Episode 3: The Battle to Define America’s Past

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I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning

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of its creed that all men are created equal.

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Any attempt to engage in revisionist history, the American people will not put up with it.

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The idea held by generations of citizens who believe that loving this country

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requires more than singing its praises.

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It requires the occasional disruption, the willingness to speak out for what

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is right. The crusade against American history is toxic propaganda, ideological poison.

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The House has voted to remove statues of Confederate leaders from the Capitol building.

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The Trump administration is conducting a review of the Smithsonian Museums.

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It says it's trying to ensure that, quote, truth and sanity is reflected in

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the exhibits about U.S. history.

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Why do people have such conflicting views of American history?

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What is revisionist history? And why does it have such a bad reputation?

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And what do we make of this current idea of patriotic history?

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The battle to define America's past. On this episode of History, you can use.

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Welcome to History You Can Use. I'm Brian Thomas. Does it seem like we have

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more debates about history these days?

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A lot of people who argue about political issues like to claim history as the

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basis for their political beliefs, and they criticize those who don't share

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their view of that history.

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But why is history so open to interpretation?

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And on that note, what exactly is revisionist history, and why do so many people

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use that term as a way to criticize the views of others?

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What about this newer term that we hear, patriotic history? What does that mean?

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Our search for answers begins with a stroll down the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

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Several years ago, on a chilly spring morning, my family and I took a walk down

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the National Mall, starting at the West End and admiring the stoic face of old Honest Abe.

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Leaving the Lincoln Memorial and walking east, we passed the hallowed site of

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the black granite wall that is the Vietnam War Memorial, and then traced the

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reflecting pool up to the World War II Memorial,

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and found ourselves standing in the shadow of the towering Washington Monument.

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Looking north from this spot, you see the White House, while to the south,

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it's possible to catch just a glimpse of the Jefferson Memorial.

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This half of the National Mall is not particularly controversial,

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No one doubts the greatness of Presidents Lincoln or Washington,

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or argues against honoring service members who fought in the nation's wars.

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But as you continue on this path, by crossing 15th Street Northwest,

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you can't help but feel you're crossing into a less unified version of the nation's past.

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This is the half of the mall bounded by the many buildings of the Smithsonian Institution.

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Ah, the Smithsonian. That esteemed jewel of the American people that is tasked

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with preserving the nation's history, among other things.

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And that holds over 150 million historical and scientific artifacts and works of art.

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The first Smithsonian building encountered on our journey was the National Museum

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of African American History and Culture.

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It's an impressive building with a bronze-colored facade and a three-tiered

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structure with walls of reflective windows.

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As we stood there admiring that beautiful building, we overheard a woman about

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six feet away, quote, I don't understand.

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Why do we need a museum of African-American history?

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History is history, end quote. Depending on your background and beliefs,

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you might interpret this woman's comment in various ways. But let's take it

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in its most literal sense.

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In one view, this unknown person is correct.

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All of humanity across all different forms of diversity is interconnected and

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forms one large ever-unfolding story of the world.

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In short, history is history.

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But then there's that question, why do we need a museum of African American history?

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I think the most helpful way to explore this woman's question is by defining

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the differences between descriptive and interpretive history.

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I know, it might sound like a boring vocabulary lesson is coming, but bear with me.

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In short, descriptive history is what it sounds like.

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It defines the who, what, when, where, and how of the past.

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And this is most likely the history you learned in school.

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And it's not usually controversial.

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To give you an example, I'm going to call on President Franklin Roosevelt.

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December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy,

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the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval

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and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

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The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage.

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To American naval and military forces.

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I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost.

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We can view President Roosevelt's most famous speech as descriptive history.

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It's a statement that accurately describes the who, the Japanese Empire and

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the United States, the when, December 7, 1941, the what, an attack that caused

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significant damage and loss of life,

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The how, naval and air forces, and the where, Hawaiian Islands.

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More specifically, Pearl Harbor.

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Sure, Roosevelt had a certain bias in his speech, as you might expect,

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calling it a date that will live in infamy.

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But no one disputes that the facts of his speech are generally correct.

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You might have noticed, however, there's one essential question not answered

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in Roosevelt's statement. Why?

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That can be a difficult question to answer, and this is where interpretive history

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comes into the equation.

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Interpretive history is essentially the effort to define the whys of the past.

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Returning to our example, one could ask, why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor?

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Now that's an interesting question, and if you went to school in the United

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States, chances are you didn't spend much time talking about that.

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We can continue with World War II examples and ask, why did the German people follow Adolf Hitler?

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Or, why did the U.S. drop atomic bombs on Japan?

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We'll come back to that last question later.

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Effectively answering these questions allows us to learn the critical lessons

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from the past and to use them in the present and the future.

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Remember the sage words of Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana,

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quote, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

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Understanding why Japan bombed Pearl Harbor may provide valuable insights for

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diplomacy and understanding why the German people followed Hitler can help ensure

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those circumstances never happen again.

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Interpretive history is critically important and primarily falls to historians

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who spend their lives poring through archives and analyzing evidence,

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debating at conferences, publishing papers,

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you know, all of those things that tend to be very academic and outside the view of most people.

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But interpretive history can also be highly controversial.

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Let's back up and talk for just a minute about the history of history.

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And that might sound strange, but just like any other academic subject,

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the study of history changes over time.

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The writing of history has been around at least since the ancient Greeks and Romans.

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But the professional study of history, with universities granting degrees and

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faculty hired full-time to research and write about historical topics?

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That didn't come along until shortly before the beginning of the 20th century,

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and that was a time when science, too, was coming into its own in a very similar

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way, and objectivity was the gold standard of all academics.

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Many professional historians at the turn of the century believed that through

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research and discussion, an objective view of the past was possible and should

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be the goal of their field.

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And there was a self-correcting mechanism.

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If the established consensus is viewed as the objective truth,

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then challenges to that are easily labeled as wrong or poor scholarship.

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For historians interested in the history of the United States,

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the quote-unquote objective truth was a view of the nation that glorified its victories,

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championed its democratic and republican virtues, and generally supported the

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righteousness of the American people and their causes.

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In short, it embraced and promoted the idea of American exceptionalism.

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Given that this was a time when the country was establishing an overseas empire

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and emerging as a global economic and industrial power.

