Conference Program 2025 — Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850

55th Annual Conference of the Consortium

on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850

Auburn University

Columbus State University’s Hallock Endowment for Military History

February 27 – March 1, 2025

Dixon Conference Center

Auburn, Alabama

Thursday, February 27, 2025

4:00 – 6:00 pm | Registration and Check-In

5:30 – 6:30 PM | Welcome Reception in Conference Center Foyer, with brass quintet performing traditional and patriotic music from the Revolutionary Era. Cash bar.

6:30 PM | Dinner and Opening Keynote Address: “The Revolutionary Self” by Lynn Hunt, University of California, Los Angeles

Location: Legacy Ballroom

Friday, February 28, 2025

8:00 AM: Registration and Check-In – Coffee, Tea, and Breakfast Snacks

Location: Foyer

Session 1 | 8:30 - 10:15 am

Panel 1A: Petitioning on the Periphery of the British Atlantic

Location: Azalea

Chair & Commentator: Elijah Gaddis, Auburn University

· “’We need all the Negroes we can get’: The Slave Trade and War in Charleston’s Atlantic World, 1754-1763,” Nathaniel Conley, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

· “Trading Bonds: Debt, Revolution, and Empire in the South Carolina Slave Trade,” James R. Fichter, University of Hong Kong

· “How Revolutions Can Derail Democratic Political Development: The American Case,” Eileen McDonagh, Northeastern University

Panel 1B: Rascals and Renegades of the Revolutionary Era

Location: Longleaf

Chair & Commentator: Ben Bascom, Bell State University

· "A Real 'Pickle': Lord Timothy Dexter's Revolutionary, Rapacious Rise and Fall," Vaughn Scribner, University of Central Arkansas

· "Caught in a Revolutionary Web: Captain Thomas Hutchins in London and Paris during the War for Independence 1776-1781,” Timothy Hemmis, Texas A&M University-Central Texas

· “The ‘Doodle’ and Nationalism in Early U.S. Comic Art,” Alex Beringer, University of Montevallo

Panel 1C: 10 Years of www.AgeofRevolutions.com : A Roundtable

Location: Oak Room I

Participants:

Bryan A. Banks, Columbus State University

Cindy Ermus, University of Nebraska

Zachary Stoltzfus, FSU

Rob Taber, Fayetteville State University

Panel 1D: The Living and the Dead

Location: Oak Room II

Chair & Commentator: Christopher Ferguson, Auburn University

· "The Afterlives of a Princess: Saints and Ghosts in Restoration Rome," Carol Harrison, University of South Carolina

· “The Cordon Bleu of Physicians”: Medical Conflict, Agency, and the Illness of Princess Amelia,” Carolyn Anne Day, Furman University

· “Aging is a Grave Matter: What Stone Memorials Reveal about Chronological Age in Revolutionary North America,” Jason Eden, Wayne State College

10:15 - 10:30 AM: Coffee, Tea, and Snacks

Location: Foyer

Session 2 | 10:30 am - 12:15 pm

Panel 2A: Reactions and Reforms in the Spanish Empire, 1750-1815

Location: Azalea

Chair & Commentator: Philip Baltuskonis, Auburn University

· “Napoleon in the Tropics: Reception and Reaction to the Napoleonic Wars on the edge of the Spanish Empire,” Marco Cabrera Geserick, Northern Arizona University

· “A Civil War Made Global: Fernandismo, Bayonismo, and the Future of the Spanish Empire,” Daniel Arenas, FSU

· “Enlightened Reform of Ecclesiastical Privileges in the Spanish Empire: The Concordat of 1753 and its Legacy,” Phillip D. Fox, Wayne State College

Panel 2B: Roundtable - Menacing Tides: Security, Piracy and Empire in the Nineteenth-Century Mediterranean

Location: Oak Room I

Chair: Beatrice de Graaf, Utrecht University

Panelists:

