Progressive historians like Charles Beard… went to great lengths to discredit the work of America’s first published historian, George Bancroft. The Nationalist school of American history revered our Founders and proclaimed American exceptionalism. Beard argued that America’s founding ideals were nothing more than a clever disguise for our true inspiration, greed. The New Left revisionism that pervades historiography today is a mere continuation of Beard’s fundamentally flawed concept- America really isn’t that great….
Great men, not demigods
Neo-Nationalism is a historical school of thought… that strives to reconcile two wildly opposed views of America’s past. Common ground is sought within the discipline- social, political, military historical study working in concert to preserve the common threads that bind all Americans together…
- America’s founding ideals are exceptional- and are standards that are difficult to attain- our history is comprised of the struggle to uphold these ideals.
- The Founders were extraordinary men- but not infallible… we have to learn from their example- good and bad.
- The history of America is not the story of class struggle- the silent masses played a vital role in our history and their stories should be told- but not through Marxist constructs.
- History should be popular. Our past must be understood by the citizenry- historical studies targeted only at academics cannot be how we measure the discipline. There is a way to make history insightful and enjoyable.
We cannot escape history…
Reblogged this on Nothing Gilded, Nothing Gained–Books & Writing at Middlemay Farm.
As a history buff myself — why else would i love this blog? — I have noticed that history is one of the few academic disciplines equally attacked by both Right and Left. It makes such a pragmatic approach as the one you have discussed very welcomed indeed.