Miller, Robert Wolfe, Johann N. Neem, Michael Zimmer, Andrew L. Whitehead, Gerald Friedman, Jacob T. Levy, Robert B. Reich, Els Torreele, Jen Schneider, Paul Fisher, Ann Bartow, Leah Stokes, Greg Linden, Greg O’Brien, Gerardo Martí, Richard M. Carpiano, Joanna L. Grossman, Tim Stephens, Daxton R. Stewart, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Aviel Roshwald, John Christman, Dan Immergluck, Timothy D. McBride, Jesse R. Lasky, Pieter Vantieghem

Timothy Burke @bubbaprog.xyz · Dec 23

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

Johann Neem @johannneem.bsky.social · Dec 21

A worthwhile read for anyone planning to attend the American Historical Association's annual conference.

David Avrom Bell @davidavrombell.bsky.social · Dec 17

A new column of mine in the Chronicle of Higher Education, on the in-fighting at the American Historical Association:
www.chronicle.com/article/acad...

Opinion | Academic Politics at Their Most Counterproductive

The American Historical Association is being torn apart over members’ views on Israel.

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