Department of History
department-of-history
Egnal
Marc
megnal
false
yes
Marc Egnal
department-of-history
Professor Emeritus
Email: megnal@yorku.ca
He is currently Professor of History at York University, and is also the author of Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth (Oxford University Press, 1996) and A Mighty Empire: The Origins of the American Revolution (1988). His current area of research and writing is the U.S. Civil War.
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Degrees
Ph.D., University of WisconsinM.A., University of Wisconsin
B.A., Swathmore College
Professional Leadership
A. Conference Organization
Organizer, Conference, “Microcomputers in the Humanities and Social Sciences,” York University, April 1985.
Organizer, Conference, “Arts and Ideas in Eighteenth-Century England,” Founders College, York University, January 1988.
Chair, Local Arrangements Committee, Annual Conference, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, York University, June 1990.
Convener, Toronto-area Americanists, 1990-2001
Co-chair [with Adrienne Hood of the University of Toronto] of the Local Arrangements Committee for the April 1999 Toronto meeting of the Organization of American Historians.
Co-Chair and Program Coordinator, Sixth Annual Meeting, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Toronto, June 2000.
Representative for York University, Fulbright Roundtable on U.S. studies in Canada, Montreal, May 6-7, 2005.
Co-Chair [with Rick Halpern of the University of Toronto], Conference on the American Civil War, to be held June 10-11, 2005.
B. Manuscript Reviewing for Journals and Scholarly Presses
Manuscripts reviewed for The William and Mary Quarterly, Economic History Review, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History, Oxford University Press, Ohio State University Press, University of Pennsylvania Press, Cornell University Press, Institute of Early American History, Blackwell Publishers, and Prentice-Hall Canada.
C. Membership in Professional Organizations
Organization of American Historians, Economic History Association, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic.
D. Editorial Boards and Prize Committees
Member of Advisory Board, Lincoln Prize at Gettysburg College.
Member of Council, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, 2006-2009
Research Interests
U.S. Civil War; North American economic development,
History
- York University, Faculty of Arts Fellowship, 1989-1990. - 1989-90
- Canada Council Leave Fellowship, 1977-1978. - 1977-78
- Canada Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1975-1976. - 1975-76
- Fulbright Fellowship (at University of London), 1968-1969. - 1968-69
- Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, 1965-1966. - 1965-66
- “Honourable Mention” for Divergent Paths in the competition for the Wallace Ferguson Prize, 1997. This award is given annually by the Canadian Historical Association to the best book in non-Canadian history. 1997 - 1997
- Northwestern University Fellowships, 1968 and 1969 - 1970
Books
Publication
Year
Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War. New York: Hill and Wang, 2009. xii + 416 pages.
2009
New World Economies: The Growth of the Thirteen Colonies and Early Canada. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. xix + 236 pages.
1998
Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Issued in both hardcover and paperback. xvi + 300 pages.
1996
A Mighty Empire: The Origins of the American Revolution. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1988. Reprinted in paperback, 1989. xv + 381 pages.
1988
Book Reviews
Publication
Year
Review of Laura Croghan Kamoie, Irons in the Fire: The Business History of the Tayloe Family and Virginia’s Gentry, 1700-1860 in The William and Mary Quarterly, 2008.
2008
Review of Elizabeth Mancke, The Fault Lines of Empire: Political Differentiation in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, ca. 1760-1830 in Journal of American History, 2006
2006
Review of David L. Mason, From Buildings and Loans to Bail-Outs: A History of the American Savings and Loan Industry, 1831-1995 in American Historical Review, 2006.
2006
Review of Bruce H. Mann, Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence in Canadian Journal of History, 2004.
2004
Review of John J. McCusker and Kenneth Morgan, ed., The Early Modern Atlantic Economy, in Journal of American History, 2002.
2002
Review of Stanley Engerman and Robert Gallman, eds., The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, vol. II: The Long Nineteenth Century, in Canadian Journal of History, 2001.
