Gordon Wood and Woody Holton clash over past and present
Gordon Wood has engaged in many debates during his long and celebrated career, but rarely had he been confronted so starkly as by fellow scholar Woody Holton last weekend at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
The two American Revolution historians had been billed to discuss their most recent books and their differing views of the country’s origins. But midway through the 60minute event the subject turned to The New York Times’ 1619 Project, the Pulitzer Prize winning series from 2019 that placed slavery at the center of the American narrative. The mood soon resembled less a spirited, but academic gathering than a court of law, with Wood on the stand.
Holton’s allegation: Wood’s criticism of the 1619 project, which he and four other historians have condemned for saying the preservation of slavery was a “primary reason” the colonists sought independence, helped make credible the current backlash from such Republican politicians.
Wood and Holton already have books out this fall: Wood’s “Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution” is a brief summation of his views on the Revolution that centers on the country’s political, economic and legal foundations. Holton’s “Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution” is a 700-plus page account that, as its subtitle indicates, seeks to broaden the traditional story of the country’s founding beyond Washington, Jefferson and other leaders to include the contributions of women, Black and indigenous people among others.
Holton and Wood, who at the start of the debate greeted Holton as “my old buddy,” have met before. They had been on friendly terms. Holton told the AP during a recent interview that he had reached out to Wood in hopes of receiving a blurb from him for “Liberty Is Sweet” and called him a “really decent person” when not arguing his own historical viewpoints.