Join the Rhode Island Historical Society on Tuesday, October 6th at 6pm for the presentation George Washington's Path to Independence by historian Denver Brunsman.
Today, we often take for granted that George Washington identified as an American, but this was not always the case. Washington was among the most anglicized, or British, of the leading American revolutionaries. Moreover, because he left the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on June 23, 1775, to lead the Continental Army against British forces, Washington missed the fiery debates that marked the political process culminating in Congress approving independence on July 2, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence two days later. He never signed the Declaration; indeed, he never formally declared independence. Instead, Washington followed a more evolutionary path to an American identity. The process began during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63), continued during the Imperial Crisis of the 1760s and 1770s, when he traded tobacco for wheat as the primary cash crop at Mount Vernon, and crystallized in his command of American forces starting in June 1775.
Denver Brunsman is Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department at George Washington University, where his courses include “George Washington and His World,” taught annually at the Mount Vernon estate. He is an award-winning author of the books George Washington and His World: Enslaver, Revolutionary, President (2026) and The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World (2013); co-author of a leading college and AP U.S. History textbook, Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People (2016; 2020); and co-editor of The American Revolution Reader (2014), among other publications. His honors include the Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prize for Teaching Excellence and induction into the George Washington University Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2018) as well as selection to the College Board AP U.S. History Development Committee (2018-23; Higher Ed Chair, 2021-23). He is co-director of the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute at GW and frequently leads K-12 professional development programs for organizations such as Humanities Texas, the George Washington Teacher Institute at Mount Vernon, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
This program has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
The Rhode Island Historical Society, the state's oldest and only statewide historical organization, is dedicated to honoring, interpreting and sharing Rhode Island's past to enrich the present and inspire the future. Founded in 1822, the RIHS is an advocate for history as a means to develop empathy and 21st -century skills, using its historical materials and knowledge to explore topics of timeless relevance and public interest. As a Smithsonian Affiliate, it is dedicated to providing high-quality, accessible public programming and educational opportunities for all Rhode Islanders through its four sites: the John Brown House Museum, the Museum of Work & Culture, the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center and the Aldrich House.
Find more Rhode Island Historical Society Events
