Edward Countryman
Edward Countryman was an American historian known for his study of the American Revolution. He taught at Yale University, University of Canterbury, and Southern Methodist University.
Life and career
Edward Francis Countryman Jr., born in Glens Falls, New York, on July 31, 1944, graduated from Manhattan College in 1966, and from Cornell University with an MA, and a Ph.D. in 1971.He taught at Yale University, University of Canterbury, University of Warwick, University of Cambridge. Latterly, he was a Distinguished University Professor at Southern Methodist University from 1991 to 2022. According to the New York Times, his "wide-ranging studies of the various groups — politicians, laborers, Native Americans and more — at work during the American Revolution helped usher in a more complex understanding of the nation’s founding." He also promoted the idea that the American Revolution was a social revolution, with "elites forced to give ground to the working and farming classes."
Countryman was married to Evonne van Heussen, after a prior marriage ended in divorce. He had three children. He died in Dallas, Texas on March 24, 2025, at the age of 80.
Awards
- 1983–1991 Royal Historical Society
- L.H.D. Honoris Causa Manhattan College
- 1982 Bancroft Prize for A People in Revolution
- 1966–1971 Danforth Graduate Fellow
- 1966–1967 Woodrow Wilson Fellow
Works
- Reprinted as a paperback in 1989; see
- Revised edition Macmillan, 2003.
- Revised edition Macmillan, 1997,.
- Co-author with Evonne von Heussen-Countryman.The Empire State, co-author, Cornell University Press, 2001