The George Washington Prize 2017

by T. H. Breen

Early in his term as first president, worried about the stability of the new constitutional order, George Washington organized a series of arduous journeys that took him to all thirteen states.

By taking the government to the people, he believed he could help them better understand the pressing need to support a strong federal union. In his tours to distant and disparate states he built connections with ordinary citizens which helped the new nation survive its difficult early years.

by Jane Kamensky

By the 1760's, Boston-born painter John Singleton Copley had become colonial America's premier painter. His brush captured the faces of his neighbors; men like Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams, who would become the revolutionary heroes of a new United States.

The artist, however, did not share his subjects' politics. Copley's nation was Britain; his capital, London. When rebellion sundered Britain's empire, both kin and calling determined the painter's allegiances. He sought the largest canvas for his talents and the safest home for his family. So, by the time the United States declared its independence, Copley and his kin were in London. He painted America's revolution from a far shore, as Britain's American War. Today, in museums across America, Copley's brilliant portraits evoke patriotic fervor and rebellious optimism.

by Mark Edward Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone

Historians have long considered the Battle of Monmouth one of the most complicated engagements of the American Revolution.

Fought on Sunday, June 28, 1778, Monmouth was critical to the success of the Revolution and it marked a decisive turning point in the military career of George Washington. Without the victory at Monmouth Courthouse, Washington's critics might well have marshaled the political strength to replace him as the American commander-in-chief.

This definitive view of the fateful battle is replete with poignant anecdotes, folkloric incidents, stories of heroism and combat brutality, behind-the-scenes action and intrigue, and characters from all walks of life.

by Alan Taylor

This new comprehensive narrative of the American Revolution delivers the stories of major battles, generals, and common soldiers with insight and power.

With discord smoldering in the fragile new nation through the 1780s, nationalist leaders such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton sought to restrain unruly state democracies and consolidate power in a Federal Constitution. Assuming the mantle of "We the People," the advocates of national power ratified the new frame of government but their opponents prevailed in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, whose vision of a western "empire of liberty" aligned with the long-standing, expansive ambitions of frontier settlers. White settlement and black slavery spread west, setting the stage for a civil war that nearly destroyed the union created by the founders.