A Historian Lives the Revolution: Rev. Jeremy Belknap in the Crossroads of the 18th Century
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The April lecture featured Dr. Jordan Fansler, whose presentation explored life in Dover during the 18th century through the eyes and words of one of its most prominent citizens, Rev. Jeremy Belknap. Rev. Belknap (1744—1798) traveled widely across the NH and began accumulating notes on the state’s history. In 1784 he published the first volume of the “History of New Hampshire” but would take until 1792 to complete volume two. The “History” added two radical innovations for historians: 1.) besides just narrating events, he tried to clearly separate true facts from analysis and opinion; and 2.) he provided many annotations (footnotes) to show the source and location of records that he had inspected. Thus, Belknap was the first journalist to shun what we today would call “fake news”! His reputation grew over the years until, after his death, Alexis de Tocqueville named him as America's best native historian. The “History of New Hampshire” is still in print today.
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