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This view of the nation's history not only promoted pride in the past,

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but also justified its domestic and internationalism.

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Of course, not everyone agreed on all issues.

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Dissent did occur. But it was

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thought that discussion could resolve the dissent and uncover the truth.

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Let's take the debate on the origins of the American Civil War as an example.

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Although there were a multitude of problems between the northern and southern

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states before the war, including differences in social structure and economics.

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Most of the people at the time understood that these challenges came back in one way or another.

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To the issue of slavery. At the outbreak of the war and immediately after its

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conclusion, no one really doubted that slavery was the cause.

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Consider the recollections of Confederate Colonel John Mosby.

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I noticed that some now say the charge that the South went to war for slavery

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is a slanderous accusation.

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I never heard of any other cause of the quarrel than slavery.

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Even the seceding states themselves didn't hide it as the cause.

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You can read their declarations of secession yourself, if you're interested.

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Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, and so on, emphasize that they

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believe their constitutional rights were in jeopardy, but quickly highlighted

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that the primary right they were concerned about was the continuation of slavery.

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For instance, the second sentence in Mississippi's declaration proclaims,

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quote, our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery,

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the greatest material interest of the world, end quote.

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As you probably already know, this view of the origins of the Civil War is debated. But why?

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Well, shortly after the end of the war, a Virginia journalist published a book

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titled The Lost Cause, A New Southern History of the War of the Confederates.

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In it, he argued that the war was really fought over states' rights,

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and the North was actually the aggressor who sought to impose its culture and

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society on the southern states.

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Slavery was recast as a positive force that helped civilize and provide for

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the care of black slaves,

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while white slaveholders were described as benevolent, and the acts of cruelty

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popularized by northern abolitionists were dismissed as rare and exaggerated.

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In short, according to the Lost Cause, the South fought for morally righteous

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reasons, defended their culture and way of life, and bravely stood up to the northern invaders.

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Southern leaders were described as virtuous, heroic, brilliant commanders,

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while Northern leaders were bloodthirsty, incompetent, and even drunk villains,

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who only won because of their advantages in manpower and industrial division.

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The Lost Cause explanation of the Civil War quickly caught on in the South,

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and many other commentators joined in to expand and promote the idea,

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including the former president of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis.

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By the turn of the 20th century, the South had largely succeeded in pressing

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this view of the history of the Civil War.

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The glorious defenders of the Southern cause were memorialized with statues,

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Government buildings, parks, and military bases bore their names,

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and children were taught to revere their Confederate ancestors.

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But in the North, yeah. Historians and journalists knew this view of the past was highly inaccurate.

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Still, they had conflicting goals. The war was over, and the North had won.

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The focus turned to reintegrating the southern states into the Union,

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and there was a lot of discussion about how best to do that.

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Reconstruction and the military occupation of the South continued for several

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years, and even people in the North began to worry that it might be doing more harm than good.

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The lost cause view was certainly not the consensus in the North.

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But if it helped the South lick their wounds and ease their way back into the Union, then so be it.

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In the early 20th century, with the proliferation of public schools,

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there was a need for textbooks.

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The South was generally in agreement on the lost cause view and the North was conflicted.

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But at that time, textbook manufacturers were simply not going to write,

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publish, and ship multiple versions of a grade school history book.

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And the South was simply not going to allow a book that suggested the Civil War was about slavery.

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So, many of the history books heavily emphasized the lost cause,

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and generations of Americans learned that the Civil War was essentially about

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states' rights, while slavery was relegated to a secondary issue.

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To recap, at the time of the Civil War and immediately after,

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the primary cause was clearly identified as slavery or at least the state's

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rights to decide whether to allow slavery for themselves.

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By the turn of the 20th century, the most prominent explanation for the Civil War was the lost cause.

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And to close the loop on this one, by the end of the 1970s, Most historians

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had reverted to the understanding that slavery was the central issue that tore the states apart.

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You see, historical interpretations change over time. History has a history.

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Now, what does this whole discussion about the origins of the Civil War suggest

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about the idea of a historical, quote-unquote, objective truth?

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In brief, objectivity is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

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Historian Peter Novick once referred to historical objectivity as nailing jelly to the wall.

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I love that analogy. To do justice to Professor Novick, let me give you just

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a bit more of his thinking.

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Quote, historical objectivity is not a single idea, but rather a sprawling collection

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of assumptions, attitudes, aspirations, and antipathies. End quote.

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In other words, historians, just like any other human being,

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see the world through their own lenses, informed by their own experiences,

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and those biases influence the way sources are interpreted, how much weight

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is given to different sources, and how the history of a given topic is written.

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Historians with different perspectives and experiences will,

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by necessity, write different histories.

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By the same token, historians writing in 2026 will write a very different history

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than historians writing in 1926.

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The debate regarding the onset of the Civil War demonstrates how political and

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self-justifying causes can impact the writing of history.

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By the end of World War II, historians generally understood that the idea of

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historical objectivity was a fool's errand.

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But for those who still needed convincing, a reckoning was coming.

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For this next discussion, I'm going to enlist the help of a legendary Hollywood

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film icon, John Wayne. That's what I'm here for.

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.

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When I was growing up, my parents were big John Wayne fans.

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Just in case you aren't familiar, John Wayne made 140 films during his life,

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but he's most remembered for his westerns.

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His most typical role was either as a lawman or a vigilante,

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fighting against outlaws in some small frontier town, or as a military commander,

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fighting against American Indians that were raiding frontier settlements.

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Of course, Wayne's characters were almost always the courageous and self-sacrificing

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heroes who eventually defeated their enemies.

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In films like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and For Apache,

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American Indians were clearly portrayed as the enemy, senselessly murdering

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women and children, and thus, John Wayne's characters were justified in fighting and killing them.

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In the popular 1956 film The Searchers, Wayne's character, Ethan Edwards,

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provides an excellent example of this.

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Given copyright laws, I can't play the quote, so I'll do my best to recreate it.

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A human rides a horse until it dies. Then he goes on afoot.

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A Comanche comes along, gets that horse up, rides him 20 more miles, and then eats him.

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Close enough. If you followed that, he basically said there are humans and then there are Comanches.

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Their behavior, in his mind, essentially justified categorizing Comanches as subhuman.

