*FORUM FRIDAYS: VIRTUAL VIRGINIA FORUM TALKS*

*New Approaches to the Revolutionary Era*



*Friday, July 23, 2021 *| *12:00 PM–1:00 PM *

Online

Free, but registration required.

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R4ejiBvTQeW1hnuS6XaqAQ



Join us for a series of virtual presentations on Virginia history and
culture from scholars across the state. This series offers some of the most
compelling sessions that had been proposed for the 2020 Virginia Forum
conference, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. The annual event
brings together teachers, students, and professionals interested in
Virginia history and culture to present, discuss, and reconsider the story
of the commonwealth. Free and open to the general public, this
collaboration with the Library of Virginia will share the online sessions
with a wider audience. Events are scheduled for July 23, August 6, August
20, and September 17, 2021.



On July 23, Carolyn Eastman (associate professor of history, Virginia
Commonwealth University) leads a panel discussion on *New Approaches to the
Revolutionary Era* with historians Kyle Rogers (historical interpreter,
Patrick Henry’s Scotchtown) and David Hayter (research and administrative
assistant, VCU’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs)
. Scholars who examine the era of the American Revolution often have to
make use of the few original documents that remain—requiring us to do a lot
with very little. Whether studying the intellectual history of that era or
the lives of the enslaved, scholars continually need to employ creative
means of rare sources. This discussion illustrates how a new generation of
scholars are doing just that.



Hayter scrutinizes a long-overlooked aspect of the Revolutionary era: at
the same time that many political leaders drew heavily on the history of
the classical Roman republic as a model for building a new American
republic, some looked to an Anglo-Saxon past instead. But where did they
get those ideas, and how much did they matter?



Rogers explores the meanings of slavery and freedom in Early Republic and
antebellum-era Virginia by scrutinizing county court records in the Library
of Virginia’s archives. When five enslaved people seized their freedom in
four different Virginia counties between 1820 and 1864, they spawned
contentious lawsuits that debated not only their legal statuses, but also
the court system’s role in protecting the institution of slavery.



For more information, contact Ashley Ramey at [log in to unmask] or
804.692.3001.

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This list is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).