Emily Sclafani teaches history at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. Here is a taste of her piece at the American Historical Association’s Perspectives on History titled “The Danger of a Single Origin Story.” I write this as a secondary...
Edmund Morgan
An Introduction to the Winthrop Family Papers
Peter Olsen-Harbich, a Ph.D Candidate at William & Mary, reflects on his experience working with the Winthrop Family Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Here is a taste: Among the austere manuscripts of the Massachusetts Historical Society’s collection resides an...
When You’re Teaching Edmund Morgan’s *American Slavery, American Freedom* and a Student Brings Some Tobacco Leaves to Class…
Tobacco was life in seventeenth-century Virginia. It defined everything about Chesapeake society–race, class, gender, labor patterns, family life, marriage, religion, economy, and politics. So far I am having a great time teaching Edmund Morgan’s classic American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal...
Ta-Nehisi Coates and Historians
After his article “The First White President” appeared in The Atlantic, social critic Ta-Nehisi Coates tweeted: Without the historians digging in the trenches, I got nothing. Appreciate all of you. I hope you know it. — Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) September 7, 2017...
Benjamin Carp on Edmund Morgan's "Slavery and Freedom"
As some of you may recall, Edmund Morgan’s 1972 Journal of American History article “Slavery and Freedom” won the 2016 Junto Blog “March Madness” tournament for the best journal article in early American history. Over at Process: A Blog for American History...
Edmund Morgan Wins Junto March Madness
A few years ago Morgan’s book American Slavery/American Freedom won the Junto March Madness tournament devoted to the best books in early American history. This year Morgan’s 1972 “Slavery and Freedom: The American Paradox” won the best article in early American...
Teaching Old Historiography
I love Joe Adelman‘s piece today at The Junto: “The Significance of Old Historiogaphy in American History.” Adelman, who teaches American history at Framingham State University in Massachusetts, writes about trying to teach fresh new perspectives on American history when...
Edmund Morgan at 100
Michael Hattem of Yale writes at Storify: The hashtag #edmorgan100 was started by Ben Carp in anticipation of his article on Morgan being published in the academic journal, Reviews in American History. Other historians have joined in to note and discuss...
Was the United States “Created on Racist Principles?”
In his recent visit to Liberty University, Bernie Sanders said that the United States “in many ways was created, and I’m sorry to have to say this, from way back, on racist principles, that’s a fact.”On Tuesday night in my...
Storifying the OAH 2014 Panel on the Legacy of Edmund Morgan
Here The members of the panel (with perhaps the exception of Winship) loved Morgan’s work. The audience–not so much. Check out the actual Twitter feed (@johnfea1) for replies....
Live Tweeting OAH 2014 Session on the Legacy of Edmund Morgan
“The Legacy of Edmund Morgan” Chair: Rosemarie Zagarri (George Mason) Panelists:Craig Yirush (University of California)Richard Godbeer (University of Miami)Barbara Oberg (Princeton University)David Waldstreicher (Temple University)Michael Winship (University of Georgia) Follow along at @johnfea1 or #oah2014...
Quote of the Day
“I made a point of always teaching undergraduates because they are not a captive audience. If you teach undergrads, you have to make history intelligible to people who are not specialists in your field and that’s good for you as...
Quote of the Day
“At Yale, when we arrived, all was calm; it was as if the ’60s never happened. The students had only one agenda–to get an education–and one of the things they wanted to learn was how to write clearly. During the...
Quote of the Day
The late Edmund Morgan on writing and conducting research: I do not employ much of a method in doing historical research except to read indiscriminately everything I can lay my hands on that may relate to whatever topic has excited...
Quote of the Day
From the Edmund Morgan obituary in The New York Times: I would say that my ideal of writing history is to give the reader vicarious experience,” Professor Morgan told The William and Mary Quarterly. “You’re born in one particular century […]
Edmund Morgan Roundup at The Junto
The good folks at The Junto blog are planning a week-long roundtable on the legacy of Edmund Morgan. I am looking forward to that. In the meantime, check out Jonathan Wilson’s collection of reflections (come on, Jonathan, throw us a […]
Edmund Morgan, R.I.P.
Edmund Morgan, one of the greatest early American historians to ever practice the craft, passed away last night at the age of 97. It is hard to summarize Morgan’s prolific career. Many of his books, including American Slavery, American Freedom […]
Cannibalism in Jamestown
This semester in my British Colonial America course we read Edmund Morgan’s classic American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. At one point in the book Morgan described cases of cannibalism in the early years of the Jamestown […]
“American Slavery, American Freedom” Wins Junto Pool
It’s official. As expected, Edmund Morgan’s American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia is the winner of the The Junto blog’s early American history March Madness tournament. Morgan handily defeated William Cronon’s Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists,...
In Praise of “American Slavery–American Freedom”
Whenever I teach my course in colonial American history (which, if all goes as planned, I will be teaching in Spring 2013), I assign Edmund Morgan’s American Slavery, American Freedom. I know that scholars have challenged Morgan’s thesis about the...