Creating a Nation Series: This distinguished speaker series will spotlight the tumultuous period of American history following the Revolution, when the young Country was becoming a Nation, thus encouraging a deeper understanding of our origins and identity.
The 1776 revolution was transformative, as each of the thirteen states broke from the British monarchy and established republican constitutions, empowering their houses of representatives. However, the resulting democratic excesses led elites to seek reform. In 1787, they replaced the Articles of Confederation with a new Constitution, creating a powerful central government. Dr. Gordon S. Wood is a prominent and prolific American historian. His notable works include The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, which won the Bancroft and John H. Dunning Prizes, and The Radicalism of the American Revolution, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize. In 2011, he received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama and the Churchill Bell. He is currently the Alva O. Way University Professor Emeritus at Brown University.