2001
Review of Stanley Engerman, ed., Terms of Labor: Slavery, Serfdom, and Free Labor in Histoire Sociale/Social History, 2000.
2000
Review of David Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, in The Journal of American History, 1999.
1999
Review of Margaret E. Newell, From Dependency to Independence: Economic Revolution in Colonial New England, in Canadian Review of American Studies, 1999.
1999
Review of Richard Buel, Jr., In Irons: Britain’s Naval Supremacy and the American Revolutionary Economy in American Historical Review, 1999.
1999
Review of Joseph S. Tiedemann, Reluctant Revolutionaries: in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1998.
1998
Review of Stanley Engerman and Robert Gallman, eds., The Cambridge Economic History of the United States: vol. I: The Colonial Era in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1997.
1997
Review of Kenneth Morgan, Bristol and the Atlantic Trade in the Eighteenth Century in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1996.
1996
Review of Stephen Saunders Webb, Lord Churchill’s Coup: The Anglo-American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered in The Canadian Historical Review, 1996.
1996
Review of Jerome Huyler, Locke in America: The Moral Philosophy of the Founding Era in The Journal of American History, 1995.
1995
Review of John Crowley, The Privileges of Independence: Neomercantilism and the American Revolution in The American Historical Review, 1995.
1995
Review of Robert Gross, ed., In Debt to Shays: The Bicentennial of an Agrarian Rebellion, in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1995.
1995
Review of Jacob Price, Perry of London: A Family and a Firm on the Seaborne Frontier, 1615-1753 in Journal of Economic History, 1993.
1993
Review of Peter Mancall, Valley of Opportunity: Economic Culture along the Upper Susquehanna, 1700-1800, in The American Historical Review, 1993.
1993
Review of Cathy Matson and Peter Onuf, A Union of Interests: Political and Economic Thought in Revolutionary America in Journal of Southern History, 1991.
1991
Review of Jack Greene, Pursuits of Happiness: The Social Development of Early Modern Colonies and the Formation of American Culture, in The Georgia Historical Quarterly, 1991.
1991
Review of Mary Schweitzer, Custom and Contract: Household, Government and the Economy in Colonial Pennsylvania, in The American Historical Review, 1991.
1991
Review of Hiram Caton, The Politics of Progress: The Origins and Development of the Commercial Republic, 1600-1835, in The Journal of Economic History, 1990.
1990
Review of Jack Greene, ed., The American Revolution: Its Character and Limits , in The Canadian Historical Review, 1990
1990
Review of Thomas Doerflinger, A Vigorous Spirit of Enterprise: Merchants and Economic Development in Revolutionary Philadelphia in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1988.
1988
Review of John Hemphill, Virginia and the English Commercial System, 1609-1733: Studies in the Development and Fluctuations of a Colonial Economy under Imperial Control, in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1987.
1987
Reviews of Allan Kulikoff, Tobacco and Slaves: The Development of Southern Cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680-1800 and David W. Galenson, Traders, Planters, and Slaves: Market Behavior in Early English America in The Canadian Review of American Studies, 1987.
1987
Review of Alice Hanson Jones, Wealth of a Nation to Be: The American Colonies on the Eve of the Revolution, in New York History, 1982.
1982
Review of Gary Nash, The Urban Crucible: Social Change, Political Consciousness and the Origins of the American Revolution in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1980.
1980
Review of Alfred F. Young, ed., The American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1977.
1977
Review of Edward C. Papenfuse, In Pursuit of Profit: The Annapolis Merchants in the Era of the American Revolution, 1763-1805, in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1976.
1976
Review of Richard Bauman, For the Reputation of Truth: Politics, Religion, and Conflict among the Pennsylvania Quakers, 1750-1800, in The Canadian Historical Review, 1973.
1973
Journal Articles
Publication
Year
“Explaining John Sherman: Leader of the Second American Revolution,” Ohio History, 114 (2007): 105-117. 13 pages.