Christine Haynes, University of North Carolina Charlotte

Erik de Lange, Utrecht University

Christopher Mapes, Independent Scholar

Brian Vick, Emory University

Evan Wilson, US Naval War College

Panel 2C: George Eliot in the Digital Age: New Tools and Resources for Analyzing Her Writing

Location: Oak Room II

Chair: Beverley Rilett, Auburn University

· “Cataloging George Eliot’s Reading,” Sarah Guyer, Auburn University

· “Improving Accessibility with Alt-Text,” Alexis Stoffers, Auburn University

· “AI-Assisted Summaries: Approaches and Applications,” Kaylen Michaelis, Auburn University

Friday Luncheon with Keynote Speaker

12:30 - 2:15 pm | Keynote Address: “The Dispirit of 1825: Spanish Loyalists in a Shrinking Empire” by Sarah Chambers, University of Minnesota

Location: Legacy Ballroom

Session 3 | 2:30 - 4:15 pm

Panel 3A: American Identity, Memorialization, and Memory in the Early Republic, 1776-1812

Location: Azalea

Chair & Commentator: Sam Cavell, Southeastern Louisiana University

· "The Cause of All Mankind: Thomas Paine’s Vision of American Identity and Global Justice," Nicholas Scamardo, Southeastern Louisiana University

· “‘Food for Worms’: Remembering Benjamin Franklin After the American Revolution,” Kelsa Pellettiere, University of Mississippi

· “Being ‘American’ in the Age of Revolutions,” Colin Mathison, University of Mississippi

Panel 3B: Crafting Imperial Borders

Location: Oak Room I

Chair: Ralph Kingston, Auburn University

Commentator: Carol Harrison, University of South Carolina

· “Courting Counts: Legal Cultures and Border Formation in Eighteenth Century Strasbourg,” William Oaks, FSU

· “The Cologne ‘Mixed-Marriage Controversy’ of the 1830s and Joseph Görres’ Response in Athanasius,” David Ellis, Augustana College

· “Early Nineteenth Century French Imperial Formation in the South Pacific,” Marissa Gavin, University of California – Irvine

Panel 3C: The Production and Uses of Military History in the Revolutionary Era

Location: Oak Room II

Chair: Michael Bonura, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

Comments: Audience

· “Anthony Emmett, of the Royal Engineers: A Liberal Gentleman Military Historian of the British Empire,” Peter Hicks, Fondation Napoleon

· “Francois-Xavier Audouin’s Histoire de l’administration militaire," Rafe Blaufarb, FSU

· “The Biographers of Napoleon: Antoine-Henri Jomini, Sir Walter Scott, and the Life of Napoleon,” Michael Bonura, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

4:15 - 4:30 PM: Coffee, Tea, and Snacks

Location: Foyer

Session 4 | 4:30 - 6:15 pm

Panel 4A: A Reappraisal of Campaigns and Commanders

Location: Azalea

Chair & Commentator: John “Garick” Chamberlin, Air Command and Staff College

· “From Trenton to Yorktown: Turning Points of the American Revolutionary War, 1775-83,” John Maass, National Museum of the United States Army

· "Prince Karl zu Schwarzenberg and the art of Coalition Warfare, 1813-1814," Nicholas Kramer, University of North Texas

Panel 4B: Tensions and Rebellions in the Revolutionary Atlantic World

Location: Longleaf

Chair & Commentator: Robert Taber, Fayetteville State University

· “’The sweets of an Indian trade’: Authority, Violence, and the Construction of Indian Policy on the Mid-Atlantic Frontier, 1754-1768,” Sarah Donovan, William & Mary

· “From Seville to New Orleans: The Life and Journey of Antonio de Ulloa,” Charles Cox, Texas Christian University

· “Tensions of Travel: Janet Schaw’s Journey through the British Colonies,” Kate Kaitcer, Texas Christian University

Panel 4C: How to Teach "Napoleonic Warfare" in the 21st Century

Location: Oak Room I

Chair & Commentator: Harold D. Blanton, US Naval War College

· “Teaching Napoleonic Strategies for the Modern Officer, or How to Defeat the Master of Decisive Battle,” Michael Jones, US Naval War College

