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The American Founding at 250: A Roundtable - British Association for American Studies

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The American Founding at 250: A Roundtable

events

At ‘The American Founding at 250: A Roundtable’, we will hear the following papers followed by a discussion between speakers and the audience.

Connie Thomas (UCL) – Identity, Myth, and Memory: Commemorating the American Founding in Hamilton: An American Musical

Becca Palmer (UCL) – Conspiratorial Language in the Leadup to 1776: The Road to the Declaration of Independence and Revolution

David Malcolm (Teesside) – The Role of Classical Antiquity in the Revolutionary Period: The Intellectual Roots of the Declaration of Independence

Tony Sullivan (Queen Mary) – Federalist Anglophilia and The Jay Treaty Debates, 1795–1796: Foreign Policy in the Early Republic of the United States

Moderated by Patrick O’Dare (Queen Mary)

On July 4 2026, the United States will undergo its semiquincentennial celebrations, as Americans remember the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The events will be marked by fireworks and hotdogs, but also moments of historical and political reflection on the legacy of the American Revolution and the Founding Era. As the White House promotes its “Freedom 250” program spectating the patriotic sentiments of the American people, opponents of the Trump Administration plan a “No Kings” protest as they also seek to appropriate the revolutionary legacy of the period. Still others go so far as to claim the semiquincentennial should not be celebrated at all, that the legacy of the founding is one of colonialism, classism, and slavery.

These four short papers bring together themes on the political origins of the American Revolution (Becca Palmer), the intellectual and cultural origins of the Revolution (David Malcolm), the experience of Americans in the early days of independence post-Revolution (Tony Sullivan), and the ways in which Americans today memorialise the founding period (Connie Thomas). These papers seek to strip away the Founding Era of its historical gloss while simultaneously recognising the significance of the period for understanding the modern United States.

This event will be a roundtable, with discussion and conversation between panellists, also with questions and comments from audience members as we examine the legacy of the Founding Era for the contemporary United States.

https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/events/american-founding-250-roundtable