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And it wasn't just John Wayne movies.

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The famous Errol Flynn film, They Died With Their Boots On, glorified the heroics

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of General George Armstrong Custer and portrayed a valiant last stand against rampaging Indians.

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And then there's the epic 1962 film, How the West Was Won, which portrayed Indians

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as the quote-unquote noble savages.

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Sure, they were fighting for a noble cause, but they were savages nonetheless.

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And this list could go on for a while.

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Oh, and just a quick note here. I'm using the term American Indian instead of

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Native American for a few reasons.

00:19:51.138 --> 00:19:55.878
The term Native means different things at different eras in history,

00:19:55.878 --> 00:20:00.178
a point that will be made clear in a future episode looking at immigration.

00:20:00.538 --> 00:20:05.798
And several contemporary sources document that indigenous peoples generally

00:20:05.798 --> 00:20:07.338
find both terms acceptable.

00:20:07.618 --> 00:20:12.258
So I'm going to use the term American Indian, but no disrespect is intended

00:20:12.258 --> 00:20:14.178
to those who prefer another term.

00:20:14.698 --> 00:20:19.478
Okay, back to our discussion. During the first half of the 20th century,

00:20:19.798 --> 00:20:24.558
the history of the United States primarily was written by white males who remained

00:20:24.558 --> 00:20:29.958
invested in promoting the righteousness of the American people and the glory of their successes.

00:20:30.518 --> 00:20:33.518
And Hollywood films reflected that perspective.

00:20:34.547 --> 00:20:39.987
By the end of the 1950s, however, the United States found itself in the throes

00:20:39.987 --> 00:20:43.847
of social upheaval, and the pressures came from numerous directions.

00:20:44.507 --> 00:20:48.887
Continuing with the discussion of American Indians, people from within those

00:20:48.887 --> 00:20:52.327
cultures began writing histories and telling their perspectives,

00:20:52.767 --> 00:20:55.927
such as Vine Deloria Jr. and Joseph Medicine Crow.

00:20:56.567 --> 00:21:02.467
Their voices significantly influenced and changed the histories being written,

00:21:03.087 --> 00:21:04.967
including those by white authors.

00:21:05.427 --> 00:21:08.427
Most famously, in 1970, D.

00:21:08.587 --> 00:21:12.467
Brown published a book entitled Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,

00:21:12.667 --> 00:21:15.107
An Indian History of the American West.

00:21:15.407 --> 00:21:19.747
In it, Brown discusses topics such as the relentless hunting and destruction

00:21:19.747 --> 00:21:24.187
of the bison population on the Great Plains, the numerous treaties that the U.S.

00:21:24.387 --> 00:21:29.967
Entered into with Indian peoples and then repeatedly broke, and the massacres

00:21:29.967 --> 00:21:33.707
that the Indian peoples suffered at the hands of the U.S. military.

00:21:34.267 --> 00:21:39.447
From the American Indian perspective, their peoples heroically fought to preserve

00:21:39.447 --> 00:21:41.207
their way of life, and U.S.

00:21:41.347 --> 00:21:44.987
Westward expansion was an invasion of sovereign territory.

00:21:45.587 --> 00:21:51.287
Therefore, the United States might be viewed as destroyers of Indian culture

00:21:51.287 --> 00:21:55.747
or even the rampaging savages who killed women and children.

00:21:56.247 --> 00:22:01.027
By the 1980s, these voices were integrated into the histories of the United

00:22:01.027 --> 00:22:05.947
States in various ways, and by authors of different cultural backgrounds.

00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:17.260
It wasn't just American Indian voices that were elevated.

00:22:17.620 --> 00:22:22.560
Black historians began emphasizing a deeper understanding of the plight of slaves

00:22:22.560 --> 00:22:25.720
prior to the Civil War and the impact of Jim Crow.

00:22:26.280 --> 00:22:31.080
If you're not familiar, Jim Crow is a term used to describe the systematic efforts

00:22:31.080 --> 00:22:35.860
to disempower freed slaves and their descendants that occurred in the decades

00:22:35.860 --> 00:22:37.640
around the turn of the 20th century.

00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.920
The problem for many black historians, as well as American Indian historians,

00:22:43.260 --> 00:22:46.720
is that their voices from the past often weren't written down.

00:22:47.220 --> 00:22:51.580
In most slave states, it was illegal to teach a slave to read or write,

00:22:51.760 --> 00:22:56.700
and most American Indian languages didn't have a system for writing until well

00:22:56.700 --> 00:22:58.340
after contact with Europeans.

00:22:58.980 --> 00:23:02.580
This meant historians were forced to rely on an oral tradition,

00:23:02.980 --> 00:23:06.660
or the recounting of stories passed down from one generation to the next.

00:23:07.540 --> 00:23:12.480
Unfortunately, this type of historical evidence has a long history of being

00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.060
easily dismissed by the academic community.

00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:20.400
The most common criticism is that it's basically like a really long game of

00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:26.200
telephone, where a factual story often is gradually changed over time the more

00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:28.800
it is passed from one person to the next,

00:23:29.120 --> 00:23:35.300
eventually making it unclear which parts of the story are accurate and which parts aren't.

00:23:35.300 --> 00:23:41.400
But discounting all oral history effectively means discounting the voices of

00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:46.560
many ethnic minorities, women, the uneducated, and many other groups that have

00:23:46.560 --> 00:23:48.500
been marginalized throughout history.

00:23:49.941 --> 00:23:55.321
One famous event perfectly demonstrates the hazard of dismissing oral history.

00:23:55.461 --> 00:23:57.901
Did Thomas Jefferson father children with a slave?

00:23:58.341 --> 00:24:03.481
New evidence shines light on that historical question. Since the early 1800s,

00:24:03.921 --> 00:24:08.421
rumors circulated that Thomas Jefferson, that pivotal founding father of the

00:24:08.421 --> 00:24:13.481
United States, had fathered children with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings.

00:24:14.261 --> 00:24:19.321
Jefferson's allies claimed such allegations were no more than attempts to smear Jefferson's name.

00:24:19.941 --> 00:24:25.361
Historians throughout much of America's past rejected the allegations as Jefferson

00:24:25.361 --> 00:24:28.861
was the acclaimed author of the Declaration of Independence,

00:24:28.861 --> 00:24:33.801
who established the American ideal that all men are created equal.

