Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea

Joshua Horwitz and Casey Anderson. Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 2009.

A work of advocacy and political science rather than history, but the authors' analysis is deeply informed by a study of three periods of history as well as constitutional and legal history. Their basic contention is that there is an "Insurrectionist" ideology that uses a faulty reading of history, the Second Amemdment, and the Constitution to utilize the broader issue of gun rights to validate an extreme anti-democractic agenda.

The historical eras under consideration are the American Revolution, Reconstruction, and the rise of the Nazi state in Germany. In all three cases, the authors demonstrate that the Insurrectionist version of history is based on a superficial reading of events and a reliance on taking events and quotes out of context.

The authors make a compelling case, and while this book is primarily a work of contemporary political advocacy, it is also an excellent example of how historians and history educators can play a vital role in American society. The argument that a misreading of history is a crucial foundation for Insurrectionism should alert any historian or educator to the value of countering propaganda and misinformed conventional wisdom with informed, nuanced narratives that connect ordinary Americans to their past, and do so with a healthy respect for a wide spectrum of opinion and values.