Speakers

Historian Michael D. Hattem discusses his latest book, The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History, a finalist for the 2025 Washington Prize. Hattem's research reveals how conflicts over the meaning and legacy of the Revolution—including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—have influenced the most important events and tumultuous periods in the nation’s […]

In this virtual talk, historian Michael D. Hattem will discuss Americans’ uniquely emotional connection to the memory of the Revolution, its central role in American history as a contested national “origin myth,” and how revising the past is an important and long‑standing American political tradition. Americans agree that their nation’s origins lie in the Revolution, […]