The American
Origins Myth:
THE EUGENE LANG COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AT THE NEW SCHOOL FALL 2017
From the everyday references to the
Constitution and founders in
American politics to the wildly
popular hip-hop musical based on
the life of Alexander Hamilton, the
American Revolution pervades our
contemporary politics and culture.
Indeed, the founding is central to
our national identity as Americans.
Yet this is not unique to
contemporary American culture.
Over the course of two centuries,
Americans have turned their
revolutionary history into a national
origins myth that could support a
myriad of often diametrically
opposed political, social, and cultural
ideas and practices. Each generation
redefines the Revolution for
themselves. That process began with
the revolutionary generation and
continues right down to your own.
This reading-intensive seminar
explores the ever-evolving legacy
and meaning of the American
Revolution over the last two
centuries. In this course, we will
examine how the Revolution's
changing legacy has shaped national
LHIS 2080 CREDITS: 4 CRN 6890 SEC A
identity throughout American history
by looking at a variety of milieux,
including politics, culture and
historiography, as well as a wide
range of cultural forms, such as
literature, art, film, comic books,
games, and others.
CONTACT INFO:
Professor Michael D. Hattem
Email: hattemm@newschool.edu
Office: 80 5th Ave., Rm 522
Office Hours: By appointment
*Please do not hesitate to contact me
if you need assistance or have any
questions regarding the course.
The Revolution
in American
History and
Culture
Fall 2017
CLASSROOM POLICIES
ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY
RESPECT ONE ANOTHER
This rule is paramount. Students should
be aware that this courseespecially the
portion dealing with contemporary society
and politicswill address controversial
issues such as politics, race, and religion.
To do so productively requires developing
an understanding of the perspectives of
and arguments made bymany different
groups. Therefore, there is no room in the
respectful and rational debate that this
course requires for interrupting,
ridiculing, or making ad hominem attacks
against fellow classmates. Our classroom
is a safe space for both students and the
free exchange and discussion of ideas
(even those one may find morally or
politically repugnant). In this class,
diversity of viewpoint and intellectual
empathy is essential to learning.
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AMERICAN
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MYTH:
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o Class 12 (October 9)
o Class 13 (October 11)
Class Meetings o Class 14 (October 16)
o Class 15 (October 18)
This class meets twice a week, on o Class 16 (October 23)
Mondays and Wednesdays from o Class 17 (October 25)
11:55am to 1:35pm. A list of seminar o Class 18 (October 30)
meetings is as follows: o Class 19 (November 1)
o Class 20 (November 6)
o Class 1 (August 28) o Class 21 (November 8)
o Class 2 (August 30) o Class 22 (November 13)
o Class 3 (September 6) o Class 23 (November 15)
o Class 4 (September 11) o Class 24 (November 20)
o Class 5 (September 13) o Class 25 (November 27)
o Class 6 (September 18) o Class 26 (November 29)
o Class 7 (September 20) o Class 27 (December 4)
o Class 8 (September 25) o Class 28, (December 6)
o Class 9 (September 27) o Class 29 (December 11)
o Class 10 (October 2) o Class 30 (December 13)
o Class 11 (October 4) o Class 31 (December 18)
IMPORTANT DATES
Required Readings:
Andrew J. Schocket, Fighting over the Founders: How We Remember the
FIRST MEETING: August 28, 2017
American Revolution (New York: NYU Press, 2013).
NO CLASS: September 4, 2017
Alfred F. Young, The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the
American Revolution (Boston: Beacon Press, 1999).
FINAL PAPER CONFERENCE: By
November 20, 2017
Jonathan Hennessy, The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation
(New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2008)
NO CLASS: November 22, 2017

Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Dover

FINAL PAPER DUE: December 18, 2017
Thrift Edition) (Dover, 1996).