00:24:34.101 --> 00:24:39.561
If he fathered children with a slave, what might that say about not just Jefferson,

00:24:39.861 --> 00:24:42.181
but America's founding principles?

00:24:42.661 --> 00:24:47.801
Besides, as I mentioned, oral history was easily dismissed, and that was the

00:24:47.801 --> 00:24:51.081
only real evidence that Jefferson fathered Hemings' children.

00:24:51.641 --> 00:24:56.421
But the descendants of Sally Hemings continued to pass down the stories from

00:24:56.421 --> 00:24:58.281
one generation to the next.

00:24:58.861 --> 00:25:04.921
In 1997, Annette Gordon-Reed published a book where she cross-checked the claims

00:25:04.921 --> 00:25:09.081
of Hemings' descendants with official records and Jefferson's papers,

00:25:09.301 --> 00:25:13.881
and found that the oral history was generally supported by these documents.

00:25:14.261 --> 00:25:19.801
For example, the conception of Hemings' children matched the timing of when

00:25:19.801 --> 00:25:22.541
Jefferson was present at his home, Monticello.

00:25:23.537 --> 00:25:28.497
Gordon Reed's research convinced many historians, and there was one relatively

00:25:28.497 --> 00:25:32.077
new scientific technique that could help answer the question.

00:25:32.477 --> 00:25:38.217
In 1998, DNA analysis showed that, with a high level of probability,

00:25:39.017 --> 00:25:41.697
Jefferson was the father of Hemings' children.

00:25:42.577 --> 00:25:48.617
Scientific innovation supported an oral history, and historians gained new respect

00:25:48.617 --> 00:25:51.117
for evidence derived from an oral tradition.

00:25:51.917 --> 00:25:58.117
And along with it, the voices of underrepresented groups were validated as never before.

00:26:04.877 --> 00:26:08.757
Not only were marginalized perspectives gaining new respect,

00:26:09.057 --> 00:26:11.797
but the topics of historical attention changed.

00:26:12.417 --> 00:26:16.937
Until the end of World War II, most histories focused on presidents and the

00:26:16.937 --> 00:26:22.497
Congress, international relations, wars, the economy, maybe westward expansion.

00:26:22.797 --> 00:26:28.297
But the rise of minority voices forced historians to ask other questions.

00:26:28.597 --> 00:26:33.497
For instance, what was life like for slaves in the South prior to the Civil

00:26:33.497 --> 00:26:37.037
War, or for freedmen after the Civil War?

00:26:37.157 --> 00:26:42.417
What were the challenges of poor farmers, Coal miners Factory workers Or street

00:26:42.417 --> 00:26:44.577
urchins How about immigrants?

00:26:44.817 --> 00:26:49.437
What were their experiences Of moving to the United States And trying to find their way?

00:26:49.677 --> 00:26:54.917
In short Many historians moved away From focusing on the nation's leaders Or

00:26:54.917 --> 00:26:59.177
the developments that occurred On the national or international stage And they

00:26:59.177 --> 00:27:03.177
started examining What life was like Throughout the country's history For the

00:27:03.177 --> 00:27:07.217
common person What is now known As social history.

00:27:08.657 --> 00:27:14.317
One important subfield of social history that I haven't touched on yet is the history of women.

00:27:15.277 --> 00:27:19.357
During World War II, women joined the workforce in record numbers,

00:27:19.617 --> 00:27:22.397
keeping the factories going while the men went off to fight.

00:27:22.817 --> 00:27:27.997
After the war, Rosie the Riveter wasn't content to simply head back to the family kitchen.

00:27:28.377 --> 00:27:33.097
With a new sense of empowerment, women contributed their perspectives to the

00:27:33.097 --> 00:27:37.437
events of the past, and a new focus emerged on understanding the role of women

00:27:37.437 --> 00:27:38.957
and shaping the country.

00:27:39.617 --> 00:27:44.437
Just like American Indians and black Americans, the perspectives of women had

00:27:44.437 --> 00:27:47.017
not been represented in most written histories.

00:27:47.437 --> 00:27:50.417
But now, their voices couldn't be ignored.

00:27:51.077 --> 00:27:56.317
The history of women crosses all of the boundaries of prior historical study.

00:27:56.977 --> 00:28:00.777
Sure, you could study what life was like for women at different points in the

00:28:00.777 --> 00:28:05.137
past, or the influence of famous women that rarely received attention,

00:28:05.137 --> 00:28:07.777
such as Clara Barton or Susan B. Anthony.

00:28:08.197 --> 00:28:13.557
But women were also present for all of those events that typically had been

00:28:13.557 --> 00:28:14.917
addressed in the history books.

00:28:15.277 --> 00:28:17.297
Their perspectives were just overlooked.

00:28:17.957 --> 00:28:23.077
For instance, if you want to understand the anger and vitriol that led to the

00:28:23.077 --> 00:28:28.737
Civil War, you can't pass over Harriet Beecher Stowe, who, according to legend,

00:28:29.377 --> 00:28:34.457
Abraham Lincoln called, quote, the little woman who wrote the book that made

00:28:34.457 --> 00:28:36.297
this great war, end quote.

00:28:36.757 --> 00:28:39.877
Oh, and that book was Uncle Tom's Cabin.

00:28:40.477 --> 00:28:43.857
If you want to talk about the founding of the American Republic.

00:28:44.677 --> 00:28:49.637
Abigail Adams had some interesting perspectives and influence that are worth

00:28:49.637 --> 00:28:50.977
integrating into that history.

00:28:51.537 --> 00:28:54.917
As a side note, if you're interested in the history of women,

00:28:55.257 --> 00:28:58.197
my recommendation is to start with Abigail Adams.

00:28:58.417 --> 00:29:01.157
She was an absolutely fascinating individual.

00:29:03.220 --> 00:29:08.180
With all of these new and diverse voices, and historians asking questions not

00:29:08.180 --> 00:29:13.140
previously examined, the written histories of the United States changed.

00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:18.220
In other words, the history of the United States was revised.

00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:21.480
And this is revisionist history.

