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William Basileios Chriss's avatar

It's time for HWB's multi-volume history of the U.S. a la Will Durant...

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Jake Peterson's avatar

Brands pitched the idea of writing a multi-volume history of the U.S. a la Will Durant, and his publisher mocked him for it. In response, Brands secretly wrote a 6-volume history of the U.S., which he calls America: Its Lives and Times. The series is comprised of his biographies of Franklin, Jackson, Grant, TR, FDR, and Reagan. He has spoken about it on several different podcasts. However, perhaps it would be best if he wrote an in-depth Substack article detailing his unofficial history of the United States

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DENNIS B MURPHY's avatar

The trump administration is trying to have it both ways

They cannot by law. Go back to the confederate, soldiers, names

So they find similar names from military history. So they can use the same names again. And their base thinks that they did what was wanted and returned it to the original name

It's all performative theater

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Lyle Smith's avatar

It doesn’t matter thanks to the 1st amendment. Trump can say his thing for 4 years and a UT historian can say what they want as long as they live. Qin China did not have a first amendment.

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DENNIS B MURPHY's avatar

1776 Project is indeed an attempt to "propagandize" history from a political viewpoint.

On of my favorite college courses as a freshman in 1978 was 300 level History of Modern China taught by an elderly Korean professor who actually met several of the key players in Chinese history like Chou En-lai.

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Frank Millikan's avatar

Or, you might view the 1776 Project as an attempt to counter the propaganda of the numerous Whiggish histories that preceded it. And why would we want to go back to the old Confederate names of military bases and such.

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DENNIS B MURPHY's avatar

What is actually the wiggish propaganda history that you're referring to?

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Frank Millikan's avatar

Sorry: I meant to say the 1619 Project and the multitude of Whiggish histories that preceded it (and often celebrated 1776 without sufficient acknowledgment of slavery).

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