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Edmund Sears Morgan (January 17, 1916 – July 8, 2013) was an American
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
and an eminent authority on early
American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...
. He was the Sterling Professor of History at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, where he taught from 1955 to 1986. He specialized in American colonial history, with some attention to
English history England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk" (2014). BBC News. Retrieved 7 February ...
. Thomas S. Kidd says he was noted for his incisive writing style, "simply one of the best academic prose stylists America has ever produced." He covered many topics, including
Puritanism The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
, political ideas, the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, slavery,
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
, family life, and numerous notables such as
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
.


Life

Morgan was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the second child of Edmund Morris Morgan and Elsie Smith Morgan. His mother was from a
Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United S ...
family that practiced Christian Science, though she distanced herself from that faith. His father, descended from Welsh coal miners, taught law at the University of Minnesota. His sister was Roberta Mary Morgan, better known as Roberta Wohlstetter, also a historian and, like Edmund, a winner of the
Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
. In 1925 the family moved from Washington, D.C. to
Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village w ...
to allow the father to take a position as professor at Harvard Law School. Morgan attended Belmont Hill School near home. He then enrolled in Harvard College, intending to study English history and literature, but after taking a course in American literature with F. O. Matthiessen he switched to the new major of American civilization (history and literature), with Perry Miller as his tutor, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1937. Then, at the urging of the jurist
Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...
(a family friend), Morgan attended lectures at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
. Returning to Harvard, in 1942 Morgan earned his Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization, with Miller as his adviser. Although a pacifist, Morgan became convinced after the fall of France in 1940 that only military force could stop Hitler, and he withdrew his application for conscientious objector status. During World War II he trained as a machinist at the
MIT Radiation Laboratory The Radiation Laboratory, commonly called the Rad Lab, was a microwave and radar research laboratory located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was first created in October 1940 and operated until 31 ...
, where he turned out parts for radar installations. In 1946–55 Morgan taught history at Brown University before becoming a professor at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, where he directed some 60 PhD dissertations in colonial history before retiring in 1986. In 1939 he married Helen Theresa Mayer, who died in 1982. Morgan died in New Haven on July 8, 2013 at the age of 97. His cause of death was pneumonia. He was survived by two daughters—Penelope Aubin and Pamela Packard—from his first marriage; his second wife, Marie (née Carpenter) Caskey Morgan, a historian; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.


Career

As an undergraduate at Harvard, Morgan was profoundly influenced by historian Perry Miller, who became a lifelong friend. Although both were atheists, they had a deep understanding and respect for Puritan religion. From Miller, Morgan learned to appreciate:
The intellectual rigor and elegance of a system of ideas that made sense of human life in a way no longer palatable to most of us. Certainly not palatable to me... He left me with a habit of taking what people have said at face value unless I find compelling reasons to discount it... What Americans said from the beginning about
taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
and just government deserved to be taken as seriously as the Puritans' ideas about God and man.
Morgan's many books and articles covered a range of topics in the history of the colonial and Revolutionary periods, using intellectual, social history, biographical, and political history approaches. Two of his early books, ''The Birth of the Republic'' (1956) and ''The Puritan Dilemma'' (1958), have for decades been required reading in many undergraduate history courses. His works include ''American Slavery, American Freedom'' (1975), which won the Society of American Historians'
Francis Parkman Prize The Francis Parkman Prize, named after Francis Parkman, is awarded by the Society of American Historians for the best book in American history each year. Its purpose is to promote literary distinction in historical writing. The Society of American ...
, the
Southern Historical Association The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Sout ...
's Charles S. Sydnor Prize and the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
's Albert J. Beveridge Award, and ''Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and America'' (1988), which won Columbia University's
Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
in American History in 1989. Morgan has written a biography of Benjamin Franklin of which he made extensive use of '' The Papers of Benjamin Franklin'' and has written about at length. He has also written biographies on Ezra Stiles and Roger Williams.