2007
“Rethinking the Secession of the Lower South: The Clash of Two Groups,” Civil War History, 50 (2004): 261-290. 29 pages.
2004
“The Beards Were Right: Political Parties in the North, 1840-1860,” Civil War History, 47 (2001): 30-56. 27 pages.
2001
"The Origins of the Revolution in Virginia: A Reinterpretation," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 37 (1980): 401-428. 28 pages.
1980
"The Politics of Ambition: A New Look at Benjamin Franklin's Career," Canadian Review of American Studies, 6 (1975): 151-164. 14 pages.
1975
"The Changing Structure of Philadelphia's Trade with the British West Indies, 1750-1774," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 99 (1975): 156-179. 24 pages.
1975
"The Economic Development of the Thirteen Continental Colonies, 1720 to 1775," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 32 (1975):191-222. This essay has been reprinted in several anthologies. 32 pages.
1975
[With Joseph A. Ernst], "An Economic Interpretation of the American Revolution," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 29 (1972): 3-32. This essay has been reprinted in several anthologies. 30 pages.
1972
Conference Papers
Publication
Year
Chair and commentator, “Coming to Terms with the Slave Power: Northern Responses to the Politics of Slavery,” Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Springfield, Illinois, July 2009.
2009
“Lincoln is Not the Civil War,” Centre for the Study of the United States, Toronto, January 2009.
2009
“Rethinking the Civil War,” City College, New York, November 17, 2009.
2009
“The Civil War Was More Than Lincoln,” Library Company of Philadelphia, March 19, 2009.
2009
“Not Modernization but Clashing Extremes,” Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Worcester, Massachusetts, July 2007.
2007
“How Modern Was the South?” Victorian Studies Conference, Calgary, Alberta, November 2006.
2006
Commentator on “The Inner Life of Tariffs: Protectionism and the Development of ‘Our America’,” Organization of American Historians, Washington, April 2006.
2006
“An Economic Interpretation of the Civil War,” Missouri Valley Historical Association, Omaha, Nebraska, March 2005.
2005
“The Role of Slavery in an Economic Interpretation of the Civil War,” Civil War, Causes and Consequences, Toronto, June 2005
2005
“Explaining John Sherman,” British Association of American Studies, Manchester, England, April 2004.
2004
“John Sherman: Leader of the Second American Revolution,” Organization of American Historians, Boston, March 2004.
2004
“Rethinking the Civil War,” discussion paper for a single-paper session dealing with my interpretation of the Civil War, Southern Historical Society, Memphis, Tennessee, November 2004.
2004
“A Clash of Extremes: Rethinking the Origins of the American Civil War,” Rothermere Institute, Oxford University, February 2003. Also delivered at University of Swansea, Wales, February 2003.
2003
“A New Look at Secession: Ideology and Interest,” Southern Historical Association, New Orleans, November 2001.
2001
Commentator and Chair, “Antebellum Entrepreneurship, Small Business, Family Farms, Planter Rationalizing,” Program in Early American Economy and Society, Philadelphia, April 2001.
2001
Commentator, “The Dutch Atlantic in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century,” Conference in Honor of Stanley Engerman, Rochester, N.Y., June 2001.
2001
“A Tale of Two Cultures,” talk given at Upper Canada College, Toronto, February 2000.
2000
“The Beards Were Right: The Evolution of Parties in the North, 1840-1860,” Organization of American Historians, St. Louis, Missouri, March 2000.
2000
“Class not Creed: Rethinking the Second Party System,” Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Lexington, Kentucky, July 1999.
1999
“Divergent Paths and Its Critics,” a talk presented to the Fernand Braudel Center, Binghamton, New York, November 1997.
1997
Commentator on "The First British Empire from a Wider Perspective," Institute of Early American History and Culture Conference, Boulder, Colorado, June 1996.
