What does it mean to participate in a democracy? Historian Sarena Zabin argues that between the American Revolution and the Civil War it was petitioning, not voting, that was the important way people performed their civil duties. Here is a...
early American republic
What is infrastructure?
The opponents of Joe Biden’s new bill think “infrastructure” is just roads and bridges. Yes, infrastructure was focused largely on roads and bridges in the early 19th-century, but it also included new innovations like railroads and the telegraph. Today those...
Episode 74: An Independent Woman in Revolutionary America
In this episode we talk with historian Lorri Glover about Eliza Lucas Pinckney, a woman who lived through the American Revolution in South Carolina. Pinckney’s story sheds light on gender, agriculture, politics, and slavery in this era and unsettles many...
The Author’s Corner with R.B. Bernstein
R.B. Bernstein is a Lecturer in Political Science at the City College of New York and teaches in the Skadden, Arps Honors Program in Legal Studies at the Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership. This interview is based...
The Author’s Corner with Robert Watson
Robert Watson is Distinguished Professor of American History at Lynn University. This interview is based on his new book, George Washington’s Final Battle: The Epic Struggle to Build a Capital City and a Nation (Georgetown University Press, 2020). JF: What led...
Has Christianity Always Led to White Supremacy?
Jessica Criales is a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University. In her recently published piece at The Panorama she shows how native Americans used Christianity to fight white supremacy and racial prejudice. Here is a taste: Hidden throughout early American history are...
The Author’s Corner With Matthew Clavin
Matthew Clavin is Professor of History at the University of Houston. This interview is based on his new book The Battle of Negro Fort: The Rise and Fall of a Fugitive Slave Community (New York University Press, 2019). JF: What led...
An Interview with the Editors of the *Journal of the Early Republic*
Over at The Panorama, Will Mackintosh interviews Andy Shankman and David Waldstreicher, the new editors of the Journal of the Early Republic. Here is a taste: Will: What are some of your plans for your editorial tenure at the Journal of the Early Republic?...
The Erie Canal: Religion and America’s “First Great Social Space”
In The Bible Cause: A History of the American Bible Society I wrote about the way the ABS used water as a metaphor to describe its work during the early 19th century: The ABS owed owed much of its distribution success...
The Press Was More Political In Jefferson's Day Than It Is Today. Yet He Defended It.
Earlier today, while speaking to a crowd in Florida, Donald Trump referenced Thomas Jefferson in a rant condemning the press and the media. Here is what he said: I also want to speak to you without the filter of the fake news....
Bringing the "Hamilton" Soundtrack to the History Syllabus
Framingham State University historian Joesph Adelman has matched every single class period in his “Early American Republic” course with a lyric from the Broadway smash “Hamilton.” For example, on Friday January 27 the topic of discussion is “Local and National...
The Author's Corner with Mark Guenther Schmeller
Mark Guenther Schmeller is Associate Professor of History at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. This interview is based on his new book, Invisible Sovereign: Imagining Public Opinion from the Revolution to Reconstruction (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015). JF: What...
Scale and Religious Geography in Early America
I only made it to one session today at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians. I spent the morning in the book exhibit and then attended a meeting of the OAH Committee on Communication and Marketing. In...
SHEAR Has a Blog!
The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic has started a blog. Mark Cheathem, a veteran of the history blogosphere who has been quite busy lately, is involved with the project. He explains: We are excited to launch SHEAR’s...
Abigail Adams and Alexander Hamilton
Unlike many Americans who visit to Broadway today, John and Abigail Adams were not fans of Alexander Hamilton. In 1806 John called Hamilton the “bastard brat of a Scotch Pedler.” Abigail also had some choice words for the Secretary of...
Historians Are Crazy About “Hamilton: An American Musical”
Lin-Manuel Miranda has managed to get Americans excited about Alexander Hamilton. His hip-hop musical about the first Treasury Secretary is taking Broadway by storm. It is even getting rave reviews from early American historians. In fact, a group of historians […]
Native American History at SHEAR
This weekend historians of the early American republic gathered together in Philadelphia for the thirty-sixth annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. Gabriel Loiacono, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, was working...