Article Critique: Who Owns the American Revolution by Jill Lepore - Essay Example

This movement did much to shift the focus from job recovery to the national debt. Though some from the conservative stance felt the Tea Party movement was exactly what the nation needed, proponents such as Sarah Palin had a very different view. She supported the insurgency much more so than the leader of the movement. She was very much against the movement being defined by any one leader or party.

Jill Lepore goes on to describe one business commentator’s outrage at the federal government’s bailout plan, demanding a new Tea Party. He insisted on the unloading of derivative securities into Lake Michigan. The article highlights the importance of the Founding Fathers and those events that transpired in 1773; comparing them in a way as to give the opinion that today’s Tea Party movement is small in comparison and lacks the convictions of those of that time.

Jill Lepore’s bias seems to be in agreement with the arguments she presented in the article and is in agreement that no particular leader or party should be on the whole responsibility for the Tea Party movement and that those who are considered Tea Party faithful are emphatic of quixotic crusades (Tanenhaus,2012). Lepore disagrees that the Tea Party movement has a misguided view of the American Revolutionary period (Mohamed, 2011). Lepore uses sources such as Christen Varley, responsible for holding monthly Tea Party movement meetings, and CNBC business commentator Rick Santelli.

Lepore suggests that if the Tea Party is to be thought of as fundamental history and its review will not change these thoughts. No Thanks for the Memories Gordon S. Wood (Wood, 2011) This article is actually a response to the Jill Lepore book “The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle over American History, (Princeton University Press, 2011). He describes Jill Lepore's attitudes and opinions as mocking and describes her discussions as ramblings of present-day Tea Party movement issues with those of the Revolution.

He considers her question of what our forefathers would do to be a question that is not only pointless but serves little purpose than to provoke conversation towards what seems to be her favorite subject, the American Revolution. Lepore regards the Tea Party as an ageless and nearly sacred event almost to the point of worship. Throughout her book, she constantly reiterates that in the case of the Tea Party movement history is clearly not understood and possibly incapable of being understood by today’s government.

She dismisses the interpretative doctrine of original ideas as fundamentalism (Woods, 2011). Woods's opinion is that Lepore should have as her focus memory of the American Revolution more so than emotional ties and that these ties cloud and bias her vision and opinion. He expresses concern that her scientific credentials are not demonstrated and that the book leaves us with little actual understanding of the Tea Party movement.