The WGVU Morning Show (September 3, 2021)
Phillip Goodrich joins TMS to talk about his latest work, Somersett: Benjamin Franklin and the Masterminding of American Independence, addressing why America clings to racism as a national policy.
Phillip Goodrich is the author of Somersett or Why and How Benjamin Franklin Orchestrated the American Revolution
The Woke Surgeon: Somersett: Benjamin Franklin and the Masterminding of American Independence
This then is the audiobook title of choice, and will release at the close of this holiday weekend. This edition is dedicated to all who requested an audio format in order to listen rather than read, and to all those who did so, welcome. You are about to hear the story of American independence for…
The Woke Surgeon: Big News!
For those of you wondering where the new blogs were for my author page, I have to apologize first for the simple fact that I have been working in the surgery gig again for the past 10 months, and it is pretty much back to business as usual. But at the same time, I had…
HistoryNet Review!
After a flurry of radio spots to comment about the electoral process and our Electoral College, I find that HistoryNet has picked up my book and now provided this review!
The Woke Surgeon: Whence the Electoral College? A 2020 evaluation
Love it or hate it, the Electoral College is an integral part of our perennial system of “peaceful revolution,” the presidential election. Set by the U.S. Constitution in 1787, it is found in Article II Section 1, and calls for a number of non-elected persons equal to the sum of each state’s Senators and Representatives…
The Woke Surgeon: The Electoral College and Madison–”Counting my Negroes”
For the past 240 years, American presidential elections have been bound by a concept never mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, but since the 1840’s known as the “Electoral College.” But the author of the Constitution, James Madison had a much darker intention for this clever bit of legerdemain to control how the White House is…
The Woke Surgeon: Provenance for Somersett, or Why and How Benjamin Franklin Orchestrated the American Revolution
Because concerns had been raised about the provenance of my historical narrative of the American Revolution, and why the story had been suppressed for so many years (nearly 250!), I am providing the Bibliography section of the book for those who have yet to purchase this book. At the same time, I am pleased to…
The Woke Surgeon: Great Questions from the Audience at the Barr Library
In the past week, I had something of a whirlwind trio of public “appearances” (all virtual of course) and one of these was at the esteemed Barr Memorial Library in Fort Knox, KY, hosted by Robert “Michael” Steinmacher. We had a spirited discussion of “Somersett” and during the Q&A session some great questions were posed. …
The Woke Surgeon: Benjamin Franklin and Lyndon Baines Johnson on the True Meaning of Civil Rights
With great thanks to Ruth and Alfred Blumrosen (the authors of Slave Nation, Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2005) for this juxtaposition of quotes 176 years apart, from the unlikely sources of Franklin and Johnson, pursuing the same dream for America, that of colorblind freedom and equality for every American under the rule of law. We recall that Franklin during his long life ran the gamut from slave owner and occasional slave trader (through his printshop in Philadelphia) to ardent abolitionist (fulfilling the promise he made before the Revolution to John Fothergill, his personal physician, and David Barclay, one of the most heavily invested private sources for funding the Revolution) in the five final years of his life.
The Woke Surgeon: Benjamin Franklin’s Speech to Closing the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, September 17, 1787
Rather than verbiage from a mortal blogger, it is worthwhile to hear the entire closing speech of Franklin to the Constitutional Convention, calling for a unanimous signing of the document by all the delegates in attendance that morning (he wouldn’t get it, but he would get unanimous states’ approval, with various individual delegates deferring their imprimaturs on the document). The words were all Franklin, but James Wilson would read it in Franklin’s stead, Franklin claiming generalized exhaustion and hesitancy of speech. During the Convention, Franklin had been present non-stop for the four summer months, serving as the voice of gravitas, enlightenment (courtesy of Hume, Smith, and Lord Kames of Scotland), and compromise, and at least twice saving us from having two United States, north and south.