Speaking in Unearned Tongues

A history of the promises America made and the debts it left unpaid, 6000 BCE to 2026.

Every card is a document, ruling, statute, speech, or photograph from the record, dated and sourced the way the book cites it. The dot on the timeline marks how well documented it is: a primary source, a historian's account, or a contested claim.

Aprimary document Bhistorian's account Xcontested photograph included

How to use this

Cards: Every card is a dated document or event from the book, one chapter at a time. Click a card to expand it; a photograph, where one exists, opens larger if you click it.
The grade: A is a primary document, court record, statute, or contemporary photograph. B is an account established by a named historian within decades, cited to their published work. X is a claim the book itself flags as contested or disputed.
Filters: Narrow by chapter, evidence grade, or whether a photograph is attached. The search box checks the title, description, quote, and source.
Jump to chapter: Scrolls straight to that chapter's first card.
Progress: Mark a card read to track your way through; it's saved in this browser only.

Every card names its source. Quotations are transcribed verbatim from the primary document, opinion, or manuscript named in the source line. Where a figure is drawn from the book's own charts, the chart's sources are given in full. This board covers the whole book, all seven chapters; it is not a complete history of any one of them.