Charles A. Beard
Historian who reinterpreted the Constitution through economic motives.
He was an icon of the progressive school of historical interpretation.[1] During the initial half of the 20th century, Charles A. Beard held a prominent position within the American historical profession.[2] The Cold War era saw a decline in Beard's standing, as the majority of U.S. historians abandoned analyses centered on economic class conflict.[1]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Charles Austin Beard
- Born
- 27 November 1874
- Birthplace
- Knightstown, Indiana, U.S.
- Died
- 1 September 1948
- Place of death
- New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
- Spouse
- Mary Ritter Beard (1900)
- Alma mater
- DePauw University
- University of Oxford
- Columbia University
- Thesis year
- 1904
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Charles Austin Beard was born on November 27, 1874, in Knightstown, Indiana.[3] He resigned from Columbia University on October 8, 1917, charging that the university was under the control of reactionary trustees.[4] Together with Walter Vrooman, Beard established Ruskin Hall, an institution designed to be within reach of working-class individuals.[5] Following his resignation, Beard never looked for a permanent academic position again.[6]
Beard passed away on September 1, 1948, in New Haven, Connecticut.[7]
What the cited sources add
Joseph Stromberg notes that Beard's early writings reflected his involvement in the political vision of the Progressive movement.[2] Stromberg states that Beard resigned from Columbia University in protest over restrictions on academic freedom, which the wartime climate made possible.[2] Stromberg reports that New Left historian William Appleman Williams wrote that Beard was chiefly influenced by James Madison, Brooks Adams, and Marx regarding the relationship of politics and economics.[2] Stromberg writes that Beard's concern over the direction of US foreign policy moved him into cooperation with the anti-New Deal Old Right.[2]
Stromberg states that Beard adhered to the "continental" or "American civilization" school, which wished to defend the United States while avoiding distant quarrels overseas.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Charles A. Beard" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hofstadter 1968, p. 344; Drake, "Charles Austin Beard: The Return of the Master Historian of American Imperialism", Cornell University Press, 2018-12-15; Barrow, "More than a Historian: The Political and Economic Thought of Charles A.Beard", Routledge, 2018-04-17 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "The Old Cause by Joseph Stromberg". facts only, no text reused. antiwar.com
- Wikipedia, "Charles A. Beard" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles A. Beard" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Drake 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles A. Beard" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilkins 1956, p. 277–284 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles A. Beard" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bender 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles A. Beard" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stourzh 1957 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Charles A. Beard (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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