Historians are claiming a new Hulu series based on The New York Times’ “The 1619 Project” contains historical references that are factually inaccurate, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Several historians have maintained that the documentary’s content is not an exact recollection of American history.
Just watched the Hulu 1619 Project's first episode. It leans heavily into the claim that the American Revolution was fought over slavery.
Lord Dunmore becomes an "emancipator" in Nikole Hannah-Jones's account, propped up by Woody Holton.
Not mentioned: Dunmore was an enslaver.
— Phil Magness (@PhilWMagness) January 27, 2023
Economic historian and Senior Research Faculty and Director of Research and Education at the American Institute for Economic Research, Phil Magness, told the Daily caller that the documentary is almost a fantasy version of history that the book’s author, Nikole Hannah-Jones, has settled for.
“And a lot of it comes back to her attempting to backfill her narrative after she came under criticism for this claim by cherry picking-bits and pieces of the truth and bits and pieces of mythology that she’s gotten from other historians,” Magness said.
Magness claimed that The 1619 Project’s most controversial plot is that it leans heavily into claims the American Revolution was fought over slavery. He added that Hannah-Jones tried to recast the Revolution, especially the colonist cause, to defend slavery against the British empire, which wanted to abolish the institution.
Magness, who also authored the book “The 1619 Project: A Critique,” posted tweets revealing that Hannah-Jones made Lord Dunmore, who was an enslaver, an emancipator in her account.
Magness added that Hannah-Jones drew explicit parallels between Dunmore and Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation while, in reality, Dunmore’s measures only freed slaves on condition of military service.
Both @nhannahjones and @woodyholtonusc assert explicit parallels between Dunmore and Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. This stretches the evidence beyond all recognition. Dunmore's measure saw very limited use & only freed slaves on the condition of military service.
— Phil Magness (@PhilWMagness) January 27, 2023
“He’s really a horrible, brutal figure in British colonial history on the pro-slavery side, so the fact that The 1619 Project is turning him into this emancipationist hero just shows the absolute absurdity and the lack of connection to basic historic reality that [Hannah-Jones] has in undertaking this project,” Magness said.
Gordon Wood, another critic of “The 1619 Project,” echoed Magness’ sentiments while stating that Hannah-Jones’ claims about the American Revolution “is just plain wrong.”
Wood noted that the Revolution began the first significant antislavery movement in the history of the world.
“The Revolution and antislavery were entwined and developed together,” Wood wrote in his book.
