A Revolution in the Way Educators Teach the American Revolution
Among of the most important aims of the American Revolution Institute is to persuade educators to focus attention on the constructive, enduring achievements of the American Revolution, and to devote more resources, including time, to teaching students about the Revolution. This is not a call for the revival of an earlier, more effective approach to teaching this period, but rather a call for a new synthesis, focusing on the constructive achievements of the Revolution and incorporating what we have learned over the last generation about varied ways Americans experienced the Revolution, as well as how ideals of the Revolution have shaped our history for nearly 250 years. The result would be a revolution in the way educators teach about this period and about American national history in general.
The American Revolution in Our Schools, 1783-TodayWhat do educated Americans know about the Revolutionary War? What should they know?
These questions are fundamental to the Institute’s mission to preserve and promote understanding and appreciation of the American Revolution. The Revolutionary War was just one aspect of the American Revolution, but it was an essential one. If we had not prevailed in the war, the great achievements of the Revolution—our independence and national identity as well as our republic—would not have been realized. The high ideals expressed by the Revolutionaries would not have become the foundation of a new nation or shaped our history…
Revolutionary War Cultural Literacy