Course YouTube Playlist: http://bit.ly/AmRevMemYT

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of how the

memory of the American Revolution has
changed over time

demonstrate an understanding of the

interrelationship between the memory of
the Revolution and politics and culture

demonstrate an understanding of how that

memory was used and shaped by various
groups within American society to both
challenge and defend oppression and
inequality

demonstrate an understanding of the

legacy and meaning of the Revolution in
our contemporary politics and culture

THE
AMERICAN
ORIGINS
MYTH:
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REVOLUTION
IN
AMERICAN
HISTORY
AND
CULTURE
OFFICE HOURS
I am happy to meet with students by
appointment either in-person or via video
call. In addition, I will also be available to
meet via Google Docs and its chat
function to go over outlines of your final
paper in real-time. Contact me via e-mail
(hattemm@newschool.edu)
COURSE MATERIALS
BOOKS: The primary books required for this
course are listed on page 2 under Required
Readings. The books can be purchased at
Barnes & Noble at 33 E. 17th Street and Union
Square. They can also be purchased via
Amazon where all four together cost $50 brand
new. Buying used copies, either on Amazon or
at The Strand, can cut the cost of the books in
half. They have also been placed on Electronic
Reserve through the Library. (NB: If hardship
makes it impossible for you to purchase the
required books, please let me know as soon as
possible so I can help.)
READINGS: All other readings (except those
hyperlinked in the syllabus) can be found in the
Files tab on the courses Canvas page (in
folders broken down by week).
VIDEOS: All video content for the course
(except the two longer files hyperlinked to my
Dropbox) can be found on the courses
dedicated YouTube Playlist:
http://bit.ly/AmRevMemYT. (NB: The links to
the two video files hyperlinked to Dropbox are
not to be shared outside the course).
3
Assignments
READING CHALLENGES
Most weeks students will be assigned
a Reading Challenge, which can be
found in the Discussion tab on the
courses Canvas page. Reading
Challenges are designed to get you
thinking and writing as a historian
and improve a number of key
academic skills. Each Reading
Challenge begins by introducing
students to a specific task or
challenge faced by historians and
concludes with a prompt and/or a
question about that weeks assigned
reading. To complete the Reading
Challenge, students must answer the
within the first 2 weeks of the
prompt in 150-250 words no later
semester and have it approved by the
than Sunday at 5pm. Therefore,
professor. The paper will then be due
students should always check the
at the start of the class at which those
Reading Challenge before doing their
readings will be discussed.
weekly readings. Reading Challenges
account for a significant portion of
your final grade. For full credit, FINAL PAPER
Reading Challenges must be Each student will write a 2,000-word
submitted on time and show final paper due on December 18th.
thoughtful engagement with the For the final paper, students may
weeks assigned reading. choose to focus on a specific
topic/event or synthesize the course
SHORT PAPER as a whole. Early in the semester,
Once during the semester, each students will receive a Final Paper
student will write a 750-to-1000- Handout with more instructions. We
word paper synthesizing a single will also spend some class time
throughout the semester on the
weeks assigned primary source by
analyzing it within its own historical process of writing the paper and a
paper conference is required for each
social and political contexts and into
its context within the course. student by Nov. 20th. There will also
Students must choose which week be an un-essay option for the final
they will plan to do their short paper paper that will be discussed in class.
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MYTH:
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Battle of Lexington, Filippo Costaggini, Frieze of American History,: U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Washington D.C.

GRADING PREPARATION
Students will be graded on the quality of their work and You are expected to not only read but think about each
the amount of effort they put toward their work. weeks readings. Simply reading the words is
insufficient. This course being a seminar requires proper
Discussion Contribution 25% preparation. There is a direct correlation between
Reading Challenges 25% students preparedness, the value they get from the
Short Paper 20% course, and their final grade. To properly prepare each
Final Paper 30% week:

