5th International Conference of Institute for Thomas Paine Studies at Iona College in coop. with the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at the Univ. of Missouri (Web)

Time: 22.-24.09.2022
Venue: virtual space and New Rochelle, New York
Proposals by: 15.12.2021

How do 18th-century narratives of empire still echo in our historiography and imaginations today? First coined in 1775, “salutary neglect” was one example which painted the first half of the eighteenth century as a period of declining British imperial engagement and increasing colonial independence. While assumptions of salutary neglect still permeate much of late 18th-century and revolutionary scholarship, scholars of the early 18th century have pushed back on this very narrative to uncover an imperial state far more actively engaged in North American colonial affairs long before the Seven Years’ War. “Iroquois Empire” was another example that emerged in the 18th century, built upon a real or imagined past of Iroquois conquest, confirmed by treaty and policy, and perpetuated by early historians. While it has receded in recent decades, scholars have turned to yet other Indigenous groups and polities, again through the lens of empire.

These are just two of many narratives of empire that scholars have sought to reassess, with recent work on North America and the Atlantic pushing us still further in comparative, entangled, and contested directions. In this continued spirit, the organizers aim to bring together scholars from both halves of the 18th century to reexamine imperial rule and how narratives of empire were wielded and debated during the colonial, revolutionary, and early republican eras. The organizers welcome work on either side of the Atlantic to reconnect and reconsider these histories and historiographies.

The 5th International Conference of Thomas Paine Studies will be a hybrid event, with virtual and in-person components on the Iona campus in New Rochelle, located just outside New York City in Westchester County. Steven Pincus of the University of Chicago will deliver the keynote address and  Elizabeth Ellis of New York University will open the conference with a talk on her forthcoming book, Power on the Margins: The Petites Nations and the Transformations of the Lower Mississippi Valley 1650-1800. Read more … (Web)

Source: H-Net Notifications