The chapter delves into the difficulties historians encounter in their academic pursuits, from the physical strains of historical research to the challenges in securing employment in a competitive market due to decreased funding in higher education. It also explores alternative career paths for history PhDs beyond academia.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Alan Taylor is Tyler’s pick for one of the greatest living historians. His many books cover the early American Republic, American westward expansion, the War of 1812, Virginian slavery, Thomas Jefferson, the revolutionary settlements in Maine, and more. He’s currently the Thomas Jefferson Chair of History at the University of Virginia.
Tyler and Taylor take a walking tour of early history through North America covering the decisions, and ripples of those decisions, that shaped revolution and independence, including why Canada didn’t join the American revolution, why America in turn never conquered Canada, American’s early obsession with the collapse of the Republic, how democratic the Jacksonians were, Texas/Mexico tensions over escaped African American slaves, America’s refusal to recognize Cuban independence, how many American Tories went north post-revolution, Napoleon III’s war with Mexico, why the US Government considered attacking Canada after the Civil War, and much more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded May 9th, 2024.
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Photo Credit: (c) Dan Addison UVA University Communications