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Remembering Gordon Wood

Steven Calabresi | 6.10.2026 2:29 PM

Gordon Wood was a towering scholar in every way. He was the best historian of the American Revolution and of the writing of the Constitution and, in general, of the period from 1760 to 1826, of all time. No-one else in the 237 years since the Constitution went into effect even comes close.

Gordon's two biggest contributions were (1) in expanding our understanding of the American Revolution to include a rejection of hereditary hierarchy as well as a rejection of taxation without representation, and (2) in explaining how Americans came to put their faith in our written and amended Constitution. Gordon knew each of the Framers vividly, and he wrote about all of their lives. He described their virtues and vices with perfect precision. He was as institutionally honest an historian as one will ever find. He did not write hagiographies, but instead painted an accurate portrait of the great men he wrote about. He was as great an........

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