Haddin Arts & Sciences Forum: “Patriots Before Revolution: Georgia and the British Origins of the American Revolution”

Presenter: Amy Watson, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of History

Topic: “Patriots Before Revolution: Georgia and the British Origins of the American Revolution”

The American revolutionaries—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams—called themselves Patriots. But what did it mean to be a Patriot? This talk locates the origins of Patriotism in British politics of the early eighteenth century. The early Patriots’ ideological mission was not American independence, but rather, British imperial reform—including the establishment of a new colony called Georgia. Headed by James Oglethorpe, the colony’s Patriot proponents believed that imperialism could be a channel for public-spirited aims: providing religious charity, cultivating new commodities, and strengthening Britain’s military presence. In practice, however, this utopian vision would never be realized due to British party politics. The fight over Georgia proves that empire was at the heart of Britain’s increasingly fraught political divisions: Whigs, Tories, and Patriots recognized that their nation’s present and future power depended on its imperial hegemony, though they were intensely divided on how best to achieve it.

Lunch will be served. Please RSVP here by Monday, March 1, to help us plan for the correct number of meals.

Questions? Email [email protected].

The Haddin Arts & Sciences Forum offers scholarship that is interdisciplinary and translatable to a broad audience, celebrating and elevating the intellectual vibrancy present in the academic atmosphere of the College of Arts and Sciences.