Comment

As a recent history graduate, I am quite disappointed in Professor Richardson's post today. Surely she is aware that the Homestead Act of 1862 along with the Morrill Act (which created the land grant universities) entailed illegally transferring large tracts of Indigenous lands to white settlers. The Pacific Railroad Act in particular provided companies with nearly 2 hundred million acres of Indigenous land. In order to transfer such massive amounts of land, the U.S. government broke multiple t…

Thank you, Beatrice, and welcome to LFAA.

I agree with over 90% of what Dr Richardson writes, but this is a valid critique of today's letter. In bolstering support for Biden's infrastructure plans, she rightly promotes positive impacts of economic development from the mid-19C. As a Lincolnian, she also accords credit to our 16th president. But there should be some mention of negative impacts.

In particular, the paean to federal dam-building is problematic at the least. I spent a decade studying d…

Thank you, TPJ, for beginning a dialogue on the subject.

Thank you too, Fern, but it's Beatrice who got the ball rolling. It's not just provocative, it's thought-provoking in the best sense. I am now positively provoked. Beatrice, please keep the comments coming.

I am eager to hear more from Beatrice, too. I would be happy for a response from you concerning my comment regarding Heather's Letter. In it, I addressed an aspect of the White Nationalist Movement here through Chicago University's, Chicago Project on Security and Threats: Research American Political Violence.