00:29:21.820 --> 00:29:27.460
In its most basic form, it really only means that prior conclusions are being

00:29:27.460 --> 00:29:31.900
updated because new information is available that requires them to be changed.

00:29:32.820 --> 00:29:36.780
It's true that one of the most potent forces of historical revisionism in the

00:29:36.780 --> 00:29:41.520
past 70 years has been the voices of historically marginalized peoples.

00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:46.320
But revisionism can happen for other reasons as well. For one,

00:29:46.800 --> 00:29:49.640
new documents or resources may become available.

00:29:50.120 --> 00:29:55.280
There's a famous episode in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union,

00:29:55.560 --> 00:29:59.440
when Western historians had access to Russian archives.

00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:05.300
Several conclusions regarding the events of the Cold War needed revision once

00:30:05.300 --> 00:30:09.740
historians were able to better understand the perspectives and actions of the Soviets.

00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:16.320
Also, the passage of time allows for a wider lens to see the impact of the events

00:30:16.320 --> 00:30:22.620
of the past, and political shifts can result in changed interpretations of those events.

00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:29.020
Going back to the Civil War example, the Lost Cause view was itself revisionist,

00:30:29.020 --> 00:30:33.600
when it was first proposed, and it was the result of political motivations.

00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:39.080
When it fell out of favor in the 1960s, and historians actively highlighted

00:30:39.080 --> 00:30:42.540
the evidence against it, it was the peak of the civil rights era,

00:30:42.780 --> 00:30:48.060
and acknowledging the country's history of slavery and oppression was politically expedient.

00:30:48.580 --> 00:30:55.020
So, does that make claims that slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War revisionist?

00:30:55.020 --> 00:31:01.040
Or was it a return to the original view and the dispelling of the revisionist

00:31:01.040 --> 00:31:04.560
lost cause or was it both?

00:31:19.728 --> 00:31:23.728
When I was in graduate school, I took a course on the progressive era.

00:31:23.968 --> 00:31:31.948
For those not familiar with that term, it corresponds roughly to the 30 years between 1890 and 1920.

00:31:32.908 --> 00:31:37.288
During that time, the women's suffrage movement gained steam and ultimately

00:31:37.288 --> 00:31:40.708
led to the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.

00:31:41.248 --> 00:31:47.128
The labor movement became more organized, and battles over unions dominated economic discussions.

00:31:47.648 --> 00:31:53.368
Race relations were at their lowest point, and Jim Crow legalized segregation and discrimination.

00:31:53.768 --> 00:31:58.488
And the list could go on. The establishment of public education and social welfare

00:31:58.488 --> 00:32:02.008
services, Prohibition, the peak of immigration.

00:32:02.628 --> 00:32:08.268
During the progressive era, American society fundamentally shifted in numerous ways.

00:32:08.568 --> 00:32:12.308
In that course I took, we discussed all of these topics.

00:32:12.888 --> 00:32:18.048
What was missing from the syllabus, though, included the assassination of President

00:32:18.048 --> 00:32:23.148
William McKinley, the Spanish-American War, the opening of the Panama Canal,

00:32:23.688 --> 00:32:25.028
the expansion of the U.S.

00:32:25.108 --> 00:32:30.288
Navy, and the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. The present conditions of business

00:32:30.288 --> 00:32:33.308
cannot be accepted as satisfactorily. I know, Teddy.

00:32:33.508 --> 00:32:37.828
But the course was decidedly focused on the social history of the progressive

00:32:37.828 --> 00:32:41.488
era, and not traditional political or diplomatic events.

00:32:42.596 --> 00:32:46.056
Studying history is essentially a zero-sum game.

00:32:46.456 --> 00:32:51.876
Giving time in a class or pages in a book to one topic inherently means another

00:32:51.876 --> 00:32:53.556
topic isn't being covered.

00:32:54.336 --> 00:32:59.236
Somebody, somewhere, is making the determination of what should receive attention

00:32:59.236 --> 00:33:02.096
and, therefore, what can be left out.

00:33:02.556 --> 00:33:06.316
Many times it's the historian writing the book or developing the course,

00:33:06.676 --> 00:33:11.176
complete with all those biases we talked about earlier, including whether the

00:33:11.176 --> 00:33:16.776
focus should be on the orthodox interpretation of events or integrate revisionist perspectives.

00:33:17.276 --> 00:33:20.616
And there's a decision to be made as to whether to focus on the diplomatic,

00:33:20.916 --> 00:33:24.896
political, economic, or social aspects of the period.

00:33:25.656 --> 00:33:30.216
Those writing curricula for elementary and high schools are faced with the same

00:33:30.216 --> 00:33:32.516
questions and bring in those same biases.

00:33:33.156 --> 00:33:38.876
In effect, those writing histories or curricula must weigh the topics and perspectives

00:33:38.876 --> 00:33:40.516
as more or less important.

00:33:41.236 --> 00:33:45.516
Returning to my course in the progressive era, let's say we wanted to include

00:33:45.516 --> 00:33:48.776
some discussion of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.

00:33:49.076 --> 00:33:53.816
And full disclosure here, I think Theodore Roosevelt is one of the most interesting

00:33:53.816 --> 00:33:55.516
characters in American history.

00:33:56.076 --> 00:34:00.136
But which of the other topics do we take out to make room for Teddy?

00:34:00.656 --> 00:34:07.456
The women's rights movement? Or Jim Crow and the racial animosity of the country? Maybe prohibition.

00:34:08.336 --> 00:34:11.656
Certainly we wouldn't take out the study of immigration and the role of places

00:34:11.656 --> 00:34:14.456
like Ellis Island. Or would we?

00:34:15.736 --> 00:34:19.196
How do we weigh these topics? That's another debate.

00:34:19.736 --> 00:34:24.336
Should we prioritize those events that help us better understand our current day?

00:34:24.496 --> 00:34:27.936
Or should we give preference to those events that provide the most important

00:34:27.936 --> 00:34:33.096
lessons to learn from the past? or should we emphasize those events that instill

00:34:33.096 --> 00:34:36.016
pride in the nation and respect for its accomplishments?

00:34:37.123 --> 00:34:40.803
This is where the debate about revisionist history comes into focus.

