Departments

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Revisionist History

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    10/19/2020

    1619, Revisited

    by Nicholas Guyatt

    Argument isn’t an obstacle to the work of historians; it is the work of historians. Public interest in 1619 has suggested something truly profound: that Americans have the capacity to think differently about their history. 

  • 9/24/2020

    The White House Conference on History

    by HNN Staff

    On September 17, Constitution Day, the White House convened a panel discussion of the importance of history to the nation, devoting strong criticism to recent trends emphasizing the importance of racism to the founding and development of the nation.

  • SOURCE: Historical Horizons (Calvin University)
    9/23/2020

    I Rise to Speak In Favor of the Discipline I Taught

    by Bob Schoone-Jongen

    A retired history professor from a leading Christian institution rejects the premise that the historian's obligation is to promote a patriotic view of the past. 

  • SOURCE: The Bulwark
    9/23/2020

    Donald Trump’s Bizarre History Conference

    by Ron Radosh

    "There is good history and bad history, and either can be written by historians on the left or on the right. There is no such thing as left-wing history or right-wing history. There is only historical research and the conclusions drawn from evidence."

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    9/21/2020

    A Historian Takes on Trump's View of American History

    by Edward L. Ayers

    "I have practiced history for most of the half-century in which these wars over history have been waged — and I have yet to meet anyone who works to destroy the United States."

  • SOURCE: The New Yorker
    9/21/2020

    Why We Keep Reinventing Abraham Lincoln

    Adam Gopnik considers new books about Lincoln by David S. Reynolds and Sidney Blumenthal that address the personality and governing of the 16th president. 

  • SOURCE: The New Yorker
    5/18/2020

    Is Capitalism Racist?

    Nicholas Lemann considers Walter Johnson's new book The Broken Heart of America in light of recent debates among historians about the relationship of slavery, capitalism and racism.