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Bell says classroom pushback shaped his book: "Show me the receipts"
Summary
Richard Bell told Concord Museum attendees that persistent student questions and demand for evidence helped sharpen the book's arguments and that young scholars push him to strengthen claims about the Revolution's global dimensions.
Richard Bell said his course at the University of Maryland was the laboratory for many of the book's claims. He described students as rigorous interlocutors who asked for sources and evidence and who helped him test and refine narrative claims. "Show me the receipts," Bell said, summarizing students' demand for documentation.
Bell said classroom critique forced him to reexamine assumptions and that the book's chapters often began as seminar lectures. He described students as "immensely curious" and willing to challenge received myths about the Revolution. The forum underscored the role of undergraduate teaching in producing scholarly work and influencing public-facing histories.
