The Blue Hill Library is sponsoring a discussion series with local retired teacher Bill Case on the book American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804, by Alan Taylor. The discussions will take place from 1-2pm over three Tuesdays, June 30, July 14, and July 21, and are a companion to the July 25 event with author Alan Taylor at the Blue Hill Public Library.  

The American Revolution is often portrayed as a high-minded, orderly event whose capstone, the Constitution, provided the nation its democratic framework. Alan Taylor, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, gives us a different creation story in this magisterial history. The American Revolution builds like a ground fire overspreading Britain’s colonies, fueled by local conditions and resistant to control. Emerging from the continental rivalries of European empires and their native allies, the revolution pivoted on western expansion as well as seaboard resistance to British taxes. When war erupted, Patriot crowds harassed Loyalists and nonpartisans into compliance with their cause. The war exploded in set battles like Saratoga and Yorktown and spread through continuing frontier violence.

The discord smoldering within the fragile new nation called forth a movement to concentrate power through a Federal Constitution. Assuming the mantle of “We the People,” the advocates of national power ratified the new frame of government. But it was Jefferson’s expansive “empire of liberty” that carried the revolution forward, propelling white settlement and slavery west, preparing the ground for a new conflagration.

Bill Case is a retired high school and college history teacher with over fifty years of experience. He holds a Masters Degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University. In his career, Bill has taught U.S. History, AP U.S. History, Holocaust Studies, Public Policy and many other courses. He has been an instructor at Greene High School (New York State), George Stevens Academy, and Maine Maritime College. He is a past member of Colloquy Downeast and the George Stevens Academy Board of Education.  In recent years, he has lectured at the Good Life Center and been a moderator at several local political debates. 

This program is free and open to all, but space is limited, so registration is required and can be done through the library's online calendar. Copies of the book will be available for checkout from the library. For more information, please call the library at 374-5515 or email Assistant Director kayleigh.thomas[at]bhpl.net.