HST 149 - Remembering the American Revolution

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement HU.
This course will examine the history of the American Revolution and its lasting resonances in American culture and politics. We will begin by briefly examining the Revolution itself and the ways that it changed - and failed to change - American politics, culture, and society. Then, we will look at some ways that the story of the Revolution was remembered, retold, fictionalized, and even spoofed during the first century after its conclusion. Using sources ranging from newspapers to novels, we will look at the war as moral lesson, as myth, as farce, and as powerful touchstone for a number of social and political movements from anti-slavery and women’s rights to labor activism and partisan politics.