Organizing committee:
Nathan Perl-Rosenthal (USC)
Christopher L. Brown (Columbia)
Brian DeLay (UC Berkeley)
Elizabeth Ellis (Princeton)
Sarah Pearsall (Johns Hopkins)
The American Revolution was an international event. Its causes, origins, consequences, and trajectory all had roots in places beyond the thirteen colonies, from neighboring Indigenous nations to Asian cities thousands of miles away. Over the last few decades, there has been increasing scholarly attention to the United States in the world and an enlarged geography for early America. Yet, beyond works specifically on international diplomacy and war, the American Revolution has been largely resistant to such treatment, remaining sturdily provincial especially in popular understandings.
This conference will consider the challenges and advantages of making the American Revolution international in ways that move beyond simply European high politics and diplomacy. The Revolution was at the center of a number of global processes, from colonialism to Enlightenment. The interplay of these dynamics and the specific American trajectory furnishes an excellent avenue of approach to re-invigorate and widen perspectives on older stories about colonial resistance, unity, and war.
This EMSI Annual Conference, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, will take place at the Huntington Library on November 6-7, 2026; publication of a special issue may follow. The conference will include a range of panels devoted to various aspects of the American Revolution International.
Image Credit: Enoch Wood & Sons, Tea Service depicting Lafayette at Benjamin Franklin’s Tomb, c. 1824, earthenware. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Jonathan and Karin Fielding. © Courtesy of The Huntington Art Museum, San Marino, California.
