ISSUED: 14 November 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Hans Fogle
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Nancy Bradeen Spannaus joins the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education for their author talk on November 20.
Bradeen will discuss her newest release, “Defeating Slavery: Hamilton’s American System Showed the Way,” where she argues that the crucial factor in ending slavery was the abandonment of the economic principles of Alexander Hamilton.
“As the United States prepares to commemorate its 250th birthday, I hope this book will play a critical role in addressing our nation’s experience with slavery and even our sense of national identity,” Spannaus said. “America had a strong anti-slavery movement, but the sabotage of Hamilton’s system undercut it. This is history Americans need to know to resolve our crises today.”
Spannaus, who had begun studying Alexander Hamilton in the 1970’s, co-edited a book of writings on the economics of the American Revolution, “The Political Economy of the American Revolution,” in which major excerpts from Hamilton’s major financial papers were featured.
After a career in political journalism, Spannaus intensified her studies of Hamilton’s American System.
In 2017, she set up the blog American System Now, which serves as a resource on the history of the American System and comments on current events in that light.
Spannaus was born in Portland, Maine, in 1943 to parents who were descended from American patriots.
She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society. She and her husband, Ed, live in northern Virginia, where they both indulge in as much history as possible.
The Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education began the Author Talk series to help further their mission to advance representative democracy by promoting a better understanding of the United States Congress and the Constitution through programs and research that engage citizens.
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