Gordon S. Wood
Encyclopedia
Gordon S. Wood is Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University
and the recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History
for The Radicalism of the American Revolution. His book The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 won a 1970 Bancroft Prize
. In 2010, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal
.
, and grew up in Worcester
and Waltham
. He graduated summa cum laude
from Tufts University
in 1955. and has served as a trustee
there. After serving in the U.S. Air Force in Japan
, during which time he earned an A.M.
at Harvard University
, he entered the Ph.D.
program in history at Harvard, where he studied under Bernard Bailyn
.
, the University of Michigan
, Brown
, Pitt Professor
at Cambridge University
, and in 1982–83 and lectured for One Day University
.
In addition to his books (listed below), Wood has written numerous influential articles, notably "Rhetoric and Reality in the American Revolution
" (1966), "Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style: Causality and Deceit in the Eighteenth century" (1982), and "Interests and Disinterestedness in the Making of the Constitution
" (1987). He is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books
and The New Republic
.
His most recent project, the 1789–1815 volume in the Oxford History of the United States
series entitled Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815, was published in October 2009 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
.
at Yale University
and their daughter, Amy Louise Wood, is a professor of history at Illinois State University
.
, publicly and effusively praised Wood's The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Some liberals in academia reacted negatively and Wood jokingly described Gingrich's praise in an interview on C-SPAN
in 2002 as "the kiss of death."
In the episode, "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry," of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
, Charlie, trying to emulate Matt Damon
in the film Good Will Hunting
, accuses a group of students of regurgitating Gordon Wood.
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and the recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History
Pulitzer Prize for History
The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...
for The Radicalism of the American Revolution. His book The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 won a 1970 Bancroft Prize
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...
. In 2010, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal
National Humanities Medal
The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities.The award, given by the...
.
Early life and education
Gordon Wood was born in Concord, MassachusettsConcord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
, and grew up in Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
and Waltham
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
. He graduated summa cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
from Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in 1955. and has served as a trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
there. After serving in the U.S. Air Force in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, during which time he earned an A.M.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, he entered the Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
program in history at Harvard, where he studied under Bernard Bailyn
Bernard Bailyn
Bernard Bailyn is an American historian, author, and professor specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He has been a professor at Harvard University since 1953. Bailyn has won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice . In 1998 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected...
.
Career
Wood received his Ph.D. in 1964. He has taught at Harvard, the College of William and MaryCollege of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
, the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
, Pitt Professor
Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions
The Pitt Professorship of American History and Institutions was established on 5 February 1944 from a sum of £44,000 received from the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press in 1943 and augmented by a further £5,000 in 1946...
at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, and in 1982–83 and lectured for One Day University
One Day University
One Day University is an adult education program founded by Steven Schragis and John Galvin in 2006. The program's one-day sessions feature four or five lectures by leading American university professors. Originally based in the New York City area, the program has spread to Boston, Philadelphia,...
.
In addition to his books (listed below), Wood has written numerous influential articles, notably "Rhetoric and Reality in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
" (1966), "Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style: Causality and Deceit in the Eighteenth century" (1982), and "Interests and Disinterestedness in the Making of the Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
" (1987). He is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
and The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
.
His most recent project, the 1789–1815 volume in the Oxford History of the United States
Oxford History of the United States
The Oxford History of the United States is an ongoing multi-volume narrative history of the United States published by Oxford University Press.-Woodward editorship:The series originated with a plan laid out by historians C...
series entitled Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815, was published in October 2009 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
.
Marriage and family
Wood married the former Louise Goss, April 30, 1956. They have three children: Christopher, Elizabeth and Amy. Two went into history: their son, Christopher Wood, is a professor of art historyArt history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and their daughter, Amy Louise Wood, is a professor of history at Illinois State University
Illinois State University
Illinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...
.
Publications
- The Creation of the American Republic, University of North Carolina PressUniversity of North Carolina PressThe University of North Carolina Press , founded in 1922, is a university press that is part of the University of North Carolina....
(Chapel Hill, NC), 1969. - (Editor) Representation in the American Revolution, University of Virginia PressUniversity of Virginia PressThe University of Virginia Press , founded in 1963, is a university press that is part of the University of Virginia.-External links:*...
