Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 29th September 2026

Time: 7.00 p.m.

Venue: Lecture Theatre, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA

Description: Historians of the American founding have long puzzled over the discrepancy between the alleged ideals of the American Revolution and the social and political reality of the early republic. The Declaration of Independence claimed that all men were created equal and were endowed with God-given rights. Yet the society that emerged from American independence was built on hierarchy and discrimination. This lecture re-examines the political thought of the founding generation and argues that common assumptions about American founding ideals have been misrepresented.

How to book: Eventbrite (details later)

Price: Free for national and local members of the HA and for Plymouth University students, Visitors £6.00, concessions £4.00

Tel: 01752 843750

Email: a.cousins345@btinternet.com

Website: www.ha-plymouth.org.uk/

Organiser: Alan Cousins

Lecturer: Professor Max Edling, King’s College, London

Comments: Professor Max Edling is a historian of the American founding with a focus on state-building and the projection of US power he is the author of three books, most recently Perfecting the Union: National and State Authority in the US Constitution.

Region: South-West England

Branch: Plymouth