Commonwealth Speakers:American Founders and Pioneers


Head and shoulders portrait of George Washington. From Founding Friendship: The Washington-Madison Collaboration. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

The story of the founding of the US is woven from many strands. The presentations offered in this category provide a variety of insights into that era and its events—from William Penn's image as benefactor, to the impact of the War for Independence.

Founding Friendship: The Washington-Madison Collaboration L
The partnership between George Washington and James Madison, hitherto neglected by historians, was perhaps the most important collaboration among the founders. The relationship flourished because both men shared similar goals for the new nation and because each possessed something the other needed. Washington relied on Madison's advice, skill as a ghostwriter and legislative prowess. Madison, in turn, found Washington's prestige indispensable in promoting political reform. Focusing on their collaboration provides a new lens through which to bring them into sharper focus. This 50-minute lecture, which includes projected color illustrations, is based on Stuart Leibiger's book.

Equipment: Laptop computer, LCD projector, screen and podium with good lighting.

Stuart Leibiger, North Wales
History Department Chair, LaSalle University

Peaceable Kingdom? Pennsylvania’s Revolution & the People Who Made It L
Every Pennsylvanian recognizes the famous image of William Penn and the Treaty with the Indians. Penn, the lawmaker and founder, extends his hands to the Native Americans who surround him at Shackamaxon. He is creating a colony that eventually will become a commonwealth, based on innate ideas about human worth. Penn's image as benefactor, pacifist and founder are central myths in Pennsylvania's civic culture and have subsequently been celebrated on everything from statuary to cereal boxes. This lecture (with numerous contemporary works of art as illustration) explores this famous image of Penn and others like it, but it places them in the context of political image making and the fight for whose story would dominate revolutionary Pennsylvanians

George Boudreau, Philadelphia
History & Humanities Associate Professor, Penn State University-Harrisburg

Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? L
The question of whether or not America was founded as a "Christian nation" has played an important part in the nation's political and social life in recent years. How religious were the founders? Were they truly devout Christians, as many claim today? Examining this question from a historical perspective, John Fea investigates the religious convictions of the Founding Fathers and the relationship between Christianity and America's founding documents. Audiences are engaged through images and projected texts from the era of the American Revolution.

Equipment: LCD projector (overhead projector if not available), laptop computer, podium and screen.

John Fea, Mechanicsburg
American History Associate Professor, Messiah College

Western Pennsylvania During the American Revolution F L
This multimedia lecture presentation introduces audiences to the American Revolution as it unfolded along the Western Pennsylvania frontier. Here the issues and concerns that motivated people to action were seldom those that drove the revolution in the Atlantic coastal cities. For the inhabitants of Western Pennsylvania, protecting individual liberty was the paramount concern, rather than a collective resistance to British rule or expressions of political and social equality. Daniel Barr discusses the consequences of Western Pennsylvanians' definition of liberty in terms of land possession and self-rule. Visual images mesh with narrative accounts in the form of letters, journals and diaries of participants to immerse the audience in the world of revolutionary Western Pennsylvania.

Equipment: Screen. If possible, LCD projector.

Daniel Barr, Mercer
Associate History Professor, Robert Morris University

Key to Presentations
F Family/Younger Audiences
H Hands-on/Active Participation
L Lectures
P Performances
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