1996
Keynote speaker, “Culture, Economic Growth, and Divergent Paths,” Colloquium for High School Teachers, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, April 1996
1996
"Long-Swings in the Eighteenth Century: A Comparative Approach," Economic History Association, San Francisco, California, September 1996.
1996
"Peasants or Entrepreneurs?: A Comparison of Early America and French Canada," Institute of Early American History and Culture Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 1995.
1995
Commentator on "Domestic Cloth Production and the Gender Division of Labor in Colonial North America," Organization of American Historians, Anaheim, California, April 1993.
1993
"Comparing History: An Approach," History Graduate Students Association, York University, November 1993.
1993
"Origins of the Revolution in Connecticut," Organization of American Historians, Louisville, Kentucky, April 1991.
1991
Commentator on “Politics and Leaders in the Early Republic,” Organization of American Historians, St. Louis, Missouri, April 1989.
1989
"Economic Development of New France: A New Perspective," York University history department colloquium, Toronto, March 1985.
1985
"Critique of Gary Nash's The Urban Crucible," American Historical Association, Pacific Coast Branch, San Francisco, August 1982.
1982
"New York and the American Revolution," University of Western Ontario history department's eighteenth-century seminar, London, Ontario, February 1981.
1981
"The Origins of the Revolution in New York: A Reinterpretation," Canadian Historical Association, Halifax, June 1981.
1981
"Virginia and the American Revolution," York University history department colloquium, Toronto, October 1979.
1979
"Attitudes Toward Empire as the Basis of Faction in Virginia, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Historical Association, Allentown, Pennsylvania, October 1976.
1976
"Attitudes Toward Empire as a Basis of Faction in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts," Conference on Party and Faction in Revolutionary America, Tarrytown, New York, October 1975.
1975
"The Business Cycle in Colonial America," Organization of American Historians, Boston, April 1975.
1975
Conference Proceedings
Publication
Year
"The Pattern of Factional Development in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, 1682-1776," in Patricia U. Bonomi, ed., Party and Political Opposition in Revolutionary America (Tarrytown, New York, 1980), 43-60. 18 pages.
1980
He is currently Professor of History at York University, and is also the author of Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth (Oxford University Press, 1996) and A Mighty Empire: The Origins of the American Revolution (1988). His current area of research and writing is the U.S. Civil War.
Degrees
Ph.D., University of WisconsinM.A., University of Wisconsin
B.A., Swathmore College
Professional Leadership
A. Conference Organization
Organizer, Conference, “Microcomputers in the Humanities and Social Sciences,” York University, April 1985.
Organizer, Conference, “Arts and Ideas in Eighteenth-Century England,” Founders College, York University, January 1988.
Chair, Local Arrangements Committee, Annual Conference, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, York University, June 1990.
Convener, Toronto-area Americanists, 1990-2001
Co-chair [with Adrienne Hood of the University of Toronto] of the Local Arrangements Committee for the April 1999 Toronto meeting of the Organization of American Historians.
Co-Chair and Program Coordinator, Sixth Annual Meeting, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Toronto, June 2000.
Representative for York University, Fulbright Roundtable on U.S. studies in Canada, Montreal, May 6-7, 2005.
Co-Chair [with Rick Halpern of the University of Toronto], Conference on the American Civil War, to be held June 10-11, 2005.
B. Manuscript Reviewing for Journals and Scholarly Presses
Manuscripts reviewed for The William and Mary Quarterly, Economic History Review, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History, Oxford University Press, Ohio State University Press, University of Pennsylvania Press, Cornell University Press, Institute of Early American History, Blackwell Publishers, and Prentice-Hall Canada.
C. Membership in Professional Organizations
Organization of American Historians, Economic History Association, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic.
D. Editorial Boards and Prize Committees
Member of Advisory Board, Lincoln Prize at Gettysburg College.
