Abstract
This paper examines the ongoing struggle over the historical memory in the United States through an analysis of the 1776 Commission and its 2021 report. It argues that the report represents a deliberate effort to construct and control collective memory in order to promote a particular vision of national identity. By placing the 1776 Commission within a broader historiographical and political context, the paper shows how efforts to shape public understanding of history are closely tied to struggles over power, education, and national identity.
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Dashiell K.
(2026)
"Rewriting the Nation: Collective Memory and the 1776 Commission,"
Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History: Vol. 16:
Iss.
2, Article 4.
DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2026.160204
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol16/iss2/4
Included in
American Politics Commons, Cultural History Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Political History Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons