James Hrdlicka received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. His research focuses on how Americans looked to constitutional government to address the many challenges they faced between the late colonial period and the ratification of the United States Constitution. Because this period was dominated by war and the need to distribute associated burdens, Americans viewed constitutions as a means by which they could mobilize power to achieve common ends. War and its burdens formed the essential backdrop as Americans debated what made for legitimate and effective government. In no other context did government demand so much of them; at no other times were they presented with so many opportunities to consider the nature of their attachments to the state and to each other. By understanding the process of constitution-making in this more expansive way, we are better able to comprehend the dilemmas and achievements of a larger set of participants. We can begin to see how the entire populace contributed to the creation of a new federal republic. Hrdlicka explores these themes through a close study of Massachusetts as he revises his dissertation into a book manuscript.      

This new postdoctoral fellowship was created by Penn DCC in partnership with the Jack Miller Center to support scholars who pursue an academic career primarily aimed at advancing learning on the governmental and economic institutions of the United States, especially their historical roots in the principles and politics of the Constitution’s founding era, and the ideas, debates, and contests that have shaped their subsequent development.