Member of Council, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, 2006-2009
Research Interests
U.S. Civil War; North American economic development,
History
Awards
- York University, Faculty of Arts Fellowship, 1989-1990. - 1989-90
- Canada Council Leave Fellowship, 1977-1978. - 1977-78
- Canada Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1975-1976. - 1975-76
- Fulbright Fellowship (at University of London), 1968-1969. - 1968-69
- Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, 1965-1966. - 1965-66
- “Honourable Mention” for Divergent Paths in the competition for the Wallace Ferguson Prize, 1997. This award is given annually by the Canadian Historical Association to the best book in non-Canadian history. 1997 - 1997
- Northwestern University Fellowships, 1968 and 1969 - 1970
All Publications
Book Reviews
Publication
Year
Review of Laura Croghan Kamoie, Irons in the Fire: The Business History of the Tayloe Family and Virginia’s Gentry, 1700-1860 in The William and Mary Quarterly, 2008.
2008
Review of Elizabeth Mancke, The Fault Lines of Empire: Political Differentiation in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, ca. 1760-1830 in Journal of American History, 2006
2006
Review of David L. Mason, From Buildings and Loans to Bail-Outs: A History of the American Savings and Loan Industry, 1831-1995 in American Historical Review, 2006.
2006
Review of Bruce H. Mann, Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence in Canadian Journal of History, 2004.
2004
Review of John J. McCusker and Kenneth Morgan, ed., The Early Modern Atlantic Economy, in Journal of American History, 2002.
2002
Review of Stanley Engerman and Robert Gallman, eds., The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, vol. II: The Long Nineteenth Century, in Canadian Journal of History, 2001.
2001
Review of Stanley Engerman, ed., Terms of Labor: Slavery, Serfdom, and Free Labor in Histoire Sociale/Social History, 2000.
2000
Review of David Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, in The Journal of American History, 1999.
1999
Review of Margaret E. Newell, From Dependency to Independence: Economic Revolution in Colonial New England, in Canadian Review of American Studies, 1999.
1999
Review of Richard Buel, Jr., In Irons: Britain’s Naval Supremacy and the American Revolutionary Economy in American Historical Review, 1999.
1999
Review of Joseph S. Tiedemann, Reluctant Revolutionaries: in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1998.
1998
Review of Stanley Engerman and Robert Gallman, eds., The Cambridge Economic History of the United States: vol. I: The Colonial Era in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1997.
1997
Review of Kenneth Morgan, Bristol and the Atlantic Trade in the Eighteenth Century in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1996.
1996
Review of Stephen Saunders Webb, Lord Churchill’s Coup: The Anglo-American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered in The Canadian Historical Review, 1996.
1996
Review of Jerome Huyler, Locke in America: The Moral Philosophy of the Founding Era in The Journal of American History, 1995.
1995
Review of John Crowley, The Privileges of Independence: Neomercantilism and the American Revolution in The American Historical Review, 1995.
1995
Review of Robert Gross, ed., In Debt to Shays: The Bicentennial of an Agrarian Rebellion, in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1995.
1995
Review of Jacob Price, Perry of London: A Family and a Firm on the Seaborne Frontier, 1615-1753 in Journal of Economic History, 1993.
1993
Review of Peter Mancall, Valley of Opportunity: Economic Culture along the Upper Susquehanna, 1700-1800, in The American Historical Review, 1993.
1993
Review of Cathy Matson and Peter Onuf, A Union of Interests: Political and Economic Thought in Revolutionary America in Journal of Southern History, 1991.
1991
Review of Jack Greene, Pursuits of Happiness: The Social Development of Early Modern Colonies and the Formation of American Culture, in The Georgia Historical Quarterly, 1991.
1991
Review of Mary Schweitzer, Custom and Contract: Household, Government and the Economy in Colonial Pennsylvania, in The American Historical Review, 1991.
1991
Review of Hiram Caton, The Politics of Progress: The Origins and Development of the Commercial Republic, 1600-1835, in The Journal of Economic History, 1990.
