Radicalism: Gordon S. Wood And The American Revolution

Improved Essays
Gordon S. Wood is an eminent historian who got his masters and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1959 and 1964 respectively. He is a professor of History Emeritus at Brown University and also an Alva O. Way University Professor (Brown Affiliations). Wood has worked wholeheartedly towards combining the everchanging social and political ideas and how they are currently being projected from the early American Republic. The theme of his writing is mostly guided by the idea that the revolution was the most radical incident in the American History (Dallek, Matthew). The writing of Wood reflects his beliefs that the revolution played a tremendous part in defining the future of American politics based on egalitarian principals. He believes that the woman right movement, antislavery movements and the destruction of aristocracy is inspired by the ideology of American revolution (Dallek, Matthew). …show more content…
The strength of the complete work of Wood is the result of extreme carefulness, tremendous research, and high standards that are uniquely set by himself (Fischer, David Hackett). Through teaching and writing, Wood is keeping alive the prominence and deep respect for the early period of the American revolution in the new generation.
The book Revolutionary Characters: What made the founders different is also a true representation of his beliefs that the American Revolution is the most significant part of American History and how significant its role has been. This book is a collection of articles, reviews, and essays which have previously been published by different authors. Wood tried to combine all of them in a way that the introduction and the conclusion of the book convincingly convey his

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Shoemaker and The Tea Party: Book Assignment #1 PART I: IDENTIFICATION QUESTIONS Historical Memory is oral and written testimonies from individuals who wither witnessed for took part in historical moments in history. Benjamin Bussey Thatcher was an American author who wrote Traits of the Tea Party (1835) which was the second biography to be written about George Robert Twelve Hewes. The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783. It started with the rejection of the British Parliaments authority to tax the colonies. After ten years of tension between Britain and the colonies, war finally broke out in 1775.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Elieth Serrano-Ortega HIS 166 (86287) Essay #2 due October 17, 2015 Events such as the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Second Continental Congress and the publication of Common Sense transformed the competing visions of Patriots and Loyalists. Lexington and Concord “struck many participants as an irreparable rupture”. General Gage had the intention of seizing rebel arms in the town of Concord. However, when the General’s soldiers arrived, they were greeted by Patriot militiamen and shots were fired. As a result of the violent unraveling of the empire, political leaders of the rebellion reconvened as the second continental congress.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One perspective argued that the United States was victorious because of the common man that were enlisted in the state militias. The other perspective is that was presented, and one that the authors favor, was that it was due to the Standing Armies that the United States became victors. The author’s overall aim was to identify the various myths that are associated with the Revolutionary War and discredit, or establish the false from the truth, these myths. By doing this, the authors hoped to establish the way in which the experience of war helped to formulate the republican…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The United States of America in the Post-American Revolution was overflowing with joy, fear and cautious optimism. The world had held its breath as it watched thirteen small imperial colonies succeed in defeating the British Empire and wining its long sought after independence. Unfortunately, the defeat of Britain was only the beginning of the woes America would face. It would come down to two prominent political intellectuals of the time, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, to take it upon themselves to heed this danger. Together they sought to persuade their colleagues and the masses through secret and not so secret writings and meetings.…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Revolution took place between 1765 and 1738 and was a period of great tension between two opposing ideologies. During this time, American colonists rejected the British Monarchy and established the United States of America. Of course, not everyone in the colonies supported the great revolt and as we initially saw with George R. T. Hewes, many focused solely on their business and class status. Nevertheless, something inside George R. T. Hewes’ heart ticked, and, as documented by author Alfred F. Young, his true Patriot colors shined. Born August 25th, 1742, George Robert Twelves Hewes, “was a nobody who briefly became a somebody in the Revolution and, for a moment near the end of his life, a hero.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the article, Founder’s Chic, Brand criticizes the use and abuse of the founding fathers in today’s political life. Brand begins the article by quoting a statement by John Adams that the history of the revolution will be one continuous lie. The author claims that by focusing too much on the founding fathers and praising them for starting a nation, the ordinary citizen is undervaluing himself or herself. Brand presents a compelling argument that while the founding fathers started the nation, they had their own faults. Looking at the evidence and arguments presented by Brand, it is evident that the Revolutionary legacy has definitely been abused.…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Of The Farewell

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the book () written by () , the author explains the challenges the founding brothers including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr faced as the formed the new government of the united states. The author splits the book into seven sections, each telling a different story or series of events. The author tells the reader that they should understand the events both on how they actually occurred, and how they were portrayed when later revealed. The book focuses on important aspects of the revolutionary war as well as the influences each founding brother and their contributions to American history, and how it all helped shaped America into what it is now. “…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack N. Rakove Summary

