Person

Michael D. Hattem

Bylines

partner

When Profit Met Protest in Colonial New York

Economic self-interest shaped how New Yorkers responded to British taxes and imperial crackdowns.

by Michael D. Hattem, Livia Gershon via JSTOR Daily on February 23, 2026
The Revolution at 250: A Conversation

What are the most important insights historians have offered about the American Revolution in the decades since the Bicentennial?

by Kathleen DuVal, Leslie M. Harris, Serena Zabin, T. H. Breen, Michael D. Hattem via Journal of the Early Republic
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on December 15, 2024
partner

A Nation Is a Living Thing

In the 1920s, many in the U.S. fought for a living Constitution. Plenty of others wanted it dead.

by Michael D. Hattem via HNN on August 6, 2024
A Means to an End

The intertwined history of education, history, and patriotism in the United States.

by Michael D. Hattem via Lapham’s Quarterly on December 23, 2022
Interpretations of the Past

How the study of historical memory created a new reckoning with the creation of “American history."

by Michael D. Hattem, Max Pierce via Public Seminar on July 25, 2022
partner

Revisionist History is an American Political Tradition

The founding generation revised the country’s history to make the new nation work.

by Michael D. Hattem via Made By History on September 23, 2020
partner

What Attorney General Barr Gets Wrong About the American Revolution

The revolutionaries were fighting against arbitrary power and for checks and balances.

by Michael D. Hattem via Made By History on November 22, 2019
Patriotism, Partisanship, and “The Star-Spangled Banner”: A View from the Early Republic

Music continues to hold an allure for elites seeking to politicize patriotism in support of their privilege.

by Michael D. Hattem, Billy Coleman via The Junto on September 28, 2017

Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution

Michael D. Hattem

The Memory of '76: The Revolution in American History

Michael D. Hattem

Viewing 1–6 of 6

Images of Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln.

Walt Whitman, Abraham Lincoln, and the “Terrible Duties” of Democracy

Abraham Lincoln’s faith in the Declaration of Independence ultimately influenced Walt Whitman’s harsh but optimistic appraisal of the American experiment.

by Ryan Reft via The Saturday Evening Post on March 31, 2026

Protestors use the celebrated Hamilton lyric, “Immigrants: We Get the Job Done” to protest the first inauguration of President Donald Trump.

“The Premise of Our Founding”: Immigration and Popular Mythmaking

On the tension between celebratory rhetoric and restrictive policy surrounding immigration.

by Connie Thomas via The Panorama on February 24, 2025

Lady Columbia drawing from 1890.

Before Lady Liberty, There Was Lady Columbia, America's First National Mascot

The forgotten figure symbolized the hopes—and myths—of the early United States.

by Cari Shane via Smithsonian Magazine on August 30, 2023

Yellow house where George Washington stayed while in Barbados.

George Washington in Barbados?

How the Caribbean colony contributed to America's fight for independence.

by Erica Johnson Edwards via Age of Revolutions on January 30, 2023

Regulus, painting by J.M.W. Turner, c. 1828.

It’s Time for Some Game Theory

Experiencing history in Assassin’s Creed.

by Caroline Wazer via Lapham’s Quarterly on November 8, 2021

Patchwork collage of Joe Biden and Ulysses Grant.

All the President’s Historians

Joe Biden has met with scholars to discuss his presidency and likely legacy—but what are we to make of his special relationship with historian Jon Meacham?

by Daniel N. Gullotta via The Bulwark on April 20, 2021

brought to you by

© Bunk History