Constitutions, Everywhere!
Practicing Constitutionalism in Unexpected Times and Places in early modern North America and the British Empire
2027 will mark the 250th anniversary of the first federal constitution in the United States, the Articles of Confederation. This two-part conference series takes this comparatively overlooked anniversary as an opportunity to explore constitutions (broadly defined as consensual agreements of self-governance) in early modern North America, the global British Empire, and the early United States.
The present call focuses on constitutions from 1600 – 1777. A second conference anticipated in September 2027 will focus on constitutions after 1777 (recognizing that some paper submissions may overlap both periods).
The first conference will take place April 8-10, hosted by the Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) at the Library Company of Philadelphia and co-sponsored by the Program in British, Irish, and Empire Studies at the University of Texas in Austin. We anticipate being able to provide hotel rooms for participants and some travel support.
We will put together up to 7 separate panels, which will include a chair and a commentator (one person may fill both posts), who will provide both support for panel members and productive critique of their papers. The steering committee will select papers and put together the program, notifying participants no later than December 15. The final program will be shared with all participants no later than March 1. Anyone who accepts the invitation to present will be expected to attend the entire conference. If the participant is unable to do so, the steering committee reserves the option to rescind the invitation.
Please submit a single PDF document containing first a 300-word abstract and, second, a 2-page CV. If you wish to propose a three-person panel, please include a 150-word panel description, in addition to abstracts and short CVs. The committee may or may not accept all the papers in panel proposals. All applications should be sent to Max Moeller at [email protected] with the subject line “Constitutions Everywhere-First Conference” by October 21, 2026.
To learn more about the conference, click here.
Finance and The American Revolution, 1763-95
September 24-25, 2026
The Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) at the Library Company of Philadelphia invites proposals for a symposium on the topic of Finance and the American Revolution, 1763-1794, scheduled to take place in Philadelphia on September 24-25, 2026. Across several panels devoted to workshopping pre-circulated papers, the symposium will foster discussion about the relationships between finance and the Revolution. We are broadly interested in papers that speak to public and private finance, credit, trade, and exchange in political and social contexts. The intention is that revised essays will appear in an edited volume to be published in the PEAES book series at University of Pennsylvania Press.
We are interested in thinking capaciously about finance and the American Revolution. To give a sense of some, but by no means all, possible topics:
· British fiscal policy in the coming of and prosecution of the war
· US diplomatic efforts on behalf of trade, credit, and financial assistance
· Free trade, free ports, smuggling, privateering, and the role of merchants
· Monetary policies and institutions, including currency, credit, banks, and insurance
· Trade, gift-giving, and plunder relating to Native nations
· Dispossession, speculation, and landownership
· Taxation and populist resistance
· Inflation, scarcity and price-fixing, price-gouging
· Slavery, the slave trade, and their relationships with finance
· Women and finance on the homefront and after the war
· Loyalists, property seizures, and post-war claims
The selected papers, c.25pp long, will be pre-circulated a month in advance of the workshop, which will be led by Dr. Michael Blaakman, Princeton University, and Dr. Jessica Choppin Roney, Temple University and Director of PEAES. The Library Company will be able to offer limited assistance for travel and lodging if needed.
To submit a paper, please submit a c.300-word abstract and a 2-page CV to [email protected] with the subject line “Finance and the American Revolution Workshop” by October 15, 2025.