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This course provides the unique opportunity to engage with the life, times, and memory of George Washington. Known in his own life as America’s father, Washington has long been identified as the country’s indispensable founder by scholars. More recently, historians have focused on his shortcomings, particularly his record with Native Americans and as an enslaver. We will examine Washington’s record in totality, as a soldier, politician, entrepreneur, enslaver, consumer, president, private/family man, national icon, and more. Heavy emphasis will be placed on the use and interpretation of primary sources, including historical documents and material culture at the Mount Vernon estate. Through these various materials, participants will develop their own critical interpretations of the American founding era and Washington’s place in it.

COURSE CONTENT

• Twelve lectures
• Primary source readings to complement the lectures
• A certificate of completion for 15 hours of professional development credit

Readings: The suggested readings for each session will be listed in the “Resources” link on the course site. You are not required to read or purchase any print materials. The quizzes are based on the lectures.

Course Access: After your purchase, you may access your course by signing into the Gilder Lehrman website and clicking on the My Courses link, which can be found under My Account in the navigation menu.

Questions? Please view our FAQs page or email selfpacedcourses@gilderlehrman.org.

LEAD SCHOLAR: Denver Brunsman

Denver Brunsman is an associate professor of history at George Washington University, where he writes and teaches on the politics and social history of the American Revolution, early American republic, and British Atlantic world. His courses include George Washington and His World, taught annually at Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. His book The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World (2013) received the Walker Cowen Memorial Prize for an outstanding work in eighteenth-century studies in the Americas and Atlantic world. He is also a co-author of the college and AP US History textbook Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People (2015), and an editor of The American Revolution Reader (2013) and Colonial America: Essays in Politics and Social Development (2011).