Wednesday, July 24 at George Mason's Gunston Hall 6:30 p.m. 

RECEPTION AND KEYNOTE DISCUSSION, MODERATED BY SCOTT STROH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GEORGE MASON'S GUNSTON HALL

Fairfax's Final Three: The Resolutions that Forced Ideals into Existence - Catherine Treesh (Independent Scholar; Yale Ph.D. 2021)

'[W]hen they left their native Land, and settled in America': The Fairfax County Resolves and the Revolutionary Debate on the Origins of Colonies and Empire - Steven Sarson (Professor of American Civilization, Jean Moulin University, Lyon 3)

The Sons of Liberty and the Genesis of Revolutionary Protest - Micah Alpaugh (Professor of History, University of Central Missouri)

Thursday, July 25 at the George Washington Presidential Library
8:00 a.m.    
Continental Breakfast, Bookout Reception Hall

9:00 a.m.    
Welcome and Introductions

9:15 a.m.    
PANEL 1: VIRGINIA, MODERATED BY AMANDA MONIZ, DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN CURATOR OF PHILANTHROPY, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Measuring Submission in the Tidewater: Virginia Gentry Resistance and the Road to Fairfax, 1765-1774 - John Patrick Mullins (Associate Professor of History and Public History Director, Marquette University)

Adaptive Justice: How Virginia Courts Remained Open in 1774 - Turk McCleskey (Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Virginia Military Institute)

Bonds of Charity: Slavery, the Fairfax Resolves, and Aid to Boston - Spencer Wells (Lecturer, Master of Interdisciplinary Studies, Southern Utah University) and Jeremy Snow (Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Gothenburg)

10:30 a.m.
Break

11:00 a.m.    
PANEL 2: THE BACKCOUNTRY, MODERATED BY BRENDAN MCCONVILLE, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, BOSTON UNIVERSITY

A Western Wall: American Nationalism on the Virginia Frontier Before Independence - Jay Donis (Assistant Professor of History, Thiel College)

"This is the border beyond which for the advantage of the whole empire, you shall not extend yourselves": Western Land Policy as a Precondition to Revolution - Brandon Downing (Honors Program Director, Marietta College; University of Cincinnati PhD 2014)

Committees, Conventions, and Court Closings in Revolutionary Massachusetts - Tristan New (PhD Candidate, Boston University)

12:15 p.m.    
Lunch, Founders' Terrace

1:30 p.m.    
PANEL 3: COMMERCE, MODERATED BY KATE STEIR, SENIOR CURATOR AND HEAD OF COLLECTIONS, GEORGE MASON’S GUSTON HALL

Arming the Revolution: The Trusted Dutch Trade Channels, 1774-1776 - Pauline Wittebol (PhD Candidate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Sibling Rivalry: British and American Mercantile Competition on the Eve of Revolution - Jeremy Land (Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

Founding Debt: Merchants, the Continental Association, and the Slave Trade - James R. Fichter (Associate Professor of European and American Studies, University of Hong Kong)

2:45 p.m.    
Break

3:15 P.M.
PANEL 4: SELF-FASHIONING, MODERATED BY MICHELLE MCDONALD, DIRECTOR OF THE LIBRARY & MUSEUM AT THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

True Merit: Horatio Gates as a Case Study of Radicalization - Kieran O’Keefe (Assistant Professor of History, Lyon College)

George Washington: Fashion Icon - Chloe Chapin (Assistant Director of Course Development, Derek Bok Center for Teaching & Learning, Harvard University; Harvard PhD 2023)

Sovereignty, Constitutionalism, and Self-Government: Thomas Burke and the Coming of the Revolution in North Carolina - Aaron N. Coleman (Professor of History, University of the Cumberlands)

4:30 p.m.    
Final Wrap-up Discussion with Denver Brunsman (Chair, Department of History, George Washington University), Rosemarie Zagarri (Distinguished University Professor, George Mason University), and Lindsay Chervinsky (Executive Director, George Washington Presidential Library)

5:00 p.m.    
Symposium Concludes

The conference will be held in-person on July 24-25, 2024. July 24th will take place entirely at George Mason's Gunston Hall. July 25th will take place at George Washington’s Presidential Library Mount Vernon.

Registration information can be found here. 

Papers are now available for this conference. Please register to receive the password to download the papers.

Papers are not to be cited or circulated without the written permission of the author.

Please contact Brenna Holland at [email protected] if you are attending the conference but have not yet received the password.

To mark the 250th anniversary of the Fairfax Resolves, a central document in the coming of the American Revolution co-authored by George Mason and George Washington, George Mason’s Gunston Hall, the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, and the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon are co-organizing a conference that explores the origins of the American Revolution in a broad perspective with particular attention to the Fairfax Resolves.  The symposium will be held on July 24-25, 2024 at George Washington’s Mount Vernon to coincide with the passage of the resolves.

Conference organizers seek proposals from scholars in all fields whose perspectives may bear new insight into the origins and causes of the American Revolution and the idea of Independence. Topics may include but are not limited to:

• The political philosophies, religious beliefs, legal and economic considerations that may have influenced the American move for Independence.
• Proposals that present new perspectives on the place of the Fairfax Resolves in the initiation or fostering of revolutionary sentiments, its influence on the Age of Atlantic Revolutions or examine the social as well as political implications of the Resolves, including the views about slavery that they express.
• The membership, nature, and relationships in the political, economic, and intellectual networks in Virginia that included George Washington and George Mason.
• The competing views of the British Empire held by those in North America, in Great Britain, and beyond.
• The events that fueled the rise of revolutionary sentiments, both within North America and outside of it.
• The role of external factors both within North America and outside it, such as the economy, civil strife, or fear, in motivating individuals to support revolutionary action or aim to suppress it.
• Perspectives on the origins of the American Revolution that may also provide a framework for current or future scholars to look afresh at the causes of the American Revolution.
• Presenters are asked to submit a detailed 500-750-word proposal for their paper along with a CV.  We encourage graduate and early career scholars to submit proposals. In support of undergraduate research, we will be convening a panel of undergraduate papers.  We encourage undergraduates to submit research papers of 12-15 pages exclusive of bibliography. We especially welcome proposals from scholars investing in the intellectual and social networks of George Mason and George Washington and their impact on the origins of the American Revolution or a focus on the Fairfax Resolves.

Selected presenters will have travel expenses covered.  Mount Vernon and/or the David Center may commission a volume after the symposium, and presenters may have an opportunity to publish in it. Conference organizers may compose panels, but they are not accepting panel proposals at this time.

Proposals are due by the end of day on January 30, 2024 via Interfolio. Decisions will be made by early 2024. Please direct questions to Brendan McConville at [email protected].