In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Kelley Brown, a Massachusetts U.S. history and civics teacher, interview Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Prof. Gordon Wood. Prof. Wood explores the pivotal events and ideas that sparked the American Revolution. He discusses the political tensions of 1775, King George III’s imperial policies, and the colonists’ transformation from subjects to citizens. Wood highlights Benjamin Franklin’s rise, James Otis’s speech against the writs of assistance, and George Washington’s crucial military leadership. He also reflects on overlooked Revolutionary era patriots like Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and George Mason, the role of Minutemen, and how Lexington and Concord galvanized the colonies towards American Independence.
The Learning Curve