Puritans

Morgan's trio ''The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in 17th-Century New England'' (1944), ''The Puritan Dilemma'' (1958), and ''Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea'' (1963) restored the intellectual respectability of the Puritans, and exposed their appetite for healthy sex, causing a renaissance in Puritan studies, the more so because both Morgan and his mentor Miller were Ivy League atheist professors, adding to their credibility. ''Visible Saints,'' dedicated to Miller, was a reinterpretation of the Puritan ideal of the "Church of the Elect." Morgan argued that the criterion for church membership was not fixed in England. Soon after their arrival the Puritans changed membership to a gathered church composed exclusively of tested Saints. Morgan's 1958 book ''The Puritan Dilemma'' made him a star, becoming the most-assigned book in U.S. history survey courses, documenting the change in understanding among Puritans of what it means to be a member of a church, "doing right in a world that does wrong": "Caught between the ideals of God's Law and the practical needs of the people,
John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...
walked a line few could tread."


American Revolution

In ''The Stamp Act Crisis'' (1953) and ''The Birth of the Republic'' (1956) Morgan rejected the Progressive interpretation of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
and its assumption that the rhetoric of the Patriots was mere claptrap. Instead Morgan returned to the interpretation first set out by
George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...
a century before that the patriots were deeply motivated by a commitment to liberty. Historian Mark Egnal argues that:
The leading neo-Whig historians, Edmund Morgan and Bernard Bailyn, underscore this dedication to whiggish principles, although with variant readings. For Morgan, the development of the patriots' beliefs was a rational, clearly defined process.


Slavery

In his seminal 1975 book ''
American Slavery, American Freedom ''American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia'' is a 1975 history text by American historian Edmund Morgan. The work was first published in September 1975 through W W Norton & Co Inc and is considered to be one of Morgan ...
'', Morgan explored "the American paradox, the marriage of slavery and freedom":
Human relations among us still suffer from the former enslavement of a large portion of our predecessors. The freedom of the free, the growth of freedom experienced in the American Revolution depended more than we like to admit on the enslavement of more than 20 percent of us at that time. How republican freedom came to be supported, at least in large part, by its opposite, slavery, is the subject of this book.
Morgan claimed that large Virginia plantation owners exerted an outsized influence on poorer white Virginians and their attitude toward the racial divide (color line) which made it possible for Virginian white men as a group to become more politically equal: ("Aristocrats could more safely preach equality in a slave society than in a free one"). In a controversial passage, Morgan suggests Virginia's poor whites felt no racial superiority to poor blacks. He does this by providing evidence that, in 17th-century Virginia, poor white indentured servants and black slaves frequently cooperated with each other and worked together. Morgan cites the 1676 Bacon’s Rebellion as evidence of a surprising racial egalitarianism among the poor, since Bacon incorporated runaway black slaves into his army. However, despite the assertions of such writers as Michelle Alexander, Morgan does ''not'' state that Bacon’s Rebellion was the reason that rich landowners stopped purchasing white
indentured servants Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...
and started increasing their purchase of black slaves; rather, regional changes in labor economics was the reason black slaves began to replace white servants: during the early 1600s, white servants cost less per unit labor than black slaves did; but by the latter 1600s, the situation reversed itself, and black slaves became the more economical investment. And, as Morgan states, “The planters who bought slaves instead of servants did not do so with any apparent consciousness of the social stability to be gained thereby. Indeed, insofar as Virginians expressed themselves on the subject of slavery, they feared that it would magnify the danger of insurrection in the colony.” As events evolved, however, the rising number of black slaves and the virtual end to the importation of indentured servants did stabilize Virginia society. And as time went on, according to Morgan, Virginia politicians learned to further pacify poor whites by fostering a sense of white superiority. "Racism made it possible for white Virginians to develop a devotion to the equality that English republicans had declared to be the soul of
liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
." That is, according to Morgan, white men in Virginia were able to become much more politically equal and cohesive than would have been possible without a population of low-status black slaves. Anthony S. Parent commented: "American historians of our generation admire Edmund Morgan's ''American Slavery, American Freedom'' more than any other monograph. Morgan resuscitated American history by placing black slavery and white freedom as its central paradox." In 2002 Morgan published a surprise ''New York Times'' Bestseller, ''Benjamin Franklin'', which dispels the myth of "a comfortable old gentleman staring out at the world over his half-glasses with benevolent comprehension of everything in it", revealing his true mental makeup.
With a wisdom about himself that comes only to the great of heart, Franklin knew how to value himself and what he did without mistaking himself for something more than one man among many. His special brand of
self-respect Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
required him to honor his fellow men and women no less than himself.


