CONTACT:
David McKay
472 N. Palm Street, Janesville WI 53548
608-757-2299
mckay at jvlnet.com
David McKay will negotiate costs with you. Contact him directly to make arrangements.. REGION:
Rock County, Southern WisconsinHUMANITIES EXPERTISE:
History
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DAVID McKay
David McKay received his PhD in American history from the University of Iowa in 2002. He served as the Executive Director of the Milton Historical Society from 2002 to 2007, where he ran the Milton House - an 1844 hexagonal concrete stagecoach inn and a documented Underground Railroad site. He has also taught in the UW Colleges System since 1996, at UW-Rock County and at UW-Washington County. His interests range across the spectrum of American history, from colonization and the Constitution to the atomic bomb and the culture wars, but his area of specialty is the political culture of the Revolutionary and Early Republic eras. Unlike most of the politicians who use the phrase, he actually does know what this country was founded upon. He also knows why nobody is running on that platform today and why nobody would vote for them if they did.
Public Presentations:
The Founding Fathers Did Not Trust You: A Look at the Electoral College
Every four years, commentators rediscover the Electoral College, that odd institution put in place by the Founding Fathers to select the President. This rediscovery is inevitably followed by shocked (SHOCKED!) cries that the Electoral College is undemocratic, and further followed by calls to repair what is assumed to be a flaw in the Constitution. In this presentation, David McKay addresses the thinking that went into the creation of the Electoral College and why its undemocratic nature is a feature, not a bug. Along the way, he sheds some light on the larger political world of the Founding Fathers, a world that we no longer inhabit.
Lincoln, Slavery and the Jeffersonian Dilemma
Abraham Lincoln's journey toward emancipation was neither straightforward nor easy. In this presentation, David McKay examines Lincoln's evolving attitude toward slavery in light of the conundrum first enunciated by Thomas Jefferson, a thinker with whom Lincoln had much in common: if God is just and slavery is wrong, what then is to become of the United States? Touching on matters of faith, race, Constitutional thought and what it means to be an American, Lincoln's solution to the Jeffersonian Dilemma remains relevant even in the 21st century.
Harry S Truman and the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb
The decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 remains one of the most controversial acts of World War II, one whose justification or lack thereof continues to excite debate even six decades later. In this presentation, David McKay walks through the thought process of President Harry S Truman, examining both the alternatives to and the imperatives for the dropping of the bombs as they appeared in 1945. He will also lead a discussion on the subject with audience members afterward, if desired.
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