1990
Review of Jack Greene, ed., The American Revolution: Its Character and Limits , in The Canadian Historical Review, 1990
1990
Review of Thomas Doerflinger, A Vigorous Spirit of Enterprise: Merchants and Economic Development in Revolutionary Philadelphia in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1988.
1988
Review of John Hemphill, Virginia and the English Commercial System, 1609-1733: Studies in the Development and Fluctuations of a Colonial Economy under Imperial Control, in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1987.
1987
Reviews of Allan Kulikoff, Tobacco and Slaves: The Development of Southern Cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680-1800 and David W. Galenson, Traders, Planters, and Slaves: Market Behavior in Early English America in The Canadian Review of American Studies, 1987.
1987
Review of Alice Hanson Jones, Wealth of a Nation to Be: The American Colonies on the Eve of the Revolution, in New York History, 1982.
1982
Review of Gary Nash, The Urban Crucible: Social Change, Political Consciousness and the Origins of the American Revolution in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1980.
1980
Review of Alfred F. Young, ed., The American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1977.
1977
Review of Edward C. Papenfuse, In Pursuit of Profit: The Annapolis Merchants in the Era of the American Revolution, 1763-1805, in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1976.
1976
Review of Richard Bauman, For the Reputation of Truth: Politics, Religion, and Conflict among the Pennsylvania Quakers, 1750-1800, in The Canadian Historical Review, 1973.
1973
Books
Publication
Year
Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War. New York: Hill and Wang, 2009. xii + 416 pages.
2009
New World Economies: The Growth of the Thirteen Colonies and Early Canada. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. xix + 236 pages.
1998
Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Issued in both hardcover and paperback. xvi + 300 pages.
1996
A Mighty Empire: The Origins of the American Revolution. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1988. Reprinted in paperback, 1989. xv + 381 pages.
1988
Journal Articles
Publication
Year
“Explaining John Sherman: Leader of the Second American Revolution,” Ohio History, 114 (2007): 105-117. 13 pages.
2007
“Rethinking the Secession of the Lower South: The Clash of Two Groups,” Civil War History, 50 (2004): 261-290. 29 pages.
2004
“The Beards Were Right: Political Parties in the North, 1840-1860,” Civil War History, 47 (2001): 30-56. 27 pages.
2001
"The Origins of the Revolution in Virginia: A Reinterpretation," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 37 (1980): 401-428. 28 pages.
1980
"The Politics of Ambition: A New Look at Benjamin Franklin's Career," Canadian Review of American Studies, 6 (1975): 151-164. 14 pages.
1975
"The Changing Structure of Philadelphia's Trade with the British West Indies, 1750-1774," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 99 (1975): 156-179. 24 pages.
1975
"The Economic Development of the Thirteen Continental Colonies, 1720 to 1775," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 32 (1975):191-222. This essay has been reprinted in several anthologies. 32 pages.
1975
[With Joseph A. Ernst], "An Economic Interpretation of the American Revolution," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 29 (1972): 3-32. This essay has been reprinted in several anthologies. 30 pages.
1972
Conference Papers
Publication
Year
Chair and commentator, “Coming to Terms with the Slave Power: Northern Responses to the Politics of Slavery,” Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Springfield, Illinois, July 2009.
2009
“Lincoln is Not the Civil War,” Centre for the Study of the United States, Toronto, January 2009.
2009
“Rethinking the Civil War,” City College, New York, November 17, 2009.
2009
“The Civil War Was More Than Lincoln,” Library Company of Philadelphia, March 19, 2009.
2009
“Not Modernization but Clashing Extremes,” Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Worcester, Massachusetts, July 2007.
2007
“How Modern Was the South?” Victorian Studies Conference, Calgary, Alberta, November 2006.
2006
Commentator on “The Inner Life of Tariffs: Protectionism and the Development of ‘Our America’,” Organization of American Historians, Washington, April 2006.
2006
“An Economic Interpretation of the Civil War,” Missouri Valley Historical Association, Omaha, Nebraska, March 2005.