Impact

After examining his writings, David T. Courtwright finds that:
They are based on exhaustive research in primary sources; emphasize human agency as against historicist forces; and are written in precise and graceful prose. This combination of rigor, empathy, and lucidity is intended for, and has succeeded in capturing, a broad audience. Morgan is read by secondary school students, undergraduates, and graduate students, as well as by his specialist peers – some sixty of whom were trained in his seminars.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology American history professor Pauline Maier wrote:
As a historian of colonial and revolutionary America, he was one of the giants of his generation, and a writer who could well have commanded a larger nonacademic audience than I suspect he received. He characteristically took on big issues and had a knack for conveying complex, sophisticated truths in a way that made them seem, if not simple, at least easily understandable.
Benjamin L. Carp described Morgan as "one of the great historians of early America, with a formidable influence on academic and popular audiences." Jill Lepore called Morgan "one of the most influential American historians of the 20th century." According to
Joseph Ellis Joseph John-Michael Ellis III (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the founders of the United States of America. '' American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'' won a National Boo ...
, Morgan was "revered" by other members of the profession. William Hogeland affirms Morgan's success in enshrining a "consensus approach" to US history, where colonists' ideas, rather than their possible economic interests, were worthy of inspection by twentieth century historians. "He was out to define something essential in the American character and thereby create a new master narrative, and to achieve that end, he concocted a false portrayal of the colonists’ petitions," Hogeland wrote.


Awards and Honors

Morgan was elected to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1964 and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1966. In 1971 Morgan was awarded the Yale chapter of
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
's William Clyde DeVane Medal for outstanding teaching and
scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...
, considered one of the most prestigious teaching prizes for Yale faculty. In 1971–1972 Morgan served as president of the Organization of American Historians. In 1972, he became the first recipient of the
Douglass Adair Douglass Greybill Adair (March 5, 1912 – May 2, 1968) was an American historian who specialized in intellectual history. He is best known for his work in researching the authorship of disputed numbers of ''The Federalist Papers'', and his influen ...
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. In 1965 he became a Sterling Professor, one of Yale's highest distinctions. Morgan was awarded the 2000
National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...
by U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
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." In 2008 the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
honored him with a gold medal for lifetime achievement.


Books

*''The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in 17th-Century New England'' (1944
read online
* ''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; 4th ed. 2012
read online
*''The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop'' (1958
read online
*''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 Gentle Puritan: A Life of Ezra Stiles, 1727–1795'' (1962
read online
*''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
read online
*''The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth, 1653–1657: The Conscience of a Puritan'' (1965) *''The Puritan Family'' (
944 Year 944 (Roman numerals, CMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine wars, Arab–Byzantine War: Byzantine forces are de ...
1966) *''Roger Williams: The Church and the State'' (1967
read online
*''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, reprint with new foreword, 2004) *''The Genius of George Washington'' (1980) *''Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America'' (1988) *''Benjamin Franklin'' (Yale University Press, 2002
read online
*''The Genuine Article: A Historian Looks at Early America'' (2004), selected review essays from ''
New York Review of Books New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
'
read online
*''American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America'' (2009), biographical essay
read online


Selected articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Notes


Further reading

* Carp, Benjamin L. "Edmund S. Morgan and the Urgency of Good Leadership." ''Reviews in American History'' 44.1 (2016): 1-18. * * Liddle, William D. "Edmund S. Morgan (1916– )" in Clyde N. Wilson, ed., ''Twentieth-Century American Historians'' (Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. XVII) (Detroit, 1983), pp 285–95. * Middlekauff, Robert. “In Memoriam: Edmund S. Morgan 1916-2013.” ''New England Quarterly'' 96#4 (2013), pp. 685–687
online
* Murrin, John M. "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 * *




American Historical Association obituary

Obituary by Thomas Kidd



External links


Morgan author page and archive
from ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Edmund 1916 births 2013 deaths Harvard College alumni Historians of the United States Historians of Puritanism Yale University faculty National Humanities Medal recipients Writers from New Haven, Connecticut Yale Sterling Professors Writers from Minneapolis Belmont Hill School alumni Historians from Minnesota Bancroft Prize winners American atheists Brown University faculty Historians from Connecticut Deaths from pneumonia in the United States Members of the American Philosophical Society