Swords Crossed was created as a way to engage the national argument directly on the grounds that we are all a part of one public debate. The site's founders, Joshua Treviño (tacitus.org, redstate.com) and Armando (dailykos.com) wanted to create a neutral space for users all over the political spectrum to interact with each other under the banner of partisan debate. With the help of pyrrho and mcjoan, the original site launched in April 2006.

Due to personal circumstances Treviño and Armando have moved on to other projects, but the forum has continued under new management.

The new site launched in November 2006 and still carries the founding intent: to allow different voices to weigh in on the nation's political issues. The front pagers represent a broad range of political and ideological backgrounds, from the conservatives Ender and lordzorgon; to the liberals Brendan, Mike Pridmore, and pico; and the relativist pyrrho, who tries to find common ground between the two.