PART THREE OF A FOUR-PART LECTURE SERIES

HELD IN THE NORMAN WILLIAMS LIBRARY MEZZANINE,

LOCATED AT 10 S. PARK STREET, WOODSTOCK

As the founding fathers were contemplating a new country that would be founded on the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence, there were multiple contradictions between the new order that they envisioned - that included life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - and the reality in which hundreds of thousands of African Americans and Native Americans were either enslaved or being forcefully removed from their homeland.

in this lecture, Pulitzer-prize winning author Joseph Ellis will address what have been termed as the “two great failures of America’s founding: the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal.” This program is co-hosted by the Yankee Bookshop, the Norman Williams Library, Penguin-Random House Publishing, and the Woodstock History Center. The program will be held at the Norman Williams Library in the mezzanine.

About the Speaker…

Dr. Joseph J. Ellis has written many award-winning history books, including American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, which won the National Book Award, and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.