2005
“The Role of Slavery in an Economic Interpretation of the Civil War,” Civil War, Causes and Consequences, Toronto, June 2005
2005
“Explaining John Sherman,” British Association of American Studies, Manchester, England, April 2004.
2004
“John Sherman: Leader of the Second American Revolution,” Organization of American Historians, Boston, March 2004.
2004
“Rethinking the Civil War,” discussion paper for a single-paper session dealing with my interpretation of the Civil War, Southern Historical Society, Memphis, Tennessee, November 2004.
2004
“A Clash of Extremes: Rethinking the Origins of the American Civil War,” Rothermere Institute, Oxford University, February 2003. Also delivered at University of Swansea, Wales, February 2003.
2003
“A New Look at Secession: Ideology and Interest,” Southern Historical Association, New Orleans, November 2001.
2001
Commentator and Chair, “Antebellum Entrepreneurship, Small Business, Family Farms, Planter Rationalizing,” Program in Early American Economy and Society, Philadelphia, April 2001.
2001
Commentator, “The Dutch Atlantic in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century,” Conference in Honor of Stanley Engerman, Rochester, N.Y., June 2001.
2001
“A Tale of Two Cultures,” talk given at Upper Canada College, Toronto, February 2000.
2000
“The Beards Were Right: The Evolution of Parties in the North, 1840-1860,” Organization of American Historians, St. Louis, Missouri, March 2000.
2000
“Class not Creed: Rethinking the Second Party System,” Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Lexington, Kentucky, July 1999.
1999
“Divergent Paths and Its Critics,” a talk presented to the Fernand Braudel Center, Binghamton, New York, November 1997.
1997
Commentator on "The First British Empire from a Wider Perspective," Institute of Early American History and Culture Conference, Boulder, Colorado, June 1996.
1996
Keynote speaker, “Culture, Economic Growth, and Divergent Paths,” Colloquium for High School Teachers, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, April 1996
1996
"Long-Swings in the Eighteenth Century: A Comparative Approach," Economic History Association, San Francisco, California, September 1996.
1996
"Peasants or Entrepreneurs?: A Comparison of Early America and French Canada," Institute of Early American History and Culture Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 1995.
1995
Commentator on "Domestic Cloth Production and the Gender Division of Labor in Colonial North America," Organization of American Historians, Anaheim, California, April 1993.
1993
"Comparing History: An Approach," History Graduate Students Association, York University, November 1993.
1993
"Origins of the Revolution in Connecticut," Organization of American Historians, Louisville, Kentucky, April 1991.
1991
Commentator on “Politics and Leaders in the Early Republic,” Organization of American Historians, St. Louis, Missouri, April 1989.
1989
"Economic Development of New France: A New Perspective," York University history department colloquium, Toronto, March 1985.
1985
"Critique of Gary Nash's The Urban Crucible," American Historical Association, Pacific Coast Branch, San Francisco, August 1982.
1982
"New York and the American Revolution," University of Western Ontario history department's eighteenth-century seminar, London, Ontario, February 1981.
1981
"The Origins of the Revolution in New York: A Reinterpretation," Canadian Historical Association, Halifax, June 1981.
1981
"Virginia and the American Revolution," York University history department colloquium, Toronto, October 1979.
1979
"Attitudes Toward Empire as the Basis of Faction in Virginia, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Historical Association, Allentown, Pennsylvania, October 1976.
1976
"Attitudes Toward Empire as a Basis of Faction in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts," Conference on Party and Faction in Revolutionary America, Tarrytown, New York, October 1975.
1975
"The Business Cycle in Colonial America," Organization of American Historians, Boston, April 1975.
1975
Conference Proceedings
Publication
Year
"The Pattern of Factional Development in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, 1682-1776," in Patricia U. Bonomi, ed., Party and Political Opposition in Revolutionary America (Tarrytown, New York, 1980), 43-60. 18 pages.
1980
