We do think we know the Revolutionary War. We grow up hearing about it year after year in class, and celebrate our foundings with fireworks every July 4th. And yet, much of what we believe we know is not true. What is the traditional story of this era? How does the picture of our “founding fathers” painted by Zinn, Loewen, Brands, and Lepore differ from the stories we often learn in history courses? Indeed, after completing the assignments over the War for Independence and the creation of the constitution, what do you believe this era was truly about? What does Zinn argue about the ultimate causes of the war and the drafting of the constitution to be? Do you agree with him? Why or why not? And what are the far-reaching consequences for us today of the continuing mythologies surrounding this time and how they are canonized in the popular mind?
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