Western Scholars Talk

The Western End to the American Revolution with Alan Taylor 

The creators of the American republic anticipated the national future unfolding through westward expansion, which would multiply farms and communities across the continent. But during the 1780s that vision nearly imploded owing to an array of obstacles to expansion posed by Native peoples and rival empires. That set of crises helped lead to the new Federal Constitution written in 1787. The terms of that resolution framed the construction of future states including Wyoming as equal members of the union.

Thursday, August 13, 6-7p | outside deck | free & followed by a book signing

Alan Taylor is an acclaimed American scholar specializing in early US history, the American Revolution, and the early Republic. Winner of the Bancroft Prize, the National Book Award, and two Pulitzer Prizes, Taylor has authored 12 books focused on the colonial era, the American Revolution, and the Early Republic. After teaching at Boston University, UC Davis, he is currently the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia. 

Alan’s books include William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic (Knopf, 1995), American Colonies: The Settling of North America (Viking/Penguin, 2001), American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 (W. W. Norton, 2016), Thomas Jefferson’s Education (W.W. Norton, 2019), and American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783–1850 (W.W.Norton, 2021).

Many thanks to the Jackson Hole News&Guide, The Hole History Society, Massinter Family,Teton County Semiquincentennial Committee, Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, and Wyoming Humanities for supporting the Western Scholars Speaker series.