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Phillip W. Magness
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The 1619 Project: A Critique Kindle Edition

by Phillip W. Magness (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,018 ratings
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”When I first weighed in upon the New York Times’ 1619 Project, I was struck by its conflicted messaging. Comprising an entire magazine feature and a sizable advertising budget, the newspaper’s initiative conveyed a serious attempt to engage the public in an intellectual exchange about the history of slavery in the United States and its lingering harms to our social fabric. It also seemed to avoid the superficiality of many public history initiatives, which all too often reduce over 400 complex years of slavery’s history and legacy to sweeping generalizations. Instead, the Times promised detailed thematic explorations of topics ranging from the first slave ship’s arrival in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 to the politics of race in the present day.

At the same time, however, certain 1619 Project essayists infused this worthy line of inquiry with a heavy stream of ideological advocacy. Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones announced this political intention openly, pairing progressive activism with the initiative’s stated educational purposes.

In assembling these essays, I make no claim of resolving what continues to be a vibrant and ongoing discussion. Neither should my work be viewed as the final arbiter of historical accuracy, though I do evaluate a number of factual and interpretive claims made by the project’s authors. Rather, the aim is to provide an accessible resource for readers wishing to navigate the scholarly disputes, offering my own interpretive take on claims pertaining to areas of history in which I have worked." -- Phil Magness

Phillip W. Magness is an economic historian specializing in the 19th century United States. He is the author of numerous works on the political and economic dimensions of slavery, the history of taxation, and the history of economic thought.

The American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was founded in 1933 as the first independent voice for sound economics in the United States. Today it publishes ongoing research, hosts educational programs, publishes books, sponsors interns and scholars, and is home to the world-renowned Bastiat Society and the highly respected Sound Money Project. The American Institute for Economic Research is a 501c3 public charity.

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  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0874S9KB8
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ American Institute for Economic Research (April 14, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 14, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3559 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
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  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 138 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,018 ratings

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Phillip W. Magness

Phillip W. Magness

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Phil Magness is a political and economic historian of the "long" 19th century U.S. (1787-1920). His work aims to foster our understanding what Tocqueville and Bastiat described as two of the main policy problems in early American government: Slavery and Tariffs.

Magness' interest in abolitionism encompasses the works of the anti-slavery constitutionalist faction of Gerrit Smith and Lysander Spooner, as well as the little-studied yet historically important black pamphleteer & man of letters John Willis Menard. He is also a specialist in the history of the colonization movement and related attempts to resettle freed slaves abroad, particularly during the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's presidency. His work on trade and tax policy examines the tariff as a problem of political economy in the 19th century U.S., and covers the founding era through the adoption of the Income Tax in 1913 when tariffs ceased to be used as a primary revenue-generating policy.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
1,018 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

LeoSldr
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a CRITQUE...many reviews here are misleading
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2023
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I didn't read every review, but what I typically do is read the one-star reviews first. Many are giving one star to this book thinking it's the 1619 Project, while evidently not realizing this is a CRITIQUE of the 1619 project. All the more reason why one star reviews cannot be trusted, because even I agree with the one star reviews, while giving this book a five star rating. Let me provide a few quotes to help the undecided to see that this is a fair and balanced book:

"Hannah-Jones’s argument nonetheless contains kernels of truth that complicate the historians’ assessment, without overturning it." Of course, Hannah-Jones is the author of the 1619 project.

"...the cause of emancipation was aided—rather than impeded—by the American Revolution."

And as a Lincoln fan (showing my bias) the author provides: "...the evidence of Lincoln’s sincere support for colonization is overwhelming. This finding carries with it the substantial caveat that Lincoln did not pursue this course out of personal racial animosity. Quite the contrary, his public and private statements consistently link the policy to his personal fears that former slave-owners would continue to oppress African-Americans after the Civil War." It doesn't take a genius to see that Lincoln's concerns for the freed slaves were justified. In fact, his concerns were realized by the century that followed emancipation (Jim Crow...segregation...).

