Greenwich Historical Society is excited to present an engaging and enlightening series of educational lectures and presentations exploring the breadth of American history over the course of 250 years. Each month, join the Historical Society for a special presentation covering topics from experts in the fields of fashion, local and national history, archaeology, historic preservation, archives, and more.
Light bites and drinks will be available from 5:30-6:30pm in the lobby of the Vanderbilt Education Center before each presentation begins. A Q&A with the audience will follow all presentations.
This history of American legal ideology is permanently blueprinted in the United States Constitution. Greenwich Historical Society is thrilled to welcome celebrated author and historian David O. Stewart to shed light on what it took to craft the Constitution and how it became the framework for American values.
Through the long, hot Philadelphia summer of 1787, fifty-five Americans struggled to create the world’s first constitutional democracy. They met in convention to invent a government to meet the crises of the not-very-united states – huge debts, hostile neighbors, armed rebellion, and the very real prospect of dissolving into three nations or more.
The room held luminaries who would soon become near-mythical figures – George Washington, Ben Franklin, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. Yet much of the story belongs to delegates often overlooked by history: James Wilson and Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, John Rutledge of South Carolina, and David Brearley of New Jersey. Equally pivotal to the effort was the delegates’ deft use of twelve different committees to resolve the thorniest issues that beset the delegates.
It was a desperate balancing act. The people should have power, but could they be trusted? Would a strong central government leave room for the states? Why did they contrive the convoluted electoral college for electing the president? And what of their grinding compromises over slavery, America’s original sin.
Copies of The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, the book that inspired this presentation, will be available for purchase in the museum gift store. An opportunity for book signing with David will be available once the presentation concludes.
