* Forwarded (from: LIBERATOR) by Roy J. Tellason using timEd 1.10.y2k.
* Originally from Advocates for SelfGovernment (1:270/615.77) to All.
* Original dated: Wed Nov 13, 18:22

(Much snippage...)

"Arming America" Author Resigns in Disgrace

In a major triumph for gun rights activists, as well as all who believe
that truth in historical research is important, historian Michael
Bellesiles -- author of the highly controversial book "Arming America:
The Origins of a National Gun Culture" -- has resigned from Emory
University after an official investigative committee came to damning
conclusions about the quality and integrity of his research.

Bellesiles' blockbuster book argued that, contrary to what almost everyone
had believed, Colonial and early 1800s-era America had never been a
gun-loving or gun-owning country; the ownership of guns in early America
was quite rare; and the role of armed farmers and citizen militias in early
American history had been grossly exaggerated in order to build support for
today's "gun culture." Bellesiles based this remarkable and
extremely counter-intuitive argument on research into thousands of probate
records and wills dating back to earliest
America.

From the beginning "Arming America" was hailed by anti-gun
forces, and it received rave reviews in major publications and newspapers
across the country. It won the prestigious Bancroft Prize for history from
Columbia University in 2001. It was cited as evidence before the 5th
Circuit Court of the United States in the landmark "U.S. v.
Emerson" gun control case, and was cited frequently in other legal
briefs. Gun control advocates embraced it as major new evidence that
Americans never had a constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

But there was one problem -- a big one. Other historians were unable to
duplicate Bellesiles' findings. In fact, some of the records Bellesiles
cited hadn't existed since the early 1900s. A host of academic and
non-academic researchers began digging into Bellesiles' work, finding
numerous errors and what seemed like deliberate falsifications. The
criticisms continued mounting until, as the Denver Post wryly noted,
"...almost everyone except the author has become convinced that some
of the data in his book were simply invented."

Eventually, the outcry was so great that Emory University (where Bellesiles
taught) conducted a months-long examination -- and Emory's distinguished
review panel reported "evidence of falsification" and
"egregious misrepresentation and exaggeration of data." They also
said it was possible he had "willingly misrepresented the
evidence."

In response, Bellesiles has resigned from Emory.

Bellesiles still defends his work -- arguing that the only thing Emory's
report questioned were a "few paragraphs and tables on probate
materials" -- but his resignation is seen by critics as a thorough
discrediting of his fundamental thesis.

(Sources: A good early critique of Bellesiles' book appeared in Reason:
http://reason.com/0101/cr.jm.concealed.shtml ;

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~417~957227~,00.html ;

Emory's statement on the case, and the report of the panel:
http://www.emory.edu/central/NEWS/Releases/bellesiles1035563546.html )

(Snip...)

"May it be to the world... to assume the blessings and security of
self-government." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1821.

___
 - Origin: TANSTAAFL BBS  Internet Gateway (1:270/615.77) 
---