William Hogeland
@williamhogeland.bsky.social
Author of "The Hamilton Scheme" and other works. Blog at HOGELAND'S BAD HISTORY: [email protected]. Liberal--so I mostly criticize liberal discourse. Also, "roots" music.
Pinned
Some Problems Won't Be Solved
The Hamilton-Jefferson Binary, Organized Labor in the 18th Century, and the Emptiness at the Heart of Our Historical Discourse
open.substack.com
Why I'm done with Hamilton and Jefferson, and with engaging with mainstream scholarship on them, and am instead writing a romp about Burr: open.substack.com/pub/williamh...
People argue about what finally brought the people of the thirteen colonies together, but my conclusion, from the story I tell in Declaration, is that nothing did. "A union of former colonies entered history in confusion about the nature and purpose of its independence."
November 25, 2025 at 2:21 PM
People argue about what finally brought the people of the thirteen colonies together, but my conclusion, from the story I tell in Declaration, is that nothing did. "A union of former colonies entered history in confusion about the nature and purpose of its independence."
Remembering DOGE: It's not that they failed to drain the swamp -- they are the swamp. Free post, from April: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/trumps-sha...
Trump's Sharpies
Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
williamhogeland.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Remembering DOGE: It's not that they failed to drain the swamp -- they are the swamp. Free post, from April: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/trumps-sha...
Reposted by William Hogeland
You all should read the piece but isn't that portrait invaluable, like Trump interviews from the '80s when he hadn't yet perfected the character and still used big words
November 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM
You all should read the piece but isn't that portrait invaluable, like Trump interviews from the '80s when he hadn't yet perfected the character and still used big words
This is the kind of thing I find funny: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/sidebar-be...
Sidebar: Benjamin Franklin, Weird Politician
Yes, he was a writer and scientist--but well before 1776, he'd already had a long, strange life in the politics of empire.
williamhogeland.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This is the kind of thing I find funny: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/sidebar-be...
Get out of here if you don't know.
November 24, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Get out of here if you don't know.
Free preview on BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/sidebar-be...
Sidebar: Benjamin Franklin, Weird Politician
Yes, he was a writer and scientist--but well before 1776, he'd already had a long, strange life in the politics of empire.
williamhogeland.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Free preview on BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/sidebar-be...
Reposted by William Hogeland
I started reading Autumn of the Black Snake by William Hogeland, and it’s astounding how many royal governors, army officers, colonial legislators, etc. in the 1760’s were involved in dubious land schemes in the current Midwest
February 11, 2024 at 6:52 PM
I started reading Autumn of the Black Snake by William Hogeland, and it’s astounding how many royal governors, army officers, colonial legislators, etc. in the 1760’s were involved in dubious land schemes in the current Midwest
Everything I needed to find out about the American Revolution is in this book. www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Sch...
The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding
Amazon.com: The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding: 9781250390363: Hogeland, William: Books
www.amazon.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Everything I needed to find out about the American Revolution is in this book. www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Sch...
Those poor schmucks got one month's pay from Robert Morris before Yorktown. The most powerful American throughout the war, the whole time he'd dedicated all revenues, such as they were, to paying interest to rich bondholders, not soldiers.
November 23, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Those poor schmucks got one month's pay from Robert Morris before Yorktown. The most powerful American throughout the war, the whole time he'd dedicated all revenues, such as they were, to paying interest to rich bondholders, not soldiers.
No paywall, BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/did-the-ir...
Did the Iroquois Really Influence the Birth of the Union?
For a fight at Thanksgiving, bring that one up.
williamhogeland.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:36 PM
No paywall, BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/did-the-ir...
Truth, Ruth.
de gustibus non est disputandum
November 22, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Truth, Ruth.
One of the ways to look at the American Revolution from various Native pov is that it *was not* an explosive, history-changing kind of thing but an accelerating episode in an ongoing thirty-year war. The Shawnee pov would totally undermine the "globally most- important-event-ever" vibe.
November 19, 2025 at 9:25 PM
One of the ways to look at the American Revolution from various Native pov is that it *was not* an explosive, history-changing kind of thing but an accelerating episode in an ongoing thirty-year war. The Shawnee pov would totally undermine the "globally most- important-event-ever" vibe.
This is the impossible truth. (It affects books too.)
November 19, 2025 at 2:38 PM
This is the impossible truth. (It affects books too.)
As I remember it, *this* is the key point. The anti-Catholic thing played, obviously, especially for the Samuel Adams type, but wiping out a generational speculation in land was what revved up Virginians like Washington, drew them (certainly him!) to the cause, made the Quebec Act intolerable.
What did you think of how Burns addressed the Quebec Act? I wondered whether the map that showed the new boundaries of Quebec just beyond the Proclamation Line formed a more lasting impression than the mention of how Protestants thought about Catholic political views.