· “Using Clausewitz’s Ideas to Teach Strategy,” Donald Stoker, National Defense University

· “‘American Military History’ classes to Undergraduates,” Llewellyn Cook, Jacksonville State University

Panel 4D: Stereotypes and Conspiracy Theories across the Revolutionary Rupture: Eighteenth to Nineteenth Centuries

Location: Oak Room II

Chair: Denise Davidson, Georgia State University

Commentator: Beatrice de Graaf, Utrecht University

· “Unbelievers & Atheists: From Early Modern Rehabilitation to Counterrevolutionary Villains,” Jeffrey Burson, Georgia Southern University

· “Freemasons and Conspiracy Theories during the French Revolution,” Kenneth Loiselle, Trinity University

· “The French Revolution as a Jewish Conspiracy: The Origins of an Anti-Semitic Canard,” Glauco Schettini, Haverford College

Friday Evening

Enjoy Auburn restaurants; see suggested recommendations in your welcome folder.

Saturday, March 1, 2025

8:00 AM: Coffee, Tea, and Breakfast Snacks

Location: Foyer

Session 5 | 8:30 - 10:15 am

Panel 5A: Diplomacy in the Age of Revolutions

Location: Azalea

Chair: Rafe Blaufarb, Florida State University

Commentator: Wayne Hanley, West Chester University

o “The Jay Treaty: A Reappraisal,” Don Hickey, Wayne State College (ret.)

o “Between the Bear and the Eagles: Prussian Neutrality as Strategy 1797-1806,” Ethan Soefje, University of North Texas

Panel 5B: Illicit Activities on the High Seas

Location: Longleaf

Chair & Commentator: Christine Haynes, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

· “On These Rocky Shores: Women and Piracy in Colonial New England, 1690-1750,” Holly Vlach, Auburn University

· “Cooks, Domestics, and Wetnurses: Émigrés and Human Trafficking during the French Revolution,” Erik Braeden Lewis, Doña Ana Community College

· “The Loyalties of Channel Island Interlopers: Jersey’s Chamber of Commerce, Guernsey’s Brandy Smugglers, and Anglo-French Trade Relations during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars,” Sydney Watts, University of Richmond

Panel 5C: Decline, Fall and Collapse after Napoleon: European Anxieties over Reconstructing Empire and Civilization

Location: Oak Room I

Chair: Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State University

Commentator: Beatrice de Graaf, Utrecht University

· “Unhallowed Doctrines: The Law of Nations and Imperial Anxiety at the British Admiralty,” Erik de Lange, Utrecht University

· “How Ideas of ‘national decline’ influenced nationalist movements in Italy and Germany after 1815,” Stefano Lissi, Utrecht University

· “Decline of the Reich: Central Europeans read Edward Gibbon,” Christopher Mapes, Independent Scholar

Panel 5D: Roundtable Discussion with Author – Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison’s America

Location: Oak Room II

Chair: Armin Mattes, University of Virginia

Panelists:

Tyson Reeder, Brigham Young University

Timothy C. Hemmis, Texas A&M University-Central Texas

Armin Mattes, University of Virginia

Rosemarie Zagarri, Yale University

10:15 - 10:30 AM: Coffee, Tea, and Snacks

Location: Foyer

Session 6 | 10:30 am - 12:15 pm

Panel 6A: Contesting Status: Emancipation, Equality, and Citizenship

Location: Oak Room I

Chair: Denise Davidson, Georgia State University

Commentator: Sarah Chambers, University of Minnesota

· “Slave Emancipation in the Shadow of Poverty: A Story of Gradual Abolition in Early America,” Christopher M Florio, Hollins University

· “’Are You Not a Man of Color?’ Citizenship and Race Claims in the Case of Louis-Antoine Blanchet against Haitian President Boyer, 1826-1827,” Elyssa Gage, Wilkes University

