4. The Constitutions in the International Context

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we look at the two Constitutions of the early United States in an international context. In particular, we focus on: (i) the origins of the first constitution; (ii) the motivations of colonists when writing the Articles of Confederation; (iii) the risks created by the Articles of Confederation; (iv) the ratification of the Articles of Confederation; (v) the Constitutional Convention and how the new constitution differed from the Articles of Confederation.

Course

In this course, Professor Ed Gray (Florida State University) explores continuity and change in the revolutionary period from 1754 to 1800. In the first module, we take a look at what North America looked like in 1763. After this, we turn to look at the origins of the American Revolution. In the third module, we look at the war itself and examine how the colonists were able to defeat the most powerful nation in the world - Great Britain. In the penultimate module, we look at the two Constitutions of the early United States in an international context. In the final module, we examine the consequences of the revolutionary period for how the United States interacted with the rest of the world.

Lecturer

Professor Edward Gray is Professor of History at Florida State University (FSU). He specialises in early U.S. history, Native American history, the history of colonial North America, and the history of the Pacific in the age of Captain James Cook. He has written a number of books within this field, including Tom Paine’s Iron Bridge: Building a United States (W.W. Norton & Co., 2016).