00:34:41.443 --> 00:34:46.303
Remember I said that in the early part of the 20th century, historians tended

00:34:46.303 --> 00:34:51.543
to emphasize events that praised America's successes and promoted the idea of

00:34:51.543 --> 00:34:53.063
American exceptionalism?

00:34:54.183 --> 00:35:00.223
Well, the social history that emerged after World War II really changed that narrative.

00:35:00.483 --> 00:35:05.643
I mean, how do you argue that America is a land where all men are created equal,

00:35:05.643 --> 00:35:09.923
after black Americans spread the message of what life was like during slavery

00:35:09.923 --> 00:35:11.783
and while living under Jim Crow.

00:35:12.003 --> 00:35:16.363
The alternative perspective provided by American Indian writers didn't make

00:35:16.363 --> 00:35:18.363
the U.S. government look so righteous.

00:35:19.323 --> 00:35:25.063
In short, these diverse voices and topics of discussion revised the history

00:35:25.063 --> 00:35:30.043
of the U.S., and the result often was a less glorified version of the nation.

00:35:30.423 --> 00:35:36.363
However, as a result, revisionist history was easily painted as unpatriotic

00:35:36.363 --> 00:35:41.803
or even factually flawed because it conflicted with the established orthodoxy.

00:35:42.163 --> 00:35:46.723
And remember, it isn't just about ethnic minority and female voices.

00:35:47.043 --> 00:35:50.103
In August, we made a test that never was applied to Germany.

00:35:50.643 --> 00:35:54.743
While great land, sea, and air forces gathered for the last invasion.

00:35:55.643 --> 00:35:58.163
Our B-29s dropped two atomic bombs.

00:35:58.163 --> 00:36:03.783
One of the fiercest historical debates of the past 60 years revolves around

00:36:03.783 --> 00:36:08.823
the question, was the United States justified in dropping atomic bombs on Japan

00:36:08.823 --> 00:36:10.863
at the end of World War II?

00:36:11.683 --> 00:36:15.063
There's a lot to unpack there, and I'm not going to.

00:36:15.743 --> 00:36:20.143
Suffice to say for our purposes, the orthodox perspective is that the U.S.

00:36:20.263 --> 00:36:24.623
Dropping the bombs resulted in a quicker end to the war, resulting in the U.S.

00:36:24.903 --> 00:36:30.563
Not having to invade Japan and consequently save the lives of hundreds of thousands of U.S.

00:36:30.843 --> 00:36:34.703
Service members and an untold number of Japanese civilians and soldiers.

00:36:35.592 --> 00:36:40.812
The revisionist perspective is that Japan was already on the verge of surrender.

00:36:41.032 --> 00:36:44.572
Its economy and military were in shambles, and the U.S.

00:36:44.692 --> 00:36:48.532
Dropped the bombs to send a political message to the Soviet Union,

00:36:48.652 --> 00:36:52.372
which was already emerging as the post-war rival to the U.S.

00:36:52.672 --> 00:36:56.832
With that background, let me tell you a little story that happened with the

00:36:56.832 --> 00:36:59.712
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

00:36:59.932 --> 00:37:04.492
I know, you wouldn't think the Air and Space Museum would get embroiled in a

00:37:04.492 --> 00:37:06.552
political historical controversy.

00:37:06.972 --> 00:37:11.172
I mean, their job is to exhibit the country's planes and space capsules,

00:37:11.292 --> 00:37:14.452
right? And to tell the story of flight and reaching for the stars.

00:37:14.972 --> 00:37:20.632
But in 1993, the museum found itself in the center of a controversy that reached

00:37:20.632 --> 00:37:23.772
all the way to the White House and the halls of Congress.

00:37:33.980 --> 00:37:40.000
Let me set the stage. In the early 1980s, the Cold War continued to rage,

00:37:40.080 --> 00:37:43.540
and the threat of nuclear war was an omnipresent force.

00:37:44.020 --> 00:37:49.620
Being the only country to ever deploy nuclear weapons, Americans felt a certain

00:37:49.620 --> 00:37:54.840
level of unease about how to discuss or even remember those events.

00:37:55.060 --> 00:38:00.100
After all, the Soviet Union had nuclear missiles pointed at the U.S.

00:38:00.420 --> 00:38:06.060
Did Americans really want to provide a moral justification for using nuclear weapons?

00:38:06.620 --> 00:38:11.180
I'm not saying there was a sense of regret, just unease.

00:38:11.860 --> 00:38:17.580
At the same time, a handful of veterans were urging the Smithsonian to restore

00:38:17.580 --> 00:38:23.820
the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the world's first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.

00:38:24.620 --> 00:38:30.180
The veterans viewed the plane as a point of pride and a symbol of their sacrifice during the war.

00:38:30.620 --> 00:38:36.640
The Smithsonian, aware of the complicated legacy, eventually did begin restoration

00:38:36.640 --> 00:38:40.300
of the plane, but there was uncertainty about how to display it.

00:38:40.640 --> 00:38:44.960
Should it just be housed in a facility for viewing different types of aircraft?

00:38:45.540 --> 00:38:50.860
Or made a part of a larger exhibit? If part of a larger exhibit,

00:38:50.860 --> 00:38:56.180
than what can and should be said about the plane and its place in history.

00:38:56.520 --> 00:39:02.080
After various ideas were considered, in 1993 the Smithsonian decided to make

00:39:02.080 --> 00:39:04.000
an exhibit around the Enola Gay,

00:39:04.360 --> 00:39:10.420
discussing the use of nuclear weapons, and the exhibit was entitled The Crossroads,

00:39:10.700 --> 00:39:16.320
The End of World War II, The Atomic Bomb, and the Origins of the Cold War.

00:39:17.327 --> 00:39:20.687
By this time, the Cold War was over, the U.S.

00:39:20.687 --> 00:39:25.107
And its allies had won, and historians and curators at the Smithsonian believed

00:39:25.107 --> 00:39:29.867
it was possible to engage the public in a larger discussion around the philosophical,

00:39:30.307 --> 00:39:34.187
political, and human dimensions of nuclear weapons.

00:39:34.727 --> 00:39:40.427
In short, the exhibit became one describing the controversy around nuclear weapons,

00:39:40.667 --> 00:39:45.967
including perspectives from all sides, and artifacts from Hiroshima were included

00:39:45.967 --> 00:39:49.147
to demonstrate the impact of a nuclear blast.

