The Oxford Early American Republic Seminar is back this November for a fourth academic year of seminars exploring the history and culture of the United States between independence and the Civil War. One of the special contributions OxEARS makes is to provide a welcoming space for junior scholars to workshop their research as they complete their dissertations and start out on the road to publication, and we hope you will join us online this Michaelmas Term as we hear from three up-and-coming scholars writing on a diverse range of times, places, and subjects. In Week 4, we kick off the year with a paper from Connie Thomas (Queen Mary, University of London) on early contests over U.S. citizenship during the Longchamps Affairs, 1784-1786. On Wednesday 17th November, we showcase some rising Oxford talent with Joshua Waechter‘s paper, ‘How to Draft a Constitution: Methods of Proceeding at State Conventions, 1818-1821.’ Finally, our first speaker from continental Europe, Matteo Rossi, joins us from Turin on December 1st to present his work on the history of economic thought and free labour ideology in the antebellum United States.
Due to the ongoing pandemic – and, more importantly, our desire to include scholars from around the world in our discussions – this year’s seminars will be held online via Zoom. All events take place on Wednesdays at 4pm London time, which is usually one hour behind France and Italy, five hours ahead of New York, six hours ahead of Chicago, and eight hours ahead of San Francisco. (Please note that daylight saving time ends on Sunday 31st October in the UK and on Sunday 7th November in the United States, so there will only be a 4-hour time difference between London and New York on Wednesday 3rd November.) We welcome all scholars who are interested in the early American republic, whatever their career stage. Zoom links for every session and pre-circulated papers will go out via our mailing list a few days before. If you are not yet on the mailing list and would like to be, please email Grace Mallon (she/her) at grace.mallon@univ.ox.ac.uk.
Week 4: Wednesday 3rd November 2021, 4pm GMT
Connie Thomas (QMUL), ‘”The Common Cause:” Contesting Early American Citizenship in the Longchamps Affairs, 1784-1786’ (pre-circulated paper)
Week 6: Wednesday 17th November 2021, 4pm GMT
Joshua Waechter (Oxford), ‘How to Draft a Constitution: Methods of Proceeding at State Conventions, 1818-1821’
Week 8: Wednesday 1st December 2021, 4pm GMT
Matteo Rossi (Turin), ‘Henry Carey, the Philadelphia Working Class, and the Origins of Free Labour (1835-1840)’ (pre-circulated paper)
OxEARS 