Panel 6B: Commodities, Material Culture, and Trade

Location: Oak Room II

Chair & Commentator: Luke Reynolds, University of Connecticut-Stamford

· “Sugar, Silk, and Soap: The Continental System and the Domestic Production of Luxury Goods in the First Empire,” Zachary Stoltzfus, FSU

· “American Independence as a Supply Chain Crisis: Provisions and the Case of Nova Scotia 1783-94,” Patrick Callaway, University of Maine

· “Everyday Objects: The American Revolution at Home through Goods,” Kimberly Nath, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Panel 6C: Making a Career in Public History

Location: Mell 3550 (see map at the end of this program)

Chair: Greg Schmidt, Special Collections and Archives, Auburn University

Participants:

Bryan Banks, Columbus State University

Lyn Causey, National Park Service

Alex Colvin, Alabama Department of Archives and History

John Maass, National Museum of the United States Army

Sandwiches and cookies will be provided courtesy of Auburn University’s History Department and Public History program in Mell 3550 at 12.15pm, following this session.

Lunch (On Your Own): 12:30 - 2:00 pm

See list of local restaurants in the welcome folder.

CRE Board of Directors Lunch: 12:30 – 2 pm

Location: Camellia

Session 7 | 2:30 - 4:15 pm

Panel 7A: Memory and Narratives of Revolutions and Revolutionaries

Location: Longleaf

Chair & Commentator: Bryan Banks, Columbus State University

· "Self-Taught Heroes: Indian Answers to Creole Classicism," Francesca Langer, University of Central Missouri

· “Don, But Not Forgotten: The California Missions as the Lost Cause of the Wild West?” James Bland, University of Oklahoma

· “Was Napoleon in fact the author of the influential ‘Manuscript transmitted from St Helena by an unknown channel’? New evidence in favour.” Peter Hicks, Fondation Napoléon

· “"From the Alps to Alabama, Marengo and General Lefebvre-Desnouettes leave their mark," Betje Klier, University of Texas at Austin

Panel 7B: The Politics of Learning and Education in North America and Revolutionary France

Location: Oak Room I

Chair: Philip Baltuskonis, Auburn University

Commentator: Ralph Kingston, Auburn University

· “The Imperial Educational Crisis: Learning and Politics in Colonial New York, 1763 to 1775,” Zachary Deibel, Virginia Military Institute

· “Enlightenment Pedagogies and Real Practices: The Case of the Charity School of Lausanne,” Kristine Wirts, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

· “Ensconcing Republicanism After the Terror: A Statistical Re-Evaluation of the Directory’s Central Schools,” James Lavelle, Binghamton University, SUNY

Panel 7C: Britain’s Quest for World Power in the Napoleonic Wars

Location: Oak Room II

Chair & Commentator: Kenneth Johnson, Air Command and Staff College

· “Maritime Culture and the Fiscal-Naval State,” Evan Wilson, U.S. Naval War College

· “’The Nearest Run Thing’: Resourcing Crises and Britian’s Struggle to Survive in the Napoleonic Wars,” Sam Cavell, Southeastern Louisiana University

· “Balancing Time and Space with Inadequate Force: Deploying the British Navy, 1793-1815,” Kevin D. McCranie, U.S. Naval War College

4:15 - 4:30 PM: Coffee, Tea, and Snacks

Location: Foyer

Session 8 | 4:30 - 6:15 pm

Panel 8A: Art, Archaeology, and Aesthetic Politics in the German Cultural Realm

Location: Azalea

Chair & Commentator: Brian Vick, Emory University

· “De-Schillering Beauty: The Kalliasbriefe as Correspondence,” Matthew Feminella, University of Alabama

· “Archaeology, c. 1830: Why All Roads Still Ran Through Rome,” Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State University

· “’Männer der Erhebung’”: Arndt, Gneisenau, and the Memory of the German Uprising in the Stefan George Circle,” George Williamson, FSU

