When you have a little time, you can drop in on a free course that revisits a seminal moment in U.S. history–the American Revolution. Taught by Yale historian Joanne Freeman, the course explores how the Revolution brought about “some remarkable transformations–converting British colonists into American revolutionaries, and a cluster of colonies into a confederation of states with a common cause.” You can access the 25 lectures above, or on YouTube and iTunes. Also find a syllabus for the course on this Yale web site.
“The American Revolution” will be added to our list of Free History Courses, a subset of our larger collection, 1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities.
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Every American should take thi course. One aspect that should be enlarged is the influence of Native American society, culture and government on the transformation of English settlers and their descendants. As Roger Williams and Ben Franklin pointed out, the freedom evidenced among the original inhabitants of America has changed Europeans who come here from being ruled to being free:
Surprise, is the main reaction one is left with after going through these lectures-up to the 11th!
Anyone getting introduced to American history through Professor Freeman’s lectures, can be forgiven if she or he comes to the conclusion that the whole affair was just the result of misunderstanding between some foolish men!
The visceral distaste for the founders, demonstrated by constant giggling and mockery is too palpable and too distracting to suffer through! And, therein lies the surprise-why teach a subject for which you have so much disdain!