CALL FOR PAPERS
A One-Day Symposium on the Military History of the Declaration of Independence

March 1, 2025

The Center for the Study of Tennesseans and War and the University of Tennessee Department of History announce a one-day symposium on the military history of the Declaration of Independence to be held March 1, 2025.  The event will take place at the University of Tennessee.  In addition to presentations, there will be a catered lunch and a keynote address.  We also plan to publish the proceedings in an edited collection.

As the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches, it is important to remember that this foundational document was written during a war.  The Seven Years’ War, the Proclamation of 1763, settlers’ westward expansion, and Native American resistance shaped the contours of the Declaration specifically in this line item pertaining to George III's tyranny: "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions."  British naval impressment, an early modern cold war between Great Britain and France, nearby naval bases, and naval manning problems all influenced the writing of this additional reference to George III’s despotism: “He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.”  Hessian auxiliaries, British military occupation, naval bombardments, civilian casualties, “Quartering large bodies of armed troops,” and standing armies were all cited in the Declaration as evidence of “the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”  The Declaration was, in large part, a Congressional war measure.  It was meant to convince potential allies overseas and fence-sitters at home that the British government had devolved into a tyranny.

We seek individual proposals to fill eight 20-minute sessions.  Each session will be followed by 10 minutes for audience questions.  We encourage individual proposals from established scholars, ABD graduate students, and others on the topics mentioned above and additional military dimensions of the Declaration of Independence.

Please submit a 200-word abstract and a CV by email by October 1, 2024, to Dr. Chris Magra, Director of the Center for the Study of Tennesseans and War:  cmagra@utk.edu

Travel and accommodation costs cannot be covered, but no registration fee is required.  A list of available lodging will be provided to the authors of successful proposals.

For more information on the Center for the Study of Tennesseans and War, please see our website:  https://cstw.utk.edu/