Call for Papers: History Conference, “The American Revolution and Its Legacies from 1776 to Today”

As we approach the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Jack Miller Center, in cooperation with the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati, announces a call for papers for a history conference on “The American Revolution and Its Legacies from 1776 to Today.” Dr. Frank Cogliano, Professor of American History and Dean for North America at the University of Edinburgh, and Dr. Peter Onuf, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor, Emeritus at the University of Virginia, will have a keynote conversation on their current project, “Why Jefferson Matters.”  

In 1818, John Adams reflected on the legacy of the American Revolution with the newspaper editor Hezekiah Niles. Adams made two key points. First was that the Revolution went beyond the War for Independence – it fundamentally changed American life. “The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations,” he claimed. Second, he emphasized the global impact of the Revolution. “The American Revolution was not a common event,” he declared. “Its effects and consequences have already been awful [that is, inspiring awe] over a great part of the globe. And when and where are they to cease?”  

Both Adams’s observations and the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence give historians the opportunity to study the global and historical impact of the American Revolution. Fittingly, we are taking an inclusive chronological approach and therefore encourage proposals from historians who grapple with the American Revolution across the centuries.  

The history conference will take place at the Anderson House in Washington, D.C. September 14 through September 16, 2025. 

We invite individual proposals that examine: 

• How the origins, developments, and dynamics of the American Revolution, including the personal, political, intellectual, military and religious components, shaped the era. 

• How America’s founding principles have evolved and shaped the nation’s democratic experiment across different historical phases, including defining citizenship and its implications for civic education, from the Revolutionary era to the 21st century. 

• How America’s founding principles have been contested and reinterpreted by leaders, citizens, and movements at critical junctures, including debates over religion, slavery, secession, and modern political crises. 

• How the American Revolution has influenced America’s shifting role on the world stage, from its revolutionary struggle to its contemporary foreign policy. 

• How the American Revolution has informed statesmanship and the nation’s actions during pivotal crises, from the American Revolution to the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World Wars. 

• How the American Revolution’s causes, consequences, and memory have shaped political rhetoric, constitutional reforms, and national identity, especially in the context of the 250th anniversary of independence in 2026. 

We invite individual papers, formal panels of 3-4 scholars, and roundtable discussions. Presenters are asked to submit a detailed 250-300-word proposal along with a CV. We encourage graduate students and junior scholars to submit proposals.   

Although funding is limited, some travel scholarships will be available for particular needs. The Jack Miller Center/American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati may commission a volume after the conference, and presenters may have an opportunity to publish in it.  

The deadline for submitting papers is March 31, 2025. Presenters will be notified by early May. Please direct questions to Elliott Drago (edrago@gojmc.org). 

The Jack Miller Center is a Philadelphia-based educational nonprofit committed to solving the national crisis of uninformed citizenship by teaching America’s founding principles and history. In 2023, the Jack Miller Center launched our American History Initiative to reinvigorate the field of American History in American education.