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rakove makes the astute observation that many Americans are sadly not aware of the beginning years of their Republic, much less are they aware of its creator, James Madison. In his short and concise book, Rakove seamlessly integrates political science and history into one whole, moving from discussing Madison to the early Confederation and Republic’s many moving parts, then back to Madison. Fortunately for Rakove, Madison felt the need to keep an accurate historical record for later Americans, and so he wrote many of this thoughts and feelings down, allowing for a level of “direct connectivity” between the reader and Madison himself. As well as these primary sources, Rakove employs many other highly-praised secondary sources to better uncover Madison and his life for the general reader. Overall, this book is a wonderfully useful piece of historical research that has been designed for use by anyone interested in learning more about early American history and politics, and confirms Rakove’s thesis that Madison was indeed a remarkable…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The American Revolution was caused by much more than the simple concept of no taxation without representation; its roots can be found dozens of years prior, in 1763 and the years that followed, as well as back to the early history of colonial North America. Two authors and historians, Colin Calloway, who wrote The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America, and Eric Foner, who authored Give Me Liberty! an American History, offer two comprehensive viewpoints into the origins of the American Revolution and a historical analysis of how the events and conflicts which took place during the time periods influenced the Revolution’s arrival. Colin Calloway’s The Scratch of a Pen begins in the year of 1763, with Calloway defining…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Revolutions of Interest Gordon Wood and Gary Nash offered two different claims about the radical ideas of the American Revolution and who had them. Wood proposed the revolution derived from the more elite in society, wealthier land owning white men. It was between Patriots and Courtiers. Courtiers were those who wished to maintain the rule of Great Britain, in order that social position should derive from the King and aristocracy. While Patriots desired talent and merit, along with recognition from the people, should determine the stature of an individual.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Forced Founders Response Paper While American education has been teaching high-school students that the American Revolution was led to by events like the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Concord or the Proclamation of 1763, Woody Holton, a history professor from the University of South Carolina, decided to veer off in a new direction by expounding a revisionist theory through his book Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves & the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia. In Forced Founders, Holton argues that Virginia elites were as important as the Independence movement leaders, but they were also powerfully influenced by other “grassroots” forces such as the British merchants, Indians, farmers and slaves (Holton, 206). He also argues…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Revolutionary War itself and the enlightened ideas that provoked it had many impacts on not only Americans and their government, but the slaves which they owned, the Native Americans who originally were settled in that region, and the nation in which they emancipated themselves from. The challenges and success each community faced have held a lasting impact on American society today. The actions of the United States during this time period and the consequences they held are important lessons to be learned moving forward in time as new problems arise. When conflicts of judgement and equality arise over 200 years later, the nation still returns to the late eighteenth century for guidance. Whether it be foreign relations with our neighbors, to further African American and racial equality, sexuality rights or freedom of religious expression, individuals may follow the examples set by those before them during the period of revolution after the war had…

    • 1005 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1782 J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur wrote a powerful essay on the colonial American society. Within this essay he portrays his thoughts about American life and simply defines the beloved country in a new perspective. He wrote this specifically to praise Americans, and their reasons for coming together and making such a great place. As a French aristocrat he shocks the world with his enlightening and brilliantly written essay about the American society. He makes a powerful argument by using comparisons, tone, word choice, and many other rhetorical strategies.…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chapter five in Howard Zinn’s novel A People’s History of the United States discusses the issues of the American Revolutionary War, the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the development of a national government. The first major event that chronologically appears in this chapter is the American Revolutionary War or otherwise known as the war for American independence. One of most important demographics when scrutinizing the American Revolution is the proportion of patriots (pro-rebellion), loyalists (pro-British), and neutralists.…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetoric was one tool the American used to project their resentment towards Britain and their fear of anticipated tyranny against their principles. The developed American society, propaganda based on real fears, along with the Virginia Gentry example, display Wood’s belief there was a link between American social issues and Revolutionary ideas that lead to the American Revolution. Gordon S. Wood endorses American exceptionalism at the time of the revolution. This is shown with his favorable vocabulary when describing the qualities of Americans at the time of the revolution. “The Revolution had taken place not in a succession of eruptions that had crumbled the existing social structure, but in a succession of new thoughts and new ideas that had vindicated that social structure (Wood 6).…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays