Scott Vehstedt (Scottmonster)

I like to write and I'm from New York. I am currently a graduate student in Washington, D.C. studying U.S. history. My loves are U.S. history and politics. I'm a bit of a foodie and a lover of cinema.

In the Spotlight

The 1619 Project: Facts, Truth, and the Limits of Debate

The lead 1619 Project essay argues that the American Revolution was fought in part to maintain slavery. While the factual basis for acknowledging that some were motivated to join the rebellion by this desire is sound, the absence of a larger context gives that fact an illusory sense of truth.

In the Spotlight

The Formation of the Republican Party: 1850 to 1865

On July 6, 1854, a crowd that numbered as high as 10,000, crowded into Jackson, Michigan in what has often been considered the founding of the Republican Party. Continue »

In the Spotlight

Intervention and the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is one of the twentieth century's great engineering achievements. Before its completion however, decades of diplomacy would take place ultimately leading to the creation of the nation of Panama.

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  U.S. Campaigns & Elections

  2020 Election: How Will the "Keys to the White House" Turn?

  4 years ago

  Who will win the presidential election in 2020? The Keys to the White House is a system created by historian Allan Lichtman to predict presidential elections. The system has correctly predicted the winner in every election since 1984 and retrospectively fits all "modern" elections since 1860.

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  United States Politics

  The 1619 Project: Facts, Truth, and the Limits of Debate

  12 months ago

  The lead 1619 Project essay argues that the American Revolution was fought in part to maintain slavery. While the factual basis for acknowledging that some were motivated to join the rebellion by this desire is sound, the absence of a larger context gives that fact an illusory sense of truth.

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  1
  U.S. Republican Party

  The Formation of the Republican Party: 1850 to 1865

  2 years ago

  On July 6, 1854, a crowd that numbered as high as 10,000, crowded into Jackson, Michigan in what has often been considered the founding of the Republican Party. In just six politically charged years, the coalition of radicals, conservatives, former Whigs, Free Soilers and Know-Nothings,...

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  0
  U.S. Government Policies & Processes

  The Articles of Confederation: A Truly Small Government

  13 years ago

  The first government of the United States is often overlooked in our collective memory. The Articles of Confederation represent a profoundly different philosophical view of democracy.