November 19, 2025 at 2:31 PM
As I remember it, *this* is the key point. The anti-Catholic thing played, obviously, especially for the Samuel Adams type, but wiping out a generational speculation in land was what revved up Virginians like Washington, drew them (certainly him!) to the cause, made the Quebec Act intolerable.
I will say working with Claire and Paul on that sequence was a pleasure. Total pros, handled being relegated to voiceover with a lot of grace, tough fact that not everybody has the stuff for on-camera. Coyote, I don't know, possibly a bit one-note (?), but nice collab all around.
November 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
I will say working with Claire and Paul on that sequence was a pleasure. Total pros, handled being relegated to voiceover with a lot of grace, tough fact that not everybody has the stuff for on-camera. Coyote, I don't know, possibly a bit one-note (?), but nice collab all around.
There's a book about what really happened to bring about the Declaration of Independence. And it's pretty wild! www.amazon.com/Declaration-...
Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May 1-July 4, 1776 (Simon & Schuster America Collection)
Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May 1-July 4, 1776 (Simon & Schuster America Collection) [Hogeland, William] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May 1-July 4, 1776 (Simon & Schuster America Collection)
www.amazon.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
There's a book about what really happened to bring about the Declaration of Independence. And it's pretty wild! www.amazon.com/Declaration-...
Free preview on BAD HISTORY:
williamhogeland.substack.com/p/why-im-a-w...
williamhogeland.substack.com/p/why-im-a-w...
Why I'm a Writer, Not a Historian
Back in March, I was happy to be invited to the offices of the producers of the Ken Burns “American Revolution” documentary to preview a few of the sequences where I appear, and some other sequences, ...
williamhogeland.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Free preview on BAD HISTORY:
williamhogeland.substack.com/p/why-im-a-w...
williamhogeland.substack.com/p/why-im-a-w...
This was an excellent event.
What an honor to sit between Robin Kelley and Vivian Gornick, so a reading, discuss, & celebrate the Boston Review! Thanks to Brooklyn Public Library too (recording linked below)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahH...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahH...
Vivian Gornick, Robin D.G. Kelley & David Waldstreicher on Boston Review at 50.
YouTube video by BPLvideos
www.youtube.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:02 AM
This was an excellent event.
Reposted by William Hogeland
Weird typo in the title now gone: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/in-a-natio...
In a National Crisis, Institutional Public History Does Nothing But Expose Its Own Exhaustion
Jeffrey Rosen, head of the National Constitution Center, has made our early insurrections especially non-meaningful.
williamhogeland.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Weird typo in the title now gone: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/in-a-natio...
Reposted by William Hogeland
Free post on BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/the-past-i...
The Past Is Always Past. It's Even Dead.
Faulkner was wrong.
williamhogeland.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Free post on BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/the-past-i...
Free post on BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/the-past-i...
The Past Is Always Past. It's Even Dead.
Faulkner was wrong.
williamhogeland.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Free post on BAD HISTORY: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/the-past-i...
Why I'm done with Hamilton and Jefferson, and with engaging with mainstream scholarship on them, and am instead writing a romp about Burr: open.substack.com/pub/williamh...
Some Problems Won't Be Solved
The Hamilton-Jefferson Binary, Organized Labor in the 18th Century, and the Emptiness at the Heart of Our Historical Discourse
open.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Why I'm done with Hamilton and Jefferson, and with engaging with mainstream scholarship on them, and am instead writing a romp about Burr: open.substack.com/pub/williamh...
Free preview: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/in-a-natio...
I'mIn a National Crisis, Institutional Public History Does Nothing But Expose Its Own Exhaustion
Jeffrey Rosen, head of the National Constitution Center, has made our early insurrections especially non-meaningful.
williamhogeland.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Free preview: williamhogeland.substack.com/p/in-a-natio...
Defining the opposition party (in real life quite lame and ineffectual) as demonically criminal is a throwback to the earliest days of the republic.
Leavitt: "The Democrat Party's main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals."
October 17, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Defining the opposition party (in real life quite lame and ineffectual) as demonically criminal is a throwback to the earliest days of the republic.
I've always thought this story would make a great dark comedy--and if that's what they're up to, I'll be surprised.
Young Washington - movie trailer: teaser-trailer.com/movie/young-...
Starring William Franklyn-Miller, Mary-Louise Parker, Kelsey Grammer, Andy Serkis, Jonno Davies, Ben Kingsley,Will Joseph,
Release date: July 03, 2026
#YoungWashington #YoungWashingtonMovie #WilliamFranklynMiller
Starring William Franklyn-Miller, Mary-Louise Parker, Kelsey Grammer, Andy Serkis, Jonno Davies, Ben Kingsley,Will Joseph,
Release date: July 03, 2026
#YoungWashington #YoungWashingtonMovie #WilliamFranklynMiller
October 14, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I've always thought this story would make a great dark comedy--and if that's what they're up to, I'll be surprised.