Feuding Founders (OLLI)
Course | Available (Membership Required)
Feuding Founders: How the Founding Fathers Built a Nation by Quarreling
Leaders of the early American Republic were a contentious lot. They argued endlessly about
philosophy, religion, slavery, and politics. Gleefully they attacked one another with vitriolic
rhetoric which rivals our current political invective. It is fortunate our young nation survived its
first two decades. Surprisingly, though, out of this bubbling cauldron of bitter animosity an
unexpected understanding emerged: we can live together, even if we often don't see eye to eye or even like our fellow countrymen. This was a radical breakthrough in people's thinking about politics. We agreed to disagree, a principle that has served us well until the rise of today's culture of extremism. In this course we will trace the development of this surprising conclusion.
Mick Chantler
Mick Chantler, MA, concluded his 36 year career in teaching at Sonoma Valley High School and currently teaches courses in the OLLI programs at Dominican University of California, Sonoma State University and UC Berkeley. As a lifelong student of the Civil War era, he is a member of the Lincoln Forum and was pleased to organize the Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration for the City of Sonoma in 2009. In 2010 he coordinated the American History Series at the Sonoma Valley Library. Mick’s other interests include the history of baseball and he is a long-standing member of the Society for American Baseball Research.