For each unexcused absence after one, 1/3 of a grade will READ the assigned texts slowly and carefully
be deducted from your final grade (e.g., from A to A-). If
you have to miss a class, be sure to email me ahead of TAKE NOTES as you do the readings (argument,
time or your absence will be deemed unexcused. Repeated source base, methodology)
tardiness will also result in a similar grade deduction. THINK of at least one question or comment to
bring up during discussion
Unless, there has been a prior arrangement with the
professor, for each day a paper is submitted late, 1/3 of a REVIEW your notes and/or go back and skim the
grade will be deducted from your final grade. readings again before class

PLAGIARISM POLICY DISABILITY POLICY

The New School defines plagiarism as the
unacknowledged use of someone elses work as ones own
in all forms of academic endeavor (such as essays, theses,
examinations, research data, creative projects, etc). The
New Schools policy, which can be found
here:(http://www.newschool.edu/lang/subpage.aspx?id=37
4)
Also see The Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy
found at: http://www.newschool.edu/policies
More information can be found at the Learning Centers
website: http://www.newschool.edu/learning-center
In keeping with the universitys policies of providing
equal access for students with disabilities, any student
with a disability who needs academic accommodations is
welcome to meet with me privately. All conversations
will be kept confidential. Students requesting any
accommodations will also need to contact Student
Disability Services (SDS). SDS will conduct an intake
and, if appropriate, the Director will provide an academic
accommodation notification letter for you to bring to me.
For more information, please see Student Disability
Services website: http://www.newschool.edu/student-
services/disability-services
 Course Schedule
I. Introduction
Weeks 1-2: Introductions to Collective Memory and the Legacy of the Revolution
M (8/28): Welcome
Who am I? Who are you? Why are we here?
READ: Chapter 5: The American Revolution, in American Yawp
[NB: A background knowledge of the Revolution is not necessary for this course but it would be very helpful. Students
lacking such background should consult the small Modern Library volume, The American Revolution: A History by
Gordon Wood.]

W (8/30): Introduction to History, Memory, and Nationalism

What is history culture? What is collective memory? What is nationalism? What is the relationship between them?
READ: Carr, What is History?; Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, 1-7; Burke, History as Social Memory, 188-192;
Thelen, Memory and American History, 1117-1129

W (9/6): Introduction: The Revolution as the American National Origins Myth

Why study the legacy of the American Revolution? How does it relate to the topics of memory & nationalism in the
context of the United States?
READ: McDonnell, et al., Remembering the Revolution, 1-34; Hattem, The Historiography of the American
Revolution

Week 3: The Revolutionary Generation

M (9/11): Creating a National History for a New Nation
What challenges did the new nations first historians face? How did participants in the Revolution define its meaning and legacy?
READ: Shaffer, The Politics of History, 103-141; Ramsay, History of the American Revolution, 18-24; Adams/Jefferson
(July-November 1815); Adams to Abb de Mably, January 15, 1783; Adams to Rush, June 21, 1811.
IN-CLASS: Paintings by John Trumbull, Charles Willson Peale, and Gilbert Stuart

W (9/13): The Revolution in the Early Nineteenth Century

Why did the memory of the Revolution need to be tamed by the early nineteenth century? What was Washington Irving
saying about the new republics relationship to the Revolution?
READ: Young, Shoemaker and the Tea Party, 108-131; Irving, Rip Van Winkle, 95-115

II. The Revolution in the 19th Century

Week 4: The Origins of the Myth of Individualism
M (9/18): Creating George Washington
How was the myth of Washington as the father of his country created? What were the contexts that led to its creation and
adoption?
READ: Weems, The Life of Washington, Introduction, 132-182; Furstenberg, In the Name of the Father, ch. 3
IN-CLASS: Letters from Wadsworth family to Martha Washington (1800)
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W (9/20): The Revolution and the Origins of Historic Preservation

What role did historic preservation play in shaping the young nations collective memory of the Revolution? How did the politics
and gender roles of the period influence its development?
READ: West, Inventing a House Undivided, 1-38

