Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
@adamrothman.bsky.social
Ex-Interim Chair. No kings! Free puns. Historian. Books: Slave Country, Beyond Freedom's Reach. More: https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014RXHCAA4/adam-rothman
Pinned
After federal troops forced a fugitive slave named Anthony Burns back into slavery in the 1850s, one Bostonian wrote, “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.” The abuse of power radicalizes people. We are seeing that now.
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
Here’s a story about him with no paywall: www.military.com/daily-news/h...
Army Veteran Deported Despite Pending Appeal: 'He Served This Country'
“He served. He did what he was supposed to do. And now he’s not even here.”
www.military.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Here’s a story about him with no paywall: www.military.com/daily-news/h...
Also relevant is Washington's warning against the rise of a despotic leader
constitutioncenter.org/the-constitu...
constitutioncenter.org/the-constitu...
February 17, 2026 at 1:22 AM
Also relevant is Washington's warning against the rise of a despotic leader
constitutioncenter.org/the-constitu...
constitutioncenter.org/the-constitu...
It is custom in some circles to read Washington's Farewell Address today. One thing that caught my eye this time, for no reason at all, is GW's reference to "those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty."
avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century...
avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century...
Avalon Project - Washington's Farewell Address 1796
avalon.law.yale.edu
February 17, 2026 at 1:05 AM
It is custom in some circles to read Washington's Farewell Address today. One thing that caught my eye this time, for no reason at all, is GW's reference to "those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty."
avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century...
avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century...
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
What Adam said 👇
I'll take Frederick Douglass over Elon Musk
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
February 16, 2026 at 5:20 AM
What Adam said 👇
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
All not some.
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
February 16, 2026 at 3:40 PM
All not some.
This is just rude.
Just remember that Robert A. Caro cut roughly 300,000 words from The Power Broker!
February 17, 2026 at 12:17 AM
This is just rude.
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
👀 Invoking Orwell, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore panels and historical acknowledgments of the history of slavery that the National Park Service removed in Philadelphia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 16, 2026 at 6:24 PM
👀 Invoking Orwell, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore panels and historical acknowledgments of the history of slavery that the National Park Service removed in Philadelphia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
"Our slaves will be above Fifteen thousand Souls, mostly within Twenty Miles of the Sea Coast, and makes above 35 m Teirces of Rice Annualy besides many other Articles of Provision"
- Colonel Lachlan McIntosh to George Washington, Savannah, 16 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
- Colonel Lachlan McIntosh to George Washington, Savannah, 16 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
February 16, 2026 at 7:54 PM
"Our slaves will be above Fifteen thousand Souls, mostly within Twenty Miles of the Sea Coast, and makes above 35 m Teirces of Rice Annualy besides many other Articles of Provision"
- Colonel Lachlan McIntosh to George Washington, Savannah, 16 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
- Colonel Lachlan McIntosh to George Washington, Savannah, 16 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
We should not fund a Department of Homeland Security that terrorizes children and forces them to spend their dying days trying to see their father one last time.
February 16, 2026 at 6:00 PM
We should not fund a Department of Homeland Security that terrorizes children and forces them to spend their dying days trying to see their father one last time.
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
This 👇 should be a major theme of our celebration of 250 years, put out there as the nation came of age and righted its course after the Civil War.
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
February 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM
This 👇 should be a major theme of our celebration of 250 years, put out there as the nation came of age and righted its course after the Civil War.
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
The responses in this thread are [Swedish Chef's kiss]
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 16, 2026 at 2:27 PM
The responses in this thread are [Swedish Chef's kiss]
People often see the Emancipation Proclamation as propelled by military necessity but underlying it was a genuinely antislavery moral principle that Lincoln often articulated, as he did here in this 1859 letter.
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
February 16, 2026 at 5:57 PM
People often see the Emancipation Proclamation as propelled by military necessity but underlying it was a genuinely antislavery moral principle that Lincoln often articulated, as he did here in this 1859 letter.
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
"You have not given me a word of politicks since I left you, in which I have been greatly disappointed for nothing will ever render me inattentive to events that affect my country"
- Robert R. Livingston to John Jay, 15 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ja...
- Robert R. Livingston to John Jay, 15 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ja...
February 16, 2026 at 2:45 AM
"You have not given me a word of politicks since I left you, in which I have been greatly disappointed for nothing will ever render me inattentive to events that affect my country"
- Robert R. Livingston to John Jay, 15 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ja...
- Robert R. Livingston to John Jay, 15 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ja...
"Scarcely a Paper comes out, without a Speculation or two in open Vindication of opinions, which Five Months ago were Said to be unpopular."
- John Adams to James Warren, 14 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
- John Adams to James Warren, 14 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
February 16, 2026 at 2:33 AM
"Scarcely a Paper comes out, without a Speculation or two in open Vindication of opinions, which Five Months ago were Said to be unpopular."
- John Adams to James Warren, 14 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
- John Adams to James Warren, 14 February 1776
founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
How I see myself v. How other people see me
February 16, 2026 at 2:19 AM
How I see myself v. How other people see me
I'll take Frederick Douglass over Elon Musk
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
February 16, 2026 at 12:36 AM
I'll take Frederick Douglass over Elon Musk
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
I dub this the “Great Scott!” thread.
Great Scotts in American history:
Winfield Scott
F. Scott Fitzgerald
That's all I've got.
Winfield Scott
F. Scott Fitzgerald
That's all I've got.
February 15, 2026 at 9:38 PM
I dub this the “Great Scott!” thread.
One of the contradictions of our time is the belief that work is good for the soul and also that we should just have robots do it.
February 15, 2026 at 6:25 PM
One of the contradictions of our time is the belief that work is good for the soul and also that we should just have robots do it.
Just as a side note, who are these Scotts who created American culture?
1/3 What Musk is really referring to here is, of course “race” - that construct that served to define the hierarchies of wealth & power structured by modern colonialism. Like other far right racists though, he uses the word “culture” as a seemingly less pernicious synonym.
February 15, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Just as a side note, who are these Scotts who created American culture?
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
Legendary founder of NPR programming Bill Siemering is enjoying Zoom visiting with students so much that he's asked me to put a second call out. No honorarium necessary. Any takers?
Bill Siemering, founding program director of NPR, author of its mission statement, has asked me to inquire if any profs might be interested in a Zoom class visit? No honorarium necessary. Bill founded All Things Considered, Fresh Air, won a MacArthur, etc.
A Founding Father of NPR Worries About Its Fate
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Legendary founder of NPR programming Bill Siemering is enjoying Zoom visiting with students so much that he's asked me to put a second call out. No honorarium necessary. Any takers?
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
Imagine if even a fraction of what this administration plans to spend on cages went toward housing people.
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion converting warehouses into detention centers, according to planning documents, more than the annual budgets of 22 states.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 13, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Imagine if even a fraction of what this administration plans to spend on cages went toward housing people.
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
Excuse me if my well-honed ability to pick images with bicycles in them has proven anything, it's that I am not a bot.
February 15, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Excuse me if my well-honed ability to pick images with bicycles in them has proven anything, it's that I am not a bot.
Reposted by Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test
Nothing sadder or more dystopian than an "AI companion"
February 15, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Nothing sadder or more dystopian than an "AI companion"
This is not an accusation. It's a diagnosis.
February 14, 2026 at 5:12 PM
This is not an accusation. It's a diagnosis.