| Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal begins with a piece at RealClearHistory that reflects on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Historian Brian Matthew Jordan, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a member of the Jack Miller Center’s network of scholars, argues that Lincoln’s assassination had massive repercussions for the nation as a whole. It was “the first shot of a violent counterrevolution to nullify Union victory and its consequences,” he writes. Though America today seems to be in an unprecedented state of upheaval, looking back at Lincoln’s assassination shows us that there have been flashpoints throughout our history that have been just as fraught, and sometimes even far more, than what we face today. Jordan closes by reminding us that ruminating on Lincoln’s untimely death can help show us that “we are hardly the first Americans to look to the future with a degree of disquietude.” At The Fulcrum, Jack Miller Center President Hans Zeiger highlights the recent “promising” results of a civics survey from the Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement. Zeiger says that the survey indicates “that Americans across the political spectrum still hold on to a common vocabulary for our civic life.” It shows that most Americans have a positive view of civic terms, including “freedom,” “community,” “service,” and “Constitution.” This should point us to the importance of cultivating a shared civic language that can cross partisan lines so that we can develop the shared foundation on which citizenship can thrive. “Civic education can fill a large part of this function,” Zeiger writes, “making us aware of the foundational documents, ideals and historical memory we share and teaching us methods for disagreeing respectfully.” He concludes by noting that as America approaches its 250th birthday, we all should “do our part to speak a civic language that builds up rather than tear down.” Essential Reading Brian Matthew Jordan, RealClearHistory One hundred and fifty-nine years ago this Sunday, a 26-year-old white supremacist and Confederate sympathizer named... Hans Zeiger, Fulcrum In his timeless essay "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell wrote, "Political language -- and with variations... In the News Scott Bomboy, National Constitution Center Rocio Hernandez, Nevada Independent No Labels, RealClearPolicy Pooja Salhotra, Texas Tribune Taylor Penley, Fox News Aila Slisco, Newsweek Caroline Gutman & Emily Cochrane, New York Times Richard Reinsch, Law & Liberty Jack D. Warren, The American Crisis Associated Press C. Bradley Thompson, Substack Mariya Manzhos, Deseret News Mike Cosper, The Acton Institute Elizabeth Webster, Smithsonian Hanna Seariac, Deseret News 10 Blocks Podcast Welcome back to the 10 Blocks podcast. This is Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal... National Constitution Center On November 7, 2023, historians Carol Berkin, author of "A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s... Shelby Holliday, WSJ President Biden and former President Trump both see Pennsylvania as a must-win state in the 2024 election... Carl Cannon's Great American Stories America's first income tax was signed into law by its first Republican president on Aug. 5, 1861. With a massive ... Today's words to remember come from James A. Garfield, the 20th U.S. president. James A. Garfield didn't seek -- and didn't ... On this date in 1865, Jefferson Davis was attending Sunday services at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Grace Street in ... | 