I believe one other review says you "can't debunk facts." No, you can't, but you can certainly debunk the interpretation of those facts, and that is what this book does so well.
2 people found this helpful
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Anthony Bosnick
5.0 out of 5 stars A very helpful critique.
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2021
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This book is a critique of the 1619 Project. The author (Phillip W. Magness) is very helpful in helping readers see his concerns for the accuracy of the 1619 Project and the agenda it is promoting. I was suspicious of the Project, under the editorial direction of New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones when I read that one of its chief claims was that the American colonists fought the Revolution in order to sustain the place of "King Cotton" in the American economy, fearing that Britain was "something of an existential threat to American slavery" (p. 128). Didn't ring true.

I'll let Magness speak for himself:

1.
"In its worst instances, the 1619 Project amounts to an unscholarly mess of historical misrepresentations, economic fallacy, and the explicit anti-capitalist ideological agenda. To the project's further discredit, the Times' editors and main contributors have adopted a dismissive stance in response to substantive criticism, including a refusal to correct documented factual errors among its historical claims" (p. 114).

2.
"In this essay I discuss the development, along with an intentionally understated but revealing correction that it prompted from the newspaper. When contextualized amid the larger debate, this embarrassing incident reveals the ideological nature of the 1619 Project and how the Times prioritization of its political message has harmed and largely discredited its once-promising value as a work of historical interpretation" (p. 125).

3.
When a group of conservative African-American academics and journalists launched a competing "1776 Project" in early 2020 to offer a counter-narrative, Hannah-Jones bombarded them with a string of personal attacks, the gist of which amounted to declaring them unworthy of her attention" (p. 130).

This is really quite a fascinating and enlightening critique of the 1619 Project. Not all of it is negative, such as the appraisal of Abraham Lincoln's racial beliefs and hope for African Americans after emancipation (pp. 113-124).

It is likely to introduce readers to several new issues they have not considered before. I found that to be the case for me, even though I am an avid reader of history and the American scene.
19 people found this helpful
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Carl R. Schwanbeck
4.0 out of 5 stars Read truth not lies
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2020
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America is being destructed right before your eyes due the ignorance of the American people. Your most needed infrastructures for freedom, the 5th estate(and if you don't know what means your are part of the problem) and education. The 1619 project is not designed to education, it is designed to sow discord and dissension in the core of America. It is the product of a nation hater and progressives who want to destroy the Country. This short document goes through the 1619 project and reveals the lies, half truths, and ignorance of the project. The project is propaganda pure and simple originated with radicals who hate this Country and it's founding principles. It America perfect, of course not, the simple fact 11 of the original 13 colonies goal was to end slavery from the original inception is somehow not offered in this 'education' piece tells you something and that the Civil War was the culmination of wanting the practice ended. The war was declared over States rights but the foundation of was a Country willing to fight itself to get equality for all. You will find that dedication to freedom no where else on the Planet.....but this document is more interested in fomenting hatred, destruction, and anarchy in the minds of your children. Sadly, too few Americans today really know anything about the system that has given them the freedoms they have and they rush to their own doom, because of it. Hope you can adjust to Socialism because that is one of the goals of 1619 project. Do yourself a huge favor and read this before your children are indoctrinated.
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Aleksandar Stosich
5.0 out of 5 stars Much needed clarity
Reviewed in Canada on May 29, 2023
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So much that is claimed about the 1619 Project gets parroted by individuals and media, and audiences don't really dig deep. When I started exploring, the author's name kept cropping up and I was led to this book. Keep in mind that the book is a collection of articles by the author, published at different times, so it feels a bit repetitive in moments. However, it is an important resource to anyone seeking clarity on a 'project' that had such vociferous acclaim from certain media outlets that it seemed to need closer examination from the start. The author traces back many of the claims made in the 1619 project and by its proponents, clarifying problems in methodology and research, exposing misrepresentations and erroneous aspects, and confirming other aspects that may have struck some as shocking or dubious. In this respect, it is a fair analysis from someone really close to the academic world from which the project apparently arose. The author's firsthand experiences bolster this important and useful book.
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DANIEL YELLE
4.0 out of 5 stars IMPORTANT WORK. Going after bad history is noble and necessary work.
Reviewed in Canada on September 17, 2021
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This book should be required reading to anybody who takes history seriously.
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Bluestone
1.0 out of 5 stars The nations divide goes on sadly in this review
Reviewed in Canada on April 29, 2022
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A white mans view of the black persons slave experience. The bias is obvious
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