2016 – SHEAR

2016

By Vanessa Holden December 27, 2016

Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America

David J. Silverman is an award-winning professor of history at George Washington University. He is the author of the new book, Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America. Between the early seventeenth and late nineteenth centuries, indigenous people across North America revolutionized their lives with firearms. The implications of this intervention, however, are complex,… Read More

Guest Posts 13 min read

By Vanessa Holden December 20, 2016

SHEAR Dissertation Prize

The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic invites submissions for the SHEAR Dissertation Prize. The Prize will be awarded to an exceptional dissertation pertaining to the history of North America from 1776 to 1861. Within that period, the dissertation may treat virtually any aspect of history, including political, social, cultural, or literary history. Dissertations successfully defended in… Read More

Announcements 2 min read

By Vanessa Holden December 19, 2016

The Case for an Electoral "Pause"

Over at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy’s blog, SHEAR members John L. Brooke and Andrew W. Robertson make the case for an electoral “pause” in anticipation of Donald J. Trump’s presidency. Here is an excerpt: [T]hose who view Donald Trump’s accession to the presidency with apprehension should make use of the much-needed “pause” in the… Read More

Current Events 2 min read

By Vanessa Holden December 14, 2016

Crowd-Sourcing a "History Detective" Problem

A few months ago, my friend Richard Flavin (an amateur historian living in Cambridge MA) sent me a message attached interesting scans from early American newspapers, concerning St. Hubertus, a figure about whom I have published (in JSRNC in 2008 and in Religion Dispatches earlier this year). I didn’t get a chance to look at the documents closely until… Read More

Query 2 min read

By Vanessa Holden December 12, 2016

Call for Applications: Inaugural SHEAR Second-Book Writers’ Workshop

SHEAR is pleased to announce the creation of the SHEAR Second-Book Writers’ Workshop and to invite applications for its inaugural session at the annual meeting 20 – 23 July 2017 in Philadelphia. The journey from first to second book can be a difficult one. From choosing a topic for a second book to finding the time and support to… Read More

SHEAR 2017 4 min read

By Vanessa Holden December 06, 2016

Searching for the “Real” Toussaint Louverture

On August 24th of 1802, an elderly man reached the gate of the fort de Joux, in the Jura region of eastern France. Perched atop a mountain like an eagle in its aerie, the fort dated back to the Middle Ages and was now used as a political prison. The man was not just any prisoner: he had… Read More

Guest Posts 12 min read

By Vanessa Holden November 17, 2016

Did 1828 Repeat Itself in 2016?

In today’s post, former SHEAR president Harry L. Watson, who is the Atlanta Alumni Distinguished Professor of Southern Culture at the University of North Carolina, reflects on the recent presidential election and its connection to the Early Republic. In the aftermath of the recent presidential election, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani quickly scrambled for historical high ground. Read More

Current EventsGuest Posts 12 min read

By Vanessa Holden October 04, 2016

Movement within Bounds on the Antislavery Political Spectrum: The Case of Edward Everett

Several years ago I was at work on what I thought would be a group biography of the doughfaces, Northern politicians favorable to compromise with the South over slavery. I was prompted in large part by Leonard Richards’ book illustrating how instrumental doughfaces were in enabling Southern domination of the federal government. But as I contemplated their significance beyond… Read More

Guest Posts 8 min read

By Vanessa Holden September 27, 2016

Interview with Donald F. Johnson, 2016 Manuscript Prize Winner

At the 2016 SHEAR conference, Donald F. Johnson, assistant professor of history at North Dakota State University, received the SHEAR Manuscript Prize for his Northwestern University dissertation, “Occupied America: Everyday Experience and the Failure of Imperial Authority in Revolutionary Cities under British Rule, 1775-1783.” The Republic (TR): How would you summarize the argument of your dissertation? Donald F. Read More

InterviewSHEAR 2016 6 min read

By Vanessa Holden September 19, 2016

Interview with April R. Haynes, 2016 James H. Broussard Book Prize Winner

April R. Haynes is an assistant professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her book, Riotous Flesh: Women, Physiology, and the Solitary Vice in Nineteenth-Century America, was co-winner of the James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize. The Republic (TR): For those who haven’t read your book, would you provide a synopsis? April R. Haynes… Read More

April R. HaynesInterviewSHEAR 2016 17 min read