00:39:49.807 --> 00:39:56.747
But the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II was only two years away,

00:39:56.787 --> 00:40:00.047
and commemorations were being planned across the country.

00:40:00.667 --> 00:40:04.947
Many veterans felt the Smithsonian's planned exhibit was an insult.

00:40:05.187 --> 00:40:09.467
They wanted to see the plane to recall the glory of the nation's triumph and

00:40:09.467 --> 00:40:14.067
the deadliest war in history, and not make their way through an exhibit analyzing

00:40:14.067 --> 00:40:18.527
whether the plane was in the right or the wrong and dropping the atomic bomb.

00:40:19.267 --> 00:40:23.387
Veterans groups protested. Letters were sent to President Bill Clinton.

00:40:23.787 --> 00:40:27.787
Members of Congress threatened the Smithsonian's funding and called for the

00:40:27.787 --> 00:40:30.167
director of the Air and Space Museum to resign.

00:40:30.707 --> 00:40:35.547
And the press followed the story closely. All World War II veterans and the

00:40:35.547 --> 00:40:42.987
Enola Gay have been prostituted to make a political statement about the horrors of atomic warfare.

00:40:43.287 --> 00:40:48.407
I'm shocked that it's the military groups that are trying to use the anniversary

00:40:48.407 --> 00:40:52.187
to continue the myth that we were justified in dropping the bomb.

00:40:52.267 --> 00:40:56.367
The scripts for the exhibit underwent extensive and repeated revisions,

00:40:56.487 --> 00:41:01.647
which angered many historians and academics who had spent their lives studying the topic.

00:41:02.127 --> 00:41:05.547
One of the curators of the exhibit wrote to his boss,

00:41:05.547 --> 00:41:10.847
Do you want to do an exhibition intended to make veterans feel good,

00:41:10.847 --> 00:41:15.267
or do you want an exhibition that will lead our visitors to think about the

00:41:15.267 --> 00:41:17.807
consequences of the atomic bombing of Japan?

00:41:18.387 --> 00:41:21.067
Frankly, I don't think we can do both.

00:41:22.729 --> 00:41:27.709
In the end, the director of the museum resigned, the Smithsonian canceled the

00:41:27.709 --> 00:41:32.869
exhibition, and the Enola Gay was displayed with simple signage and a few videos

00:41:32.869 --> 00:41:34.829
that described the actions of the plane.

00:41:35.249 --> 00:41:40.269
The Enola Gay controversy demonstrates a number of the conflicting forces we've

00:41:40.269 --> 00:41:41.669
talked about in this episode.

00:41:42.529 --> 00:41:47.589
Historians and curators were planning an exhibit focused on interpretive history,

00:41:47.849 --> 00:41:51.929
asking questions of why and examining long-term implications,

00:41:51.929 --> 00:41:56.989
hoping to engage the public in a discussion that might lead to a deeper understanding

00:41:56.989 --> 00:41:59.309
and identify lessons that might be learned.

00:42:00.009 --> 00:42:05.009
Inherently, this meant listening to diverse opinions and questioning previously

00:42:05.009 --> 00:42:08.509
held beliefs, you know, revisionist history.

00:42:08.789 --> 00:42:13.409
But the opponents of the exhibit were more interested in a descriptive account

00:42:13.409 --> 00:42:17.909
that discussed the heroics of the plane and the men who flew it and that relied

00:42:17.909 --> 00:42:22.869
on a perspective emphasizing American righteousness and victory in the war.

00:42:23.289 --> 00:42:26.629
This view is what historian Michael Sherry called, quote-unquote,

00:42:27.129 --> 00:42:28.769
the patriotic orthodoxy.

00:42:29.109 --> 00:42:34.869
He was writing in 1996, but it's very similar to what we hear today described

00:42:34.869 --> 00:42:38.729
as patriotic history or patriotic education.

00:42:39.009 --> 00:42:45.049
In 2020, President Donald Trump established what was called the 1776 Commission,

00:42:45.309 --> 00:42:48.629
alluding to the year the Declaration of Independence was signed.

00:42:49.430 --> 00:42:55.290
The aim of the commission was, quote, to enable a rising generation to understand

00:42:55.290 --> 00:42:59.970
the history and principles of the founding of the United States, end quote.

00:43:00.150 --> 00:43:03.170
And the commission believed this required, quote,

00:43:03.770 --> 00:43:08.750
a restoration of American education, which can only be grounded on a history

00:43:08.750 --> 00:43:14.310
of those principles that is accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring,

00:43:14.570 --> 00:43:16.610
and ennobling, end quote.

00:43:17.450 --> 00:43:23.110
There's a lot there we could discuss, but let's just focus on the terminology used by the commission.

00:43:23.710 --> 00:43:29.230
The words accurate and honest suggest a return to the belief that there is an

00:43:29.230 --> 00:43:34.270
objective view of history, one where an unbiased truth can be defined.

00:43:34.810 --> 00:43:41.210
The words inspiring and ennobling clearly point to a view of history that exalts

00:43:41.210 --> 00:43:43.690
American exceptionalism and righteousness.

00:43:44.430 --> 00:43:49.870
This is essentially a return to the perspective the historians took prior to World War II.

00:43:50.210 --> 00:43:54.570
And that word unifying is a bit more difficult to define.

00:43:54.730 --> 00:43:59.890
If you read the entire report, what the commission is suggesting is that teaching

00:43:59.890 --> 00:44:06.050
a supposedly objective and patriotic view of American history will serve to

00:44:06.050 --> 00:44:10.490
fill all Americans with a sense of reverence for the country's past and pride

00:44:10.490 --> 00:44:11.470
in its accomplishments.

00:44:12.310 --> 00:44:18.290
In this way, such a history will unify all Americans with a sort of common identity.

00:44:18.870 --> 00:44:25.710
And this leads us back to the question I asked earlier. What is the purpose of history?

00:44:26.798 --> 00:44:31.918
From the perspective of the 1776 Commission, it is clearly to instill pride

00:44:31.918 --> 00:44:34.318
in the nation and respect for its accomplishments.

00:44:34.818 --> 00:44:40.078
Hence the name, patriotic history. But does this approach minimize the ability

00:44:40.078 --> 00:44:42.098
to learn from the mistakes of the past?

