Who Owns the Revolution? A Public Historian Reviews Fighting Over the Founders
Andrew Schocket’s Fighting Over the Founders tackles the complex terrain of memory and mythmaking surrounding the American Revolution, and it does so with clarity, insight, and a willingness to confront the uncomfortable truths of how we manipulate history. This book isn’t just a catalog of Revolutionary imagery—it’s a dissection of the cultural and political agendas that shape how we invoke the past.
Schocket frames his analysis through two primary lenses: "essentialists" and "organicists." The former cling to a static, almost sacred narrative of the Founders as infallible, while the latter emphasize a more flexible and inclusive interpretation of the Revolution’s legacy. This framework is a clever way to organize the sprawling debate over historical memory, though it sometimes oversimplifies the nuances of each camp. Nevertheless, it offers an excellent starting point for understanding why the American Revolution remains such a hotly contested symbol.
What makes this book particularly compelling for public historians is Schocket’s focus on how popular culture—museums, films, political speeches, even theme parks—packages the Revolution for mass consumption. He shows us that the Revolution is not just remembered; it’s commodified, reinterpreted, and, all too often, distorted for political or financial gain. Schocket’s critique of sanitized historical narratives, such as those found at major heritage sites, aligns with the urgent need for public history to challenge these myths rather than perpetuate them.
Where the book truly shines is in its ability to connect the memory of the Revolution to today’s political culture. Schocket makes the case that the way we remember the Founders says less about them and more about us. The persistent veneration of white, male elites reflects not just a historical preference but an active political choice—a choice that reinforces a narrow, exclusionary vision of American identity. This is where Fighting Over the Founders becomes not just a history book but a call to action for public historians. If we are serious about accountability and fidelity to the past, we must confront the ways in which these myths are weaponized in the present.
That said, the book is not without its weaknesses. Schocket occasionally pulls his punches, perhaps to avoid alienating readers who might see themselves in the essentialist camp. While this approach may broaden the book’s appeal, it sometimes feels like a missed opportunity to fully deconstruct the more pernicious aspects of Revolutionary mythmaking. Moreover, while the focus on popular culture is a strength, there is less attention paid to the voices actively excluded from these narratives—Indigenous peoples, women, and enslaved people—though Schocket does gesture toward this exclusion.
Ultimately, Fighting Over the Founders is an indispensable read for anyone interested in how the past is remembered, manipulated, and mobilized. For public historians, it’s a reminder of the stakes involved in our work and the necessity of challenging comfortable myths with honest history. Schocket doesn’t solve the problem of how to remember the American Revolution, but he shows us why the fight over its memory is so urgent—and why we must keep fighting.
