"Don't Tread on Me!": The Spirit of 1776 in U.S. Politics & Culture, From the Constitution to Jan 6

Are the people responsible for the American Revolution demigods or devils? What did they really believe, and what would they think of the United States today? The answers to these questions have been fraught - yet important - since the Revolution. This course explores the many ways in which the memory of the Revolution has been interpreted, appropriated, and remixed. We will explore the politics of memory, interrogate America's relationship to its founding, and study rhetoric from across the political spectrum - from abolitionists to fascists to Hamilton and beyond.