Johann Neem

Donald Trump Is No Longer the President of the United States We must accept what is happening

This seems like a good time to remind ourselves that Donald Trump is not the president of the United States. He forfeited his claim to office and is a usurper.

The Misuses of the University - Public Books Have the funds that might have trained the next generation of scholars at the nation’s first research university have been blown on ostentatious new buildings?

A beautiful essay by @francoisfurst.bsky.social on the sadness we academics feel as we walk around our campuses and see the things to which we have devoted our lives devalued for large, shiny, but ultimately empty things...

From One President to Another, a Love Letter With an Edge

George W. Bush on humility and the importance of giving up power as part of a new series about former presidents and first ladies, including a quote and reference to an article on Martha Washington by @kawulf.bsky.social.

Grateful to the AEI's Report Card podcast for asking me to discuss the purpose and evolution of public schools-- why we have them, their civic and humanistic purposes, and why they remain important today.

Interpretive Changes Erase Labor History at Lowell Visit the post for more.

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...

"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.

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

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...

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.

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.

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

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...

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.

Key quote from the judge's order releasing Liam Ramos & his father: "Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned."

ICE Expands Power of Agents to Arrest People Without Warrants

"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).

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.

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

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...

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

"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/

Our country was founded on resistance to a tyrant.

The Problem of Violence in Authoritarian America We must choose peace-- but what happens when others don't?

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.

America’s Constitutional Crisis YouTube video by Western Washington University

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

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...

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.

"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

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.

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

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

The Problem of Violence in Authoritarian America We must choose peace-- but what happens when others don't?

"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/...

Having the President use the Declaration of Independence’s grievances against King George as a script wasn’t on my bingo card.

The Problem of Violence in Authoritarian America We must choose peace-- but what happens when others don't?

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

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

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.

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.

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