Historians Reclaim the Radical Legacy of the American Revolution
A wave of new books and a Ken Burns documentary series are reexamining the American Revolution's legacy amid contemporary political turmoil. Jill Lepore's 'We the People' argues that the Constitution's amendment process has been stymied by slavery and partisan gridlock, while Andrew David Edwards's 'Money and the Making of the American Revolution' highlights colonial protests over currency and debt. Richard Bell and Sarah M. S. Pearsall emphasize the global dimensions of the war, and Thomas Richards Jr. and Nathan Perl-Rosenthal trace the Revolution's unfinished business through the Civil War. Burns's PBS series 'The American Revolution' focuses on battles and landscapes, downplaying politics. Historians like Johann Neem and Frank Cogliano draw parallels between Trump's actions and British tyranny. The essay, published in Boston Review, argues that the Revolution's radical potential—embodied in protests, amendments, and abolitionist rhetoric—remains relevant today.
Key facts
- Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt directed a six-part PBS series 'The American Revolution' (2025).
- Jill Lepore's 'We the People' (2025) examines the Constitution's amendment process, noting only 17 amendments since 1791.
- Andrew David Edwards's 'Money and the Making of the American Revolution' (2025) focuses on colonial currency protests.
- Richard Bell's 'The American Revolution and the Fate of the World' (2025) and Sarah M. S. Pearsall's 'Freedom Round the Globe' (2026) highlight global impacts.
- Thomas Richards Jr.'s 'The Unfinished Business of 1776' (2026) traces revolutionary struggles through Reconstruction.
- Nathan Perl-Rosenthal's 'The Long Revolution' (2026) analyzes Fourth of July orations and the concept of an ongoing revolution.
- Historian Johann Neem compared Trump's actions to British tyranny in the Journal of the Early Republic.
- The essay cites Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech and the Black Panther Party's use of the Declaration of Independence.
Entities
Artists
- Ken Burns
- Sarah Botstein
- David Schmidt
- Jill Lepore
- Andrew David Edwards
- Richard Bell
- Sarah M. S. Pearsall
- Thomas Richards Jr.
- Nathan Perl-Rosenthal
- Johann Neem
- Frank Cogliano
- Frederick Douglass
- Abigail Adams
- Phillis Wheatley
- Samson Occom
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Richard Rorty
- Hannah Arendt
- Charles Beard
- Bernard Bailyn
- Edmund Morgan
- Gordon Wood
- T. H. Breen
- Richard Hofstadter
- John Dickinson
- Benjamin Franklin
- Alexander Hamilton
- George Washington
- Thomas Jefferson
- William Lloyd Garrison
- Eugene Debs
- W. E. B. Du Bois
- Staughton Lynd
- Louis Hartz
- Calvin Coolidge
- Warren G. Harding
- Phyllis Schlafly
- Birch Bayh
- Brendan McConville
- Rick Atkinson
- Joseph J. Ellis
- Stacy Schiff
- Geoffrey Ward
Institutions
- Boston Review
- PBS
- Florentine Films
- WETA
- Liveright
- Princeton University Press
- Riverhead Books
- Doubleday
- The New Press
- Basic Books
- Journal of the Early Republic
- International Center for Jefferson Studies
- New York Times
- American Historical Association
- Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society
- British East India Company
- Black Panther Party
- PragerU
- White House
- MAGA
- Tea Party
- Supreme Court
- Congress
Locations
- United States
- Philadelphia
- Boston
- Virginia
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- Kentucky
- Texas
- California
- Minnesota
- Washington D.C.
- St. Kitts
- Edinburgh
- Quebec
- Anomabu
- Haiti
- Europe
- North America
- British Caribbean
- England
- France