Week 5: The Revolution in the Early National Period

M (9/25): Recovering the Common Revolutionary Soldier
What does the Revolution mean to Joseph Plumb Martin? What does he want it to mean to his readers? Why did it take until the
nineteenth century for common soldiers to become part of the collective memory of the Revolution?
READ: Joseph Plumb Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, 3-69, 168-181; Young, Shoemaker and the Tea Party,
132-142

W (9/27): The Whig Narrative of the Revolution

What is Whig history? What purposes did it serve in the mid-nineteenth century? What aspects of it have we left behind and
which are still with us today? What was the impact of the end of the revolutionary generation?
READ: Bancroft, History of the American Revolution, 1: 1-17; Butterfield, The Whig Interpretation of History, 10-36;
Wilson, Lafayettes Return: An Early American Media Event
IN-CLASS: Daniel Websters address at Bunker Hill (1825); Wirt, An Oration on Adams and Jefferson (1826)

Week 6: The Revolution in the Era of the Civil War

M (10/2): A Revolution for Both Sides
What was at stake, politically and socially, in competing interpretations of the Revolution in the 1850s? How did both
abolitionists and secessionists, Unionists and Confederates draw on the collective memory of the Revolution? What
does that tell us about the collective memory of the Revolution?
READ: Douglass, What to a Slave is the Fourth of July; Seneca Falls Declaration; Dred Scott: Taney decision, Curtis
opinion; Lincoln, Cooper Union speech (excerpt); Stephens Corner Stone Speech
IN-CLASS: Past and Present, DeBows Review (1861); The Last Men of the Revolution

W (10/4): 1876: Celebrating the Centennial

How was the centennial celebrated? What political and social issues shaped the nature and character of those celebrations? Who
was included in those celebrations and who was excluded? Why?
READ: Primary sources from the Centennial celebrations in Boston and the Exhibition in Philadelphia; Declaration of
the Rights of Women (1876)
IN-CLASS: Nell, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (1858)

III. The Revolution in the 20th Century

Week 7: Old Founders for a New Century
M (10/9): Reviving Jefferson
How did the popular perception of Thomas Jefferson change over time? Why did he become a more important figure in the early
twentieth century? What role did Monticello play in popular memory of Jefferson?
READ: Peterson, The Jefferson Image in the American Mind, 277-329; West, Campaigning for Monticello, 93-128
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W (10/11): Reviving Franklin

How did the popular perception of Benjamin Franklin change over time? What message did Franklin try to send with his
autobiography? How did the Autobiography shape the popular memory of Franklin and the American Dream?
READ: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; 73-132
IN-CLASS: Beck, A Tribute to Benjamin Franklin, Founder (1902); Wilson, What is Progress? (1913)

Week 8: The Revolution and the Cold War

M (10/16): Preserving the Writings of the Founders
When did the founders papers projects begin? Why then? What were the political contexts in which they were conceived?
READ: Whitehill, Publishing the Papers of Great Men, 47-79
IN-CLASS: Boyd, A General View of the Work, vii-xviii; Charles Beard on the Constitution, LIFE Magazine (1944)

W (10/18): The Consensus and Ideological Schools

How did the Progressive, Consensus, and Ideological interpretations of the Revolution differ? How did they reflect the political
and social contexts of the times in which they emerged? How was the memory of the Revolution employed to fight the Cold War?
READ: Becker, History of Political Parties, 5-22; Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution; Boorstin, The
American Revolution: A Revolution without Dogma, 66-98; Bailyn, Sources and Traditions, in The Ideological Origins
of the American Revolution, 22-54

Week 9: The Revolution, Social Movements, and History

M (10/23): Recovering Common Peoples Experiences
What were the political and historiographical issues underlying the emergence of the New Social History in the 1960s? How did it
interpret the American Revolution in relation to previous interpretations?
READ: Young, Shoemaker and the Tea Party, 1-84
IN-CLASS: Lemisch, Bailyn Besieged in His Bunker, 75-77

W (10/25): A Social Revolution

How are we to understand the rise of studies of race, class, and gender in the 1960s? What was their short-term relationship to
previous interpretations of the Revolution? What has been their long-term effect on the popular memory of the Revolution?
READ: Berkin, Remembering the Ladies, 49-65; Nash, The Unknown American Revolution, xiii-xxvii; Nash, The
Forgotten Experience, 32-42
WATCH: Graham, Honor America speech at Lincoln Memorial (July 4, 1970)
IN-CLASS: Unger, The New Left and American History, 1253-63 (excerpt)

Week 10: The Bicentennial

M (10/30): Creating a Bicentennial
What were the politics behind the government-sponsored celebrations of the Bicentennial? How did the political, social, and
cultural contexts of the late 1960s and early 1970s shape the way the Revolution was portrayed in Bicentennial celebrations?
READ: Gordon, The Spirit of 1976, 91-148
WATCH: 200 The United States Bicentennial; Bicentennial Commercials
IN-CLASS: Superman Salutes the Bicentennial (1976); Captain America: Bicentennial Battles (1976)
THE AMERICAN ORIGINS MYTH: THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN 8
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W (11/1): Critiquing a Bicentennial

How did specific groups experience and critique the Bicentennial celebrations? How did those critiques reflect both their
contemporary socio-political and historiographical contexts?
READ: Lemisch, The American Revolution Bicentennial and the Papers of Great White Men, 7-21; Should Blacks
Celebrate the Bicentennial? Ebony (August 1776), 33-41

IV. The Revolution in the 21st Century

Week 11: Founders Chic
M (11/6): Founders Chic and Popular History
What was/is Founders Chic? How is it similar or different to previous interpretations of the Revolution? What is the distinction
between popular and academic history?
READ: McCullough, John Adams, 17-77; Ellis, Founding Brothers, 3-19; Ellis, American Creation, 3-18
WATCH: Ken Burns Thomas Jefferson (10 mins); Founding Brothers: The Evolution of a Revolution (recommended)
LISTEN: The JuntoCast, Ep. 15: Founders in Early America (recommended)
IN-CLASS: John Adams: A Closer Look (HBO)

W (11/8): Founders Chic and Academic History

How have academic historians critiqued Founders Chic histories? What are the political and historical issues behind those
critiques?
READ: Schocket, We Have Not Yet Begun to Write: Historians and Founders Chic, in Fighting over the Founders,
49-84; Pasley, Federalist Chic, 1-6; Brands, Founders Chic, 1-9
WATCH (in-class): 1776 (Adult Swim)
IN-CLASS: McConville, Sage of the Small Screen, 9-10

Week 12: The Revolution in Our Own Time I

M (11/13): Tom and Sally
Why has the public been so fascinated with the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings? How do we understand
that relationship and what are the political and cultural ramifications of those understandings?
READ: Cogliano, Sally Hemings, 170-198; Finkelman, Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and Antislavery:
Historians and Myths, 237-280
WATCH: The Duality of Jefferson (CBS News); Annette Gordon-Reed on the Jefferson-Hemings Relationship
IN-CLASS: Pike County Republican, March 12, 1873

W (11/15): History and the Revolution in Schools

How did politics shape controversies over the way history is taught in public schools? What does Jefferson have to do with
Charles Darwin?
READ: Nash, History on Trial, 188-222
WATCH: Clip from The Revisionaries (2012)
IN-CLASS: NBC News coverage of History Standards controversy, pts. 1, 2, and 3 (1994)
SKYPE GUEST: Mark Boonshoft, Assistant Professor of History, Norwich University
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Week 13: The Founding in Popular Culture I

M (11/20): The Revolution in Popular Cultural Forms
How is the Revolution portrayed in popular cultural forms like graphic novels and animated cartoons? Who is the target audience
for such cultural productions? On which past traditions and/or interpretations are these depictions drawing and how are they
influenced by contemporary politics?
READ: Hennessy, The Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation
WATCH: Libertys Kids (Eps. 1, 12, 13)