00:44:42.438 --> 00:44:46.578
I mean, how do you draw lessons from prior faults if those failings are either

00:44:46.578 --> 00:44:48.798
not discussed or explained away?

00:44:49.198 --> 00:44:54.038
Are minority and female perspectives dismissed or restricted to only those that

00:44:54.038 --> 00:44:55.338
fit the broader narrative?

00:44:56.018 --> 00:44:59.998
On the other side of that coin, it's not hard to see that a history emphasizing

00:44:59.998 --> 00:45:04.898
the shortcomings of a nation can have the effect of fostering anger or even

00:45:04.898 --> 00:45:06.978
shame at the events of the past.

00:45:07.518 --> 00:45:12.718
So do we take one side or the other, or try to find a happy medium?

00:45:13.958 --> 00:45:17.998
Considering all of this background, let me frame a question for you.

00:45:18.818 --> 00:45:22.738
Practically everyone agrees that it's a founding principle of the United States

00:45:22.738 --> 00:45:25.458
that all men are created equal.

00:45:25.878 --> 00:45:29.778
Jefferson wrote that in the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln cited it

00:45:29.778 --> 00:45:31.278
during his Gettysburg Address.

00:45:31.698 --> 00:45:37.758
So my question is, how effective has the U.S. been at living up to that principle?

00:45:38.558 --> 00:45:40.558
I'll give you a second to think about that.

00:45:43.461 --> 00:45:49.521
If you listen to the writers of social histories, the U.S. has not done well in this respect.

00:45:49.981 --> 00:45:54.121
Ethnic minorities will provide clear examples of inequality throughout the country's

00:45:54.121 --> 00:46:00.901
past and present, and female authors will quickly point out that the quote refers only to men.

00:46:01.561 --> 00:46:05.701
They suggest they're showing areas for improvement, pointing out lessons from

00:46:05.701 --> 00:46:09.741
the past, in the hopes that America will one day live up to that ideal.

00:46:10.461 --> 00:46:15.241
However, the patriotic history writers will argue that these social history

00:46:15.241 --> 00:46:20.121
perspectives attack the United States and fail to highlight its successes.

00:46:20.601 --> 00:46:24.901
On this point, they suggest that the phrase, all men are created equal,

00:46:25.161 --> 00:46:30.441
refers to, quote, that human beings are equal in the sense that they are not

00:46:30.441 --> 00:46:36.381
by nature divided into castes with natural rulers and ruled, end quote.

00:46:36.381 --> 00:46:39.841
And that was taken from the 1776 commission report.

00:46:40.481 --> 00:46:44.881
In other words, they maintain that Jefferson's words were meant to do away with

00:46:44.881 --> 00:46:50.201
the idea that God or nature has anointed certain people to be kings or royalty

00:46:50.201 --> 00:46:52.361
and the rest to be subjects.

00:46:52.901 --> 00:46:57.401
In that way, they argue that the U.S. has lived up to this ideal.

00:46:57.721 --> 00:47:02.341
There is no monarchy in the United States and people are capable of moving up

00:47:02.341 --> 00:47:05.861
and down the social and economic ladder.

00:47:06.541 --> 00:47:12.221
So what do you think? Who's right and who's wrong? Is there a right and wrong,

00:47:12.301 --> 00:47:14.201
or is it just a matter of perspective?

00:47:15.249 --> 00:47:19.709
If it's just a matter of perspective, then this takes us back to that stroll

00:47:19.709 --> 00:47:23.929
down the National Mall and that woman standing outside the National Museum of

00:47:23.929 --> 00:47:25.689
African American History and Culture.

00:47:26.209 --> 00:47:32.489
To answer her question, yes, history is history, but we all look at that history

00:47:32.489 --> 00:47:34.789
through our own perspectives and biases.

00:47:35.489 --> 00:47:40.589
And it's not hard to understand that the African American perspective has not

00:47:40.589 --> 00:47:43.749
generally been represented in the histories of the United States.

00:47:43.749 --> 00:47:47.109
Thus a museum where that perspective can be showcased.

00:47:47.489 --> 00:47:52.249
Farther down the mall, there's also a National Museum of the American Indian,

00:47:52.469 --> 00:47:56.209
for the same reason, which is also operated by the Smithsonian.

00:47:56.769 --> 00:48:02.109
There's no physical National Women's History Museum, but there is an online

00:48:02.109 --> 00:48:07.309
museum with ongoing efforts to create a physical building near the National Mall.

00:48:07.309 --> 00:48:13.789
Do these museums, stories, and perspectives enrich the history of the United States?

00:48:13.949 --> 00:48:18.749
Or do they focus on group differences to the detriment of national unity?

00:48:19.229 --> 00:48:22.369
Do they highlight lessons to be learned and ways to improve?

00:48:22.789 --> 00:48:27.109
Or do they encourage people to feel ashamed and resentful toward their country?

00:48:27.729 --> 00:48:31.909
Should social histories of different groups be integrated into the historical

00:48:31.909 --> 00:48:33.149
curricula for children?

00:48:33.969 --> 00:48:38.929
Or should schooling focus on political, economic, and diplomatic events?

00:48:39.589 --> 00:48:44.569
How you answer those questions is up to you. But hopefully, you have a little

00:48:44.569 --> 00:48:49.869
better understanding of how and why the interpretation of history is so debated.

00:48:50.169 --> 00:48:52.469
And that's history you can use.

00:49:05.637 --> 00:49:08.177
History You Can Use is produced and hosted by me, Brian Thomas,

00:49:08.317 --> 00:49:11.897
with the assistance of various historians. Music and sound editing by Beeger Sound Design.

00:49:12.177 --> 00:49:14.777
If you think there's something we didn't get quite right, send us a message

00:49:14.777 --> 00:49:17.077
at mail at historyyoucanuse.com.

00:49:17.177 --> 00:49:19.377
Be sure to include your first name and where you're writing from,

00:49:19.437 --> 00:49:22.297
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00:49:22.537 --> 00:49:25.997
Have a suggestion for a future episode topic? You can drop us an email for that too.

00:49:26.157 --> 00:49:29.617
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00:49:29.617 --> 00:49:32.437
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