Sunday, June 15, 2008

Gordon Wood and America's Origins

Normally I hate postings that include little more than a video clip from youtube. It comes off as being a cheap way to contribute to or run a blog. Every once in a while, however, there is a video that is definitely worth watching and posting.

Such is the case with the video I have chosen to post here. It was given to me by fellow blogger Brad Hart. The video is essentially a speech and Q&A session with historian Gordon Wood, who is one of the foremost (if not THE foremost) historians of early America. In this video, Wood discusses some of the current historiography of the early American republic, with a strong emphasis on how religion influenced America's founding. Wood then explains how and why so many people in American society today misinterpret the religion of the founding fathers. This is one of the best seminars/interviews with an early American historian that I have ever seen.

9 comments:

bpabbott said...

Lindsey,

I'm fascinated by the revolutionary period, but hadn't fully appreciated the revolutionary thought embodied in the framers actions to legally bound themselves and future governments as representatives of the people. As noted, I hadn't realized how radical such an idea was 200+ years ago.

Nor had I appreciated the influence our experiment has had on the adoption of legally binding constitutions the world over.

Thanks for posting the video.

Jonathan Rowe said...

Where's the video?

Lindsey Shuman said...

The video is on there, Jon. Is it not showing up for you?

Jonathan Rowe said...

No. It could be a bug on my end. I've been having a number of them lately. Let me try viewing it instead of Firefox on IE.

Jonathan Rowe said...

Ha. There it is. I better upload the newest version of Firefox.

And btw, finding videos like these is very useful; you shouldn't be afraid of linking to them. I'd say it's only "cheap" if a bunch of other more widely read bloggers have already "found" the video. Then you really aren't "informing" readers of anything useful. But if noone else seems to have noticed it, finding videos like these is very informative and hence valuable.

Phil Johnson said...

The video does not come up on my Firefox; but, it comes up on my Internet Explorer.

Maybe I should switch to I.E.?

Phil Johnson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Phil Johnson said...

The deleted post is mine, It had a typo.

I am watching the video on my Internet Explorer. My Firefox fails me on this one.

The video is fantastic!!

Thanks for posting it.
.
Anyone who hasn't watched it, owes it to themselves to watch it carefully.

Has any one read the little red book by Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer's, The True Patriot?
.
Tears came to my eyes when I finished the introduction and read the Founding Statement.
.
I love America!!

June 17, 2008 6:30 PM

Phil Johnson said...

I think the video is excellent and very instructive.
Thanks again for posting it.