“Global 1776” Conference in Hong Kong, Mar. 2026

Both demonstrating and exploring the global reach of the American Revolution is this conference announcement from the University of Hong Kong.

“Global 1776: Imperial Worlds in Upheaval”

The American Revolution is often told as a national story. Yet it was also part of a series of world events which culminated in a global age of imperial crisis lasting from the 1760s through the 1820s. That crisis was simultaneously intellectual, cultural, political, social, and economic.

In some places, established empires lost power. In others, new empires took shape. In the Americas, Asia, Europe, and elsewhere, local forces demanded change. Was the American Revolution paradigmatic? Did the age of global imperial crisis have a center?

The University of Chicago, the University of Hong Kong, and the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society will hold a conference at the University of Hong Kong on 12-14 March 2026 on the theme “Global 1776.”

We invite contributions on any aspect of this age of imperial crisis. Scholars may propose papers or panels with a range of methodologies and themes. We are especially interested in work that focuses on peoples and places that have received less attention from scholars of the Revolutionary era, especially Asia, India, West Africa, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ireland, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Work that crosses imperial and historiographic boundaries and uses comparisons or connections to put the American Revolution in broader dialogue is especially welcome.

The conference steering committee consists of:

• James R. Fichter, Associate Professor, Global and Area Studies, University of Hong Kong, author of Tea: Consumption, Politics, and Revolution, 1773–1776.
• Michelle Craig McDonald, Librarian and Director of the Library and Museum at the American Philosophical Society, author of the upcoming Coffee Nation: How One Commodity Transformed the Early United States. 
• Steven Pincus, Thomas E. Donnelly Professor of British History and the College, University of Chicago, author of The Heart of the Declaration. 
• Brendan McConville, Professor of History Boston University, Head of the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, author of The King’s Three Faces. 
• Christine Walker, Associate Professor of History, University of Hong Kong, author of Jamaica Ladies: Female Slaveholders and the Creation of Britain’s Atlantic Empire.

Travel support and “opportunities for conference publications” are available for presenters. The deadline for submitting proposals is 20 Apr 2025. Proposals for papers should consist of a 250-word abstract and c.v. for each presenter. Proposals for panels should also include a file indicating the names of the panel, the authors of panel papers, and the discussant/moderator. Use the "SUBMIT" link at the conference website or send email to global76@hku.hk.