Panel 8B: Individuals Negotiating the Politics of Revolutions

Location: Longleaf

Chair & Commentator: Vaughn Scribner, University of Central Arkansas

· “Loyalty Oaths and the Crisis of the American Revolution,” Kevin Murphy, Stony Brook University

· “The Memoirs of Mrs. Coghlan: Loyalism, Motherhood, and Survival after the American Revolution,” Emilee N. K. Robbins, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

· “The Life and Influences of Conventionnel Louis-Antoine Saint-Just: Rural Politician and Poet to Future Revolutionary,” Madison Guth, University of North Alabama

Panel 8C: Politics and Language of the French Revolution

Location: Oak Room I

Chair & Commentator: Lauren Clay, Vanderbilt University

· “Opening Public Employment to Talent and Virtue: Article VI of the Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizen: A Matter of Interpretation?” Claudio Man, University of North Texas

· “The Meanings of National Sovereignty: The Nation in the French Pamphlet Debates, 1770-1789,” Jerry Biggerstaff, FSU

· “In search of a method to locate the political tendency of the deputies of the National Constituent Assembly (1789-1791),” Maria Betlem Castellà I Pujols, Pompeu Fabra University

Panel 8D: International Depictions of Revolution, 1789 – 1848

Location: Oak Room II

Chair & Commentator: Dean Kostantaras, University of Houston-Downtown

· “Liberators. The real reasons of international action during Greek Independence War,” Enrico Magnani, United Nations Secretariat

· “Ottoman Observers of Revolutionary France and the Napoleonic Empire: Two Ambassadors during the Directory, Consulate, and Empire,” Numan Deniz, Binghamton University, SUNY

· “Transfers of Violence: The Cultural Politics of Revolution in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Simos Zenios, Stony Brook University

· “A restive, radical, discontented people, at war with all government”: The Know-Nothings, Nativism, and the Anti-Radical Response to the Revolutions of 1848,” Tyler Cline, University of Florida

Saturday Evening

6:30 - 7:00 pm | Reception in Foyer. Drink ticket provided in welcome folder.

7:00 - 9:00 pm | Banquet with Keynote Address: “Zombies, Czars and the Ghosts of the Past: Reclaiming the 19th Century” by Beatrice de Graaf, Utrecht University

Location: Legacy Ballroom

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Panel 6C - Making a Career in Public History (Saturday, 10.30am-12.15pm) will take place on campus, in Mell classroom building 3550, not in the hotel.

Turn right out of the hotel and walk to the crossroads of Thach and S. College. Cross S. College to walk down Thach until you reach the pedestrianized Mell Concourse. Turn right and the Mell Building will be on the left. Mell 3550 is on the third floor on the left side of the atrium (at the top of the atrium staircase). Elevators are available on the right side of the atrium. A group will leave the registration desk to walk over at 10.20 am.

Sandwiches and cookies will be provided courtesy of Auburn University’s History Department and Public History program in Mell 3550 at 12.15pm, following this session.

Consortium on the Revolutionary Era
Board of Directors, 2024-2025

Bryan Banks, Columbus State University
Rafe Blaufarb, Florida State University
Jeffrey D. Burson, Georgia Southern University
Guy Chet, University of North Texas
Lauren R. Clay, Vanderbilt University
Llewellyn Cook, Jacksonville State
Denise Z. Davidson, Georgia State University
David Ellis, Augustana College
Wayne Hanley, West Chester University
Carol Harrison, University of South Carolina
Christine Haynes, UNC Charlotte
Ralph Kingston, Auburn University
Marc Lerner, University of Mississippi
Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State University
Peter C Messer, Mississippi State University
Alex Mikaberidze, LSU-Shreveport
Christy Pichichero, George Mason
Rick Schneid, High Point University
Sandra Slater, College of Charleston
Andrew Walker, University of North Carolina

2025 CRE Program Committee

Philip Baltuskonis, Auburn University
Bryan Banks, Columbus State University
Ralph Kingston, Auburn University
Marc Lerner, University of Mississippi