South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Revolution historians clash over the past and present
NEW YORK — Gordon Wood has engaged in many debates during his long and celebrated career, but rarely had he been confronted so starkly as by fellow scholar Woody Holton recently at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
The two American Revolution historians had been billed to discuss their most recent books and their differing views of the country’s origins. But midway through the
60-minute event, the subject turned to The New York Times’ 1619 Project, the Pulitzer Prize-winning series from 2019 that placed slavery at the center of the American narrative. The mood soon resembled less a spirited but academic gathering than a court of law, with Wood on the stand.
Holton’s allegation: Wood’s criticism of the
1619 project, which he and four other historians have condemned for saying the preservation of slavery was a “primary reason” the colonists sought independence, helped make credible the current backlash from such Republican politicians as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, along with school boards around the country.
“You did an open letter putting that project beyond the pale, outside the wire, and making it vulnerable to the attack by these demagogues,” Holton told Wood, who appeared startled but reiterated his criticism of the Times and 1619 project creator Nikole HannahJones even as he acknowledged the language he objected to had since been modified to “some of the colonists” wanting independence over fears of
slaves aligning with the British.
“You are a founding father, Professor Wood, of a massive campaign of censorship. You’re not the most responsible, but the five of you are responsible. And that’s why, right now, I want to ask you to write another open letter to Sen. Cotton, and to Gov. DeSantis, and to all the other demagogues who are using your letter to ban the 1619 project, to say, ‘I am Gordon Wood, and dammit, I am not in favor of censorship.’ ”
During a telephone interview a few days later, Wood called the debate a “disaster,” said he was “blindsided” by Holton’s attack and that Holton was carrying out his role as “the primary defender” among historians of the 1619 project.
“I had no idea of what DeSantis was doing,” Wood said of the Florida governor, who has labeled the 1619 project “critical race theory” and backed the state’s board of education’s decision last summer to ban the book from classrooms. “It’s out of my hands. We can’t do our historical research ... (worrying) that it might be misused by politicians.”
Wood and Holton already have books out this fall: Wood’s “Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution” is a brief summation of his views on the Revolution that centers on the country’s political, economic and legal foundations. Holton’s “Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution” is a 700-pluspage account that, as its subtitle indicates, seeks to broaden the traditional story of the country’s founding beyond Washington, Jefferson and other leaders to include the contributions of women, Black and indigenous people among others.
Wood said he objects to the 1619 Project and to some of Holton’s book because he believes they apply contemporary standards to the past.
“He does see the past through modern eyes,” Wood said.
Holton said during a recent interview that he had reached out to Wood in hopes of receiving a blurb from him for “Liberty Is Sweet” and called him a “really decent person” when not arguing his own historical viewpoints.