Past Meeting
This Society meeting was held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday November 20, 2022
at St. John's Presbyterian Church — 217 Berkley Road, Devon PA 19333
co-sponsored by the Tredyffrin Public Library as an online web seminar.
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Printed title page and handwritten first page.
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The Unique and Radical Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776
presented by Margaret Newell, Ph.D.
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Prof. Newell spoke about the timely subject of the unique and important Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776;
how it later evolved and how it related to the constitutions of other states and the U. S. Constitution as well as the events and culture of the time.
She also engaged with audience members in extended discussions as questions arose, and all who participated left much better informed.
According to the National Constitution Center, The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 was, perhaps, the most democratic (and radical) of the state constitutions.
As one Pennsylvania delegate explained, the 1776 Convention, filled with political newcomers, was “determined not to pay the least regard to former Constitutions”
and was resolved to “reject everything ... to clear away every part of the old rubbish ... and begin upon a clean foundation.”
Margaret Newell has roots in the Philadelphia area. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia
and is currently Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History at the Ohio State University.
Some of Prof. Newell's areas of special expertise are Colonial and Revolutionary American history, Native American history, and the history of slavery.
She has authored a number of books and articles on these subjects. Her first book, From Democracy to Independence, focused on the economic causes of the American Revolution.
Prof. Newell's most recent book is Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery,
which won the 2016 James A. Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians for the best book on race relations in the U.S.
She has also appeared in documentaries, and addressed audiences in the Russian Federation at the invitation of the U. S. State Department.
Prof. Newell is currently conducting research concerning freedom seekers from Georgia who found refuge in the Philadelphia area during the 1840s.
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