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'''Edmund Sears Morgan''' (b. [[January 17]], [[1916]], in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]]), an eminent authority on early [[History of the United States|American history]], is Professor of History [[emeritus]] at [[Yale University]] ([[1955]]-[[1986]].) He has written many books covering a range of topics in the history of the colonial and Revolutionary periods, using intellectual, social, biographical and political history approaches. The books include ''Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America'' ([[1988]]), which won Columbia University's Bancroft Prize in American History in 1989, and ''American Slavery, American Freedom'' ([[1975]]), which won the Society of American Historians' Francis Parkman Prize, the Southern Historical Association's Charles S. Sydnor Prize and the American Historical Association's Albert J. Beveridge Award. Two of his early books, ''Birth of the Republic'' ([[1956]]) and ''The Puritan Dilemma'' ([[1958]]), have for decades been required reading in many undergraduate history courses.  He has written biographies of [[Ezra Stiles]], [[Roger Williams]], [[Benjamin Franklin]].
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In [[1971]] he was awarded the Yale Chapter of [[Phi Beta Kappa]]'s William Clyde DeVane Medal for outstanding teaching and scholarship, considered one of the most prestigious teaching prizes for Yale faculty. One year later, he became the first recipient of the Douglass Adair Memorial Award for scholarship in early American history, and in 1986 he received the Distinguished Scholar Award of the American Historical Association. He has also won numerous fellowships and garnered a number of honorary degrees and named lectureships. He became a [[Sterling Professor]], one of Yale's highest distinctions, in [[1965]]. Morgan was awarded the [[2000]] [[National Humanities Medal]] by the [[President of the United States|US President]] [[Bill Clinton]] at a ceremony for "extraordinary contributions to American cultural life and thought." In [[2006]], he received a [[Pulitzer Prize]] "for a creative and deeply influential body of work as an American historian that spans the last half century." <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2006/special-citation/|title=2006 Special Award|publisher=[[Pulitzer Prize]]}}</ref>
'''Edmund Sears Morgan''' (January 17, 1916 &ndash; July 8, 2013) was a professor of history at [[Yale University]] between 1955 and 1986.  


Morgan's own interest in history grew while he attended [[Belmont Hill School]] outside of Boston, and while he was an undergraduate at [[Harvard College|Harvard]], where he went on to earn his Ph.D in 1942. At Harvard Morgan studied under [[Perry Miller]]. He began by teaching at the [[University of Chicago]] (1945-46) and then at [[Brown University|Brown]] (1946-55) before becoming a professor at Yale.  
His scholarship ranged across American history in the 17th and 18th centuries, focusing especially on the American Revolution, Puritan New England, and the slave South.  He uses intellectual, social, biographical and political history approaches. In British history he wrote ''Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America'' (1988), which won Columbia University's Bancroft Prize in American History in 1989.  His study of colonial Virginia ''American Slavery, American Freedom'' (1975) won numerous awards for its depth of research, clarity of language, and cogency of argument about why Virginia adopted both slavery (for blacks) and freedom (for whites). Two early books, ''Birth of the Republic'' (1956) and ''The Puritan Dilemma'' (1958), have long been required reading in many undergraduate history courses. He has written biographies of [[Ezra Stiles]], [[Roger Williams]], and [[Benjamin Franklin]].  


