An Exceptional History: The Birth of American Democracy

Podcast-style audio course - 15 Topics
Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
Audio Download + Subscription
$0.00
Audio Download + Subscription
$0.00
Includes Free Study Guide
Audio Download + Subscription
$0.00

This brilliant course celebrates the American experiment to test a revolutionary form of government. Today, democracy remains at the core of our nation’s political, social, and economic organization. Now, you can explore its miraculous and fragile origins in the colonial and revolutionary eras (1607–1790).

In 15 erudite lectures, celebrated history professor and author Jeffrey B. Webb gets you to realize that there was nothing inevitable about the coming of democracy to America. Specializing in early American history and culture, Prof. Webb begins by revealing how much the weight of history, tradition, and colonists’ contemporary experience counseled against democratic systems of government.

The recipient of numerous teaching and research awards – including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities – Prof. Webb guides you through key moments in American history at which our future democratic institutions were shaped and tested.

Throughout, you’ll discover the stories of less-familiar people and events from our history: John Winthrop, Robert Keayne, and Bacon’s Rebellion, to name a few. In these unsung stories, you will find not only the appeal of democratic ideas b

This brilliant course celebrates the American experiment to test a revolutionary form of government. Today, democracy remains at the core of our nation’s political, social, and economic organization. Now, you can explore its miraculous and fragile origins in the colonial and revolutionary eras (1607–1790).

In 15 erudite lectures, celebrated history professor and author Jeffrey B. Webb gets you to realize that there was nothing inevitable about the coming of democracy to America. Specializing in early American history and culture, Prof. Webb begins by revealing how much the weight of history, tradition, and colonists’ contemporary experience counseled against democratic systems of government.

The recipient of numerous teaching and research awards – including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities – Prof. Webb guides you through key moments in American history at which our future democratic institutions were shaped and tested.

Throughout, you’ll discover the stories of less-familiar people and events from our history: John Winthrop, Robert Keayne, and Bacon’s Rebellion, to name a few. In these unsung stories, you will find not only the appeal of democratic ideas but also the disruptive nature of democratic values.

In the end, you will appreciate the American system of government as the most outstanding of contributions by the United States to world history.

Learn about downloadable programs.

$19.99

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Jeffrey B. Webb (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is an expert on American history and culture. A professor of history at Huntington University, he is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards, including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His books, articles, and university-level courses traverse a wide range of fields in American history, including early American politics, twentieth-century environmental history, and history of American religious traditions. Prof. Webb served as the general editor for multi-volume encyclopedias on such diverse topics as American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales and Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in American History. He is also the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Christianity and several scholarly articles on the impact of watershed redesign projects in America’s rural communities. Over the course of his twenty-year career of research and teaching, he has written and lectured widely on the subject of colonial American politics and political culture, including presentations at the Beijing Institute of Technology, the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, and numerous colleges and research institutes throughout North America.

Praise for Jeff Webb

“Jeffrey Webb is an excellent scholar, a beloved teacher, and an insightful thinker. In his classroom, Webb expertly weaves together the complicated, contested, messy but oftentimes progressive history of American democracy—delivered thoughtfully and honestly, warts and all. With Webb at the helm of a “The History of America’s Democracy” you can expect a thoughtful analysis of the ideals, advances, and broken promises of America’s past that continue to inform and illuminate the turbulent present.”
– Dr. Kate Elizabeth Brown, Assistant Professor of History, Western Kentucky University

“In his telling of the tale of American democracy, Webb proves himself both a great storyteller and a great historian: his treatment of this subject will fire the imaginations, feed the intellects, and stir the souls of Americans of all ages.”
– Christopher R. Fee, Ph.D., Professor of English, Gettysburg College

“Professor Jeffrey B. Webb, Ph.D., is an award-winning teacher and researcher in early American religious and environmental history. He is an organized and engaging speaker with an understated sense of humor. Professor Webb’s thorough and thoughtful approach to American history finds subtle patterns and makes important connections. His lecture series, “History of America’s Democracy,” is sure to be informative and thought provoking.”
– Troy R.E. Paddock, Ph.D., Professor of History, Southern Connecticut State University

  • A Government Nobody Wanted
  • The Virginia House of Burgesses
  • Aboard the Mayflower
  • Goody Sherman’s Sow
  • Dissidents
  • Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion
  • New Directions
  • The Charter of Privileges
  • Apes in Purple Robes
  • Creating a Public Sphere
  • Making an Interest
  • Inflection Points
  • Trial and Error
  • America’s Critical Period
  • Epilogue

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