The Radicalism of the American Revolution

Before his death at age 92, the Brown University Professor Gordon Wood, PhD ’64, devoted his long career to making sure we remember the radicalism of the American Revolution. Often referred to as the “dean” of historians of the 18th-century United States, Wood argued that the country represented not only the most liberal and democratic regime in human history, but also a fundamental transformation of society and culture, one that continues to shape popular movements for freedom throughout the world. As the US approached its 250th anniversary, he spoke with Harvard Griffin GSAS about the creation of the American republic in one of the last interviews of his life.