Leaders:  Dick Hesse, Mary Lee Sargent

Thursdays, 10 AM – Noon | October 7 – November 11

America’s Founding Fathers is a deep dive into the creation of the U.S. Constitution as it actually happened – not as many are led to believe it happened. The three-term course includes thirty-six compelling lectures from the Great Courses video series on the remarkable men who played their own unique role in the creation (and survival) of American democracy. The Founders were flawed, contradictory people with their own radical views on what America’s new government should look like. Through their lives, opinions, and deeds, one can see just how messy and rancorous a process was the formation of a “more perfect union.” 

The course covers a period from the closing days of the American Revolution to the opening decades of the United States under the newly created U.S. Constitution. The lectures are highly accessible for all learners, from high school students to retired history buffs.

America’s Founding Fathers invites you to experience the precarious, tense battle between power and liberty – a battle that’s still being waged, and that will be waged for decades to come.

October 7

George Washington’s Doubts

Thomas Mifflin’s Congress

October 14

Robert Morris’s Money

Benjamin Franklin’s Leather Apron

October 21

Thomas Jefferson’s Books

Daniel Shays’s Misbehavior 

October 28

Alexander Hamilton’s Republic

James Madison’s Conference

November 4

Patrick Henry’s Religion

James Madison’s Vices

November 11

Edmund Randolph’s Plan

William Paterson’s Dissent

Dick Hesse is a retired lawyer and law professor who specialized in constitutional law and was involved in several cases before the Supreme Court. He has presented history courses for LINEC and other adult education programs over a number of years.

Mary Lee Sargent is a retired professor of History and Women’s Studies. She taught at Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois for 35 years and was Director of the Women and Gender Studies Department. After moving to New Hampshire in 2003, Mary Lee was an adjunct instructor at Southern New Hampshire and Plymouth State Universities and Lakes Region and NHTI Community Colleges.