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The Memory of '76: The Revolution in American History

Online ISBN:
9780300277357
Print ISBN:
9780300270877
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Book

The Memory of '76: The Revolution in American History

Michael D. Hattem
Michael D. Hattem

Associate Director

Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
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Published online:
23 January 2025
Published in print:
23 July 2024
Online ISBN:
9780300277357
Print ISBN:
9780300270877
Publisher:
Yale University Press

Abstract

The American Revolution has cast a long shadow over the nation's politics and culture. Americans agree that their nation's origins lie in the Revolution, but they have never agreed on what the Revolution meant. In The Memory of '76, Michael D. Hattem uncovers the long and surprising history of how Americans have fought over the meaning and legacy of the Revolution for nearly two and a half centuries, taking readers on a whirlwind journey across American history as politicians, political parties, social movements, and ordinary Americans constantly reimagine the Revolution to suit the times and their own agendas. In this sweeping take on American history, Hattem reveals how conflicts over the meaning and legacy of the Revolution—including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—have influenced the most important events and tumultuous periods in American history. This book shows how the memory of the Revolution has often done far more to divide Americans than unite them and how revising the past is a long-standing American political tradition.

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