Jessica Lowe (University of Virginia – School of Law) has posted Ideas that Matter: Parting Thoughts on Charles Beard on the 100th Anniversary of an Economic Interpretation on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Charles Beard's work is best known for advocating that material interests, not ideas, played the pivotal role in shaping the founding of the United States. But Beard was, in his own way, an idealist who saw history as a moral force. This essay, the conclusion to the publication of the October 2013 Miller Center/University of Virginia Law School conference, commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of An Economic Interpretation, sums up the conference and provides some thoughts on Beard's legacy for ideas, interests, and history as advocacy — and history as the pursuit of truth.