Nostalgia and the Tea Party movement

This thesis examines the role of History and Nostalgia in shaping the modern Tea Party movement, which emerged across the United States of America in early 2009. Inspired by the seminal work of Professor Jill Lepore, The Whites of Their Eyes, this thesis attempts to further investigate the Tea Party movement and their unique relationship with the past: from the social movement’s links with other conservative historical organisations such as the John Birch Society, to the Tea Party movement’s adoption and exploitation of the history of the American Revolution as a means of gaining political legitimacy.

This thesis contextualises as well as details the historical origins, organisations, and ideologies behind the social movement. In the process of this task, the thesis has employed an experimental methodology which attempts to fuse together the philosophy of History with the discipline of History – an idea that was inspired during the experience of carrying out the thesis research at the time.

This thesis highlights: the influence of the Internet over Tea Party movement, the Tea Party movement’s historiography of the American Revolution, as well as the similarities and differences of historical experiences shared by the Tea Party movement and the generation responsible for the American Revolution.