== Books ==
Morgan earned his PhD at Harvard University in 1942 where he studied under [[Perry Miller]].  He began by teaching at the [[University of Chicago]] (1945-46) and then at [[Brown University]] (1946-55) before being called to Yale.  In 1965, Morgan was appointed a Sterling Professor, Yale's highest distinctions. Morgan was awarded the 2000 [[National Humanities Medal]] "for his brilliant scholarship as one of America's most distinguished historians ... [who] has enhanced our understanding of American colonial history by challenging traditions and assumptions about the birth of our nation and by bringing to life the people and ideas that shaped America's destiny."<ref>{{Citation | last=Gonzalez | first=Susan | date=January 12, 2001 | title=National Humanities Medal awarded to historian Morgan | journal=Yale Bulletin & Calendar | volume=29 | issue=15 | url=http://archives.news.yale.edu/v29.n15/story3.html}}</ref>  He was for many years the Chair of the Board of Editors of the [http://franklinpapers.yale.edu/ Papers of Benjamin Franklin].  In 2006, he received a [[Pulitzer Prize]] "for a creative and deeply influential body of work as an American historian that spans the last half century."<ref>{{Citation | url=http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/260|title=2006 Special Award|publisher=[[Pulitzer Prize]]}}</ref>
*''Virginians at Home: Family Life in the Eighteenth Century'' (1952)
*''The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution'' (1953), with Helen M. Morgan
*''The Birth of the Republic, 1763-89'' (1956)
*''The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop'' (1958)
*''The American Revolution: A Review of Changing Interpretations'' (1958)
*''The Mirror of the Indian'' (1958)
*''Editor, ''Prologue to the Revolution: Sources and Documents on the Stamp Act Crisis, 1764-1766'' (1959)
*''The National Experience: A History of the United States'' (1963) coauthor of textbook; several editions
*''Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea'' (1963)
*Editor, ''The Founding of Massachusetts: Historians and the Sources'' (1964)
*''The American Revolution: Two Centuries of Interpretation'' (1965)
*''Puritan Political Ideas, 1558-1794'' (1965)
*''The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth, 1653-1657: The Conscience of a Puritan'' (1965)
*''The Puritan Family'' (1966)
*''Roger Williams: The Church and the State'' (1967)
*''So What about History?'' (1969)
*''American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia'' (1975)
*''The Meaning of Independence: John Adams, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson'' (1976)
*''The Genius of George Washington'' (1980)
*''The Gentle Puritan: A Life of Ezra Stiles, 1727-1795'' (1984)
*''Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America'' (1988)
*''Benjamin Franklin'' (2002)
*''The Genuine Article: A Historian Looks at Early America'' (2004), collected articles and reviews


==Reference==
Yale University has endowed the Edmund S. Morgan chair of African American Studies, History, and American Studies.
* John M. Murrin. "Edmund S. Morgan," in Robert Allen Rutland, ed. ''Clio's Favorites: Leading Historians of the United States, 1945-2000'' U of Missouri Press. (2000) pp  126-137


== Notes ==
For a short bibliography of Morgan's scholarship and sources about Morgan see [[Edmund_Morgan/Bibliography|the bibliography page]].
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==Attribution==
*[http://www.yale.edu/history/faculty/morgan.html Morgan Bio at Yale]
''Some content on this page may previously have appeared on Wikipedia.''
*[http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/24049.html Morgan bio on History News Network]


[[Category:American historians|Morgan, Edmund]]
==Footnotes==
[[Category:Historians of the United States|Morgan, Edmund]]
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[[Category:Yale University faculty|Morgan, Edmund]]
<references>
[[Category:Harvard University alumni|Morgan, Edmund]]
 
[[Category:Living people|Morgan, Edmund]]
</references>
[[Category:1916 births|Morgan, Edmund]]
</small>
 
[[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]]

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Edmund Sears Morgan (January 17, 1916 – July 8, 2013) was a professor of history at Yale University between 1955 and 1986.

His scholarship ranged across American history in the 17th and 18th centuries, focusing especially on the American Revolution, Puritan New England, and the slave South. He uses intellectual, social, biographical and political history approaches. In British history he wrote Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America (1988), which won Columbia University's Bancroft Prize in American History in 1989. His study of colonial Virginia American Slavery, American Freedom (1975) won numerous awards for its depth of research, clarity of language, and cogency of argument about why Virginia adopted both slavery (for blacks) and freedom (for whites). Two early books, Birth of the Republic (1956) and The Puritan Dilemma (1958), have long been required reading in many undergraduate history courses. He has written biographies of Ezra Stiles, Roger Williams, and Benjamin Franklin.

Morgan earned his PhD at Harvard University in 1942 where he studied under Perry Miller. He began by teaching at the University of Chicago (1945-46) and then at Brown University (1946-55) before being called to Yale. In 1965, Morgan was appointed a Sterling Professor, Yale's highest distinctions. Morgan was awarded the 2000 National Humanities Medal "for his brilliant scholarship as one of America's most distinguished historians ... [who] has enhanced our understanding of American colonial history by challenging traditions and assumptions about the birth of our nation and by bringing to life the people and ideas that shaped America's destiny."[1] He was for many years the Chair of the Board of Editors of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin. In 2006, he received a Pulitzer Prize "for a creative and deeply influential body of work as an American historian that spans the last half century."[2]

Yale University has endowed the Edmund S. Morgan chair of African American Studies, History, and American Studies.

For a short bibliography of Morgan's scholarship and sources about Morgan see the bibliography page.

Attribution

Some content on this page may previously have appeared on Wikipedia.

Footnotes

  1. Gonzalez, Susan (January 12, 2001), "National Humanities Medal awarded to historian Morgan", Yale Bulletin & Calendar 29 (15)
  2. 2006 Special Award, Pulitzer Prize