The Great American Etch-a-Sketch: How Originalist Judges Misuse History

As Peter Bennett shows in this paper, efforts to rewrite histories of the United States and interpret them in ways that suit a contemporary ideology did not begin over the past decade. “Each politician or political party has their own set of beliefs based on modern facts rather than history,” Bennett writes. Because historical figures such as the Founding Fathers had complex and often contradictory beliefs, it is “almost impossible to make correct statements about them as a whole.” Bennett argues that “the duty of interpretation” lies with us. When it comes to American history, in other words, there are not objective facts or definitive narratives, but rather histories of interpretation and debate.