Week 14: The Revolution in Contemporary Politics and Religion

M (11/27): The Rise (and Fall) of the Tea Party
What were the political and social contexts in which the Tea Party emerged? How did they employ the memory of the Revolution
in their political movement? What is originalism and how does it relate to our collective memory of the Revolution?
READ: Lepore, Whites of their Eyes, 1-42, 152-165; Schocket, To Re-create a More Perfect Union, in Fighting over the
Founders, 165-175
WATCH (in-class): Palin Comments Spark Paul Revere History Debate; Sarah Palin Educates Us On History
IN-CLASS: Paul Revere to Jeremy Belknap, circa 1798; Wood, No Thanks for the Memories (NYRB)

W (11/29): Was the United States Founded as a Christian Nation?

Why did this question become so prominent around the turn of the twenty-first century? What is the perspective of
evangelical Christians on this question? How have historians and others challenged that perspective?
READ: Barton, The Jefferson Lies, 193-216; Fea, History for the Faithful, 57-75; Fischer, The Founding Fathers,
Evangelical Christianity and Teaching of History, 1-24
IN-CLASS: Hobby Lobby July 4th full-page newspaper advertisement; Treaty of Tripoli
SKYPE GUEST: Roy Rogers, Doctoral Candidate in History, CUNY Graduate Center

Week 15: The Revolution in Our Own Time II

M (12/4): Creating Spaces for the Revolution Today
How do we currently commemorate the American Revolution through spaces and institutions? How does our contemporary
political and cultural contexts shape those commemorations?
READ: Schocket, Fighting over the Founders, 1-15, 85-124; Young, Revolution in Boston? Eight Propositions for
Public History on the Freedom Trail
IN-CLASS: Op-eds related to the opening of the Museum of the American Revolution (New York Times, The Weekly
Standard, The Economist, The National Review, Indian Country Media Network)

W (12/6): Was the Revolution Radical or Conservative?

What are the arguments for both a radical and conservative interpretation of the Revolution? How do those arguments map onto
contemporary politics? How do we see those interpretations shaping the memory of the Revolution today?
READ: Lefer, The Founding Conservatives, 1-8; Wood, Radicalism of the American Revolution, 3-8, 229-242; Zinn, A
Kind of Revolution, in A Peoples History of the United States, ch. 5
WATCH: Counter-Revolution of 1776: Was U.S. Independence War a Conservative Revolt in Favor of Slavery?
(Democracy Now)
IN-CLASS: Gordon Wood, History in Context (The Weekly Standard); Social Media responses to Wood
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Week 16: The Founding in Popular Culture II

M (12/11): The Hamilton Moment
Why Hamilton? What is the relationship between the musical and both history and politics? How has the musical been critiqued?
READ: Freeman, Will the Real Hamilton Please Stand Up? 255-262; Reed, Hamilton: The Musical
(Counterpunch); Monteiro, Race-Conscious Casting and the Erasure of the Black Past in Lin-Manuel Miranda's
Hamilton, 89-98
WATCH: Hamiltons America (PBS)
LISTEN: Hamilton: An American Musical Soundtrack (Alexander Hamilton, My Shot); The JuntoCast, Extra!, Ep. 3:
The Hamilton Moment [recommended]

W (12/13): The Revolution and American Exceptionalism Today

What is the relationship between the Revolution and American exceptionalism? Who believes it and who doesnt and why?
What is the place of the Revolution in American national identity today?
READ: Zuckerman, Conclusion: Beyond the Rebirth of the Revolution, 311-318; Rogers, When Was the Last Time
You Loved America?; Owen, Was the American Revolution a Good Thing?; Matthews, 3 Reasons Why the
American Revolution Was A Mistake (Vox)
SKYPE GUEST: Kenneth Owen, Assistant Professor of History, University of Illinois at Springfield

Week 17: Conclusion

M (12/18): Conclusion / Final Paper Due
How might we go about synthesizing this course and how we think about the changing role and nature of the collective memory of
the American Revolution as the United States national origins myth?