The Origins of Revolution: 250th Anniversary of the Fairfax Resolves Papers

July 24-25, 2024

Papers for "The Origins of Revolution: 250th Anniversary of the Fairfax Resolves Papers" can be found below. You will be required to enter a password provided by conference organizers to access them. Please contact Brenna Holland at [email protected] if you are attending the conference but have not yet received the password.

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

Below you can find the papers.


Wednesday, July 24 at at 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

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)

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)

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)

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