Charles A. Beard was a prominent American historian, political scientist, and analyst who challenged prevailing views on the founding of the United States. His controversial book, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, argued that the founding fathers were driven by their business interests. He resigned from Columbia University in 1917 and became an independent scholar, continuing to publish extensively. However, his opposition to American involvement in World War II led to the decline of his career and the repudiation of many of his other ideas. He died in 1948.
Charles A. Beard was an American born in 1874. He rose to prominence as a historian, political scientist, and analyst. During the first half of the 20th century, he published hundreds of articles, textbooks, and articles, including one of the most popular and influential books on early American history ever published, The Rise of the American Civilization. His ideas challenged many of the prevailing views on the founding of the United States, and later his views on American involvement in World War II would lead to the decline of his career.
After receiving his doctorate from Columbia University in 1904, Charles A. Beard began his career as a college professor at the same institution. His tenure at Columbia lasted only 13 years, but during this time he published many scholarly works, including one of his best-known and most controversial books, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution. The premise of this work was that the many founding fathers of the United States were driven primarily by their business interests, and that these interests influenced their voting and work on the United States Constitution. The work created much controversy, but was well respected by most scholars, though this sentiment faded in later years.
Beard resigned from Columbia in 1917, amid controversy over his views on the university’s leadership and their perceived interference with his promotion of American involvement in World War I, which he ardently supported. Beard became an independent scholar, unaffiliated with any established institution. He helped found The New School, a faculty-run institution located in New York’s Greenwich Village. Later, he worked from his home in Connecticut.
During this period, Beard continued to publish extensively, producing textbooks, monographs, articles for popular and academic periodicals, and other works. It was during this period that he published The Rise of the American Civilization, in 1927, and two subsequent subsequent volumes, all co-written with his wife, Mary, with whom he also collaborated on many other works. He became one of America’s best known and most respected historians and political scientists during this period and was elected president of the American History Association and the American Political Science Association at various times.
By the dawn of World War II, Beard’s ideas about the United States’ role in world affairs had turned on their head, and he vigorously opposed America’s involvement. He has publicly railed against President Roosevelt’s decision to involve the United States in the war, arguing it could lead to a dictatorship taking control of the country. He continued to rail against American involvement, even after the war ended, and accused President Roosevelt of lying to the American people to get the population to support American involvement. This led to the decline of his career and the repudiation of many of his other ideas as public opinion turned against him. He died in 1948.
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