(Charlottesville, VA), 1969. - (Editor) The Rising Glory of America, 1760–1820, George BrazillerGeorge BrazillerGeorge Braziller is an American book publisher and the founder of George Braziller, Inc., a firm known for its literary and artistic books and its publication of foreign authors....
(New York, NY), 1971, revised edition, Northeastern University Press (Boston, MA), 1990. - (Editor) The Confederation and the Constitution, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1973.
- Revolution and the Political Integration of the Enslaved and Disenfranchised, American Enterprise InstituteAmerican Enterprise InstituteThe American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
for Public Policy Research (Washington, DC), 1974. - (Contributor) Leadership in the American Revolution, Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
(Washington, DC), 1974. - (With J.R. Pole) Social Radicalism and the Idea of Equality in the American Revolution, University of St. Thomas (Houston, TX), 1976.
- (With others) The Great Republic, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1977, 4th edition, HeathD. C. Heath and CompanyD.C. Heath and Company was an American publishing company located at 125 Spring Street in Lexington, Massachusetts, specializing in textbooks.-History:...
(Lexington, MA), 1992. - The Making of the Constitution, Baylor University Press (Waco, TX), 1987.
- (Editor) Rising Glory of America, 1760–1820, Northeastern University Press (Boston, MA), 1990.
- The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Alfred A. KnopfAlfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
(New York, NY), 1992. - (Editor, with Louise G. Wood) Russian-American Dialogue on the American Revolution, University of Missouri PressUniversity of Missouri PressThe University of Missouri Press is a university press founded in 1958 at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.-External links:*...
(Columbia, MO), 1995. - Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787, University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, NC), 1998.
- (Editor, with Anthony Molho) Imagined Histories: American Historians Interpret the Past, Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
(Princeton, NJ), 1998. - Monarchism and Republicanism in the Early United States, La Trobe UniversityLa Trobe UniversityLa Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...
(Melbourne, VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), 2000. - The American Revolution: A History, Modern LibraryModern LibraryThe Modern Library is a publishing company. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, it was purchased in 1925 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer...
(New York, NY), 2001. - The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, Penguin Press (New York, NY), 2004.
- Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different, Penguin Press (New York, NY), 2006.
- The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History, Penguin Press (New York, NY), 2008.
- Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815, Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
(New York, NY), 2010.
- Book contributions
- Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory, and Civic Culture, edited by Peter Onuf and Jan Lewis, University of Virginia Press (Charlottesville, VA), 1999
- To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidency, edited by James M. McPhersonJames M. McPhersonJames M. McPherson is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book...
, Society of American Historians (New York, NY), 2000.
- Contributor of articles to academic journals:
- New England QuarterlyThe New England QuarterlyThe New England Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal consisting of articles on New England's cultural, literary, political, and social history. The journal contains essays, interpretations of traditional texts, essay reviews and book reviews...
- William and Mary QuarterlyWilliam and Mary QuarterlyThe William and Mary Quarterly is a quarterly history journal published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. It covers the history of colonial North America and the "Atlantic world" from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries, including the Caribbean, West...
- American Historical ReviewAmerican Historical ReviewThe American Historical Review is the official publication of the American Historical Association, established in 1895 "for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical documents and artifacts, and the dissemination of historical research." It targets readers...
- Virginia Quarterly Review
- Washington and Lee Law ReviewWashington and Lee Law ReviewThe Washington and Lee Law Review is a law review published four times each year by the Washington and Lee University School of Law. It presents lead articles contributed by leading scholars, judges, and lawyers, as well as student notes. Student writers are chosen during the summer after their...
- Virginia Law ReviewVirginia Law ReviewThe Virginia Law Review is a law review edited and published entirely by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was founded on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year...
- New England Quarterly
- Contributor of book reviews to periodicals, including
- New York Review of Books
- The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- The New RepublicThe New RepublicThe magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
In popular culture
The Speaker of the House, Newt GingrichNewt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
, publicly and effusively praised Wood's The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Some liberals in academia reacted negatively and Wood jokingly described Gingrich's praise in an interview on C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
in 2002 as "the kiss of death."
In the episode, "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry," of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
, Charlie, trying to emulate Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
in the film Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...
, accuses a group of students of regurgitating Gordon Wood.
External links
- "Gordon S. Wood", Faculty Webpage, Brown University
- Gordon S. Wood, "The Learning of Liberty for Civic Life", lectures at Boston University