America’s ‘First Revolution’: Indigenous Nations, Bacon’s Rebellion, and Mythologies of Independence from 1676 to Today

As the United States reflects on the 250th anniversary of independence, the question of what defines a revolution is an enduring one, especially its motivations, goals, and chronology. When veered toward separation from the British Empire, their prior experience with resistance and revolt shaped their answers. One example, Bacon’s Rebellion, was once called America’s ‘First’ Revolution by historians. Taking place exactly one hundred years before the Declaration of Independence, the conflict has often been understood as an early site of resistance to British authority, which elevated it to a prophetic event with mythological power. The narratives that subsequently developed around rebellion, revolution, and, eventually, independence—not only in the eighteenth century but also in popular and scholarly imaginations today—often reflected that perception. Moreover, these narratives were also part of an even earlier chronology, one where the specter of the English Revolution (1639–1659) was a pervasive narrative touchstone. Yet, as more recent scholarship demonstrates, the imaginary around Bacon’s Rebellion and the origins of revolution was far more complex, particularly in the roles that played alongside enslaved, colonial, and imperial actors.

For the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies’ (ITPS) Seventh Biannual Conference, we hope to contribute to ongoing dialogues about commemoration and American independence by considering these earlier debates around the meanings of revolution. Conference panels will consider these themes not just around late seventeenth century histories, but also how a variety of peoples interpreted the meanings of rebellion, revolution, and independence in the centuries before 1776.

“America’s ‘First’ Revolution” will be a fully hybrid program, with virtual and in person components on the Iona campus in New Rochelle, which is located just outside New York City in Westchester County.

Conference Program

Friday, September 25

In-person registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-itps-bi-annual-conference-day-one-tickets-1998219995798

3pm – 4:30pm
PANEL 1: Choosing Their Ground: Indigenous Strategy, Resistance, and Survival in Bacon’s Rebellion
Centering Indigenous perspectives, this panel reexamines Bacon’s Rebellion by highlighting the strategic choices, diplomatic negotiations, and acts of resistance that Native nations employed amid the conflict. By foregrounding Indigenous agency, the discussion challenges older narratives that portray Native peoples as peripheral to the rebellion and instead reveals their central role in shaping the political and military landscape of seventeenth-century Virginia.
Webinar link: https://iona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EW6KSp-0TkKIF3kSi5hHLw

Chair and Panelist: Michael Leroy Oberg
● Edward DuBois Ragan
● James D. Rice
● Julia King

5pm – 6:30pm
Plenary: Understanding Rebellion Through a Pamunkey Lens
Webinar link: https://iona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kpUiMDfmR0OAMi-_A64rOQ

Chair: Hayley Negrin
● Speakers to be announced

6:30pm – 7:30pm
Plenary reception

Saturday, September 26

In-person registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-itps-bi-annual-conference-day-two-tickets-1998220145245

9am – 10:30am
PANEL 2: Bacon’s Rebellion Reconsidered: Empire, Indigenous Nations, and Colonial Authority
Revisiting one of the defining conflicts of seventeenth-century British America, this panel
examines Bacon’s Rebellion through the intersecting lenses of imperial governance, legal
authority, and historical memory. Together, the papers challenge traditional interpretations of
the rebellion by exploring how its causes, consequences, and commemorations shaped
competing visions of empire, colonial power, and the origins of revolution.
Webinar link: https://iona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZfirchO7T1yAtQjJJ07Qjw

Chair: James Ambuske
● Zachary Kopin, “The Board of Trade’s Vision for Dominion: Circum-Atlantic Chaos,
Edward Randolph, and the Legal Revolution of 1676”
● Rebekah Planto, “To Bury All Seeds of Future Discords”: Excavating Bacon’s Rebellion and
its Afterlives at “Bacon’s Castle,” Surry County, Virginia
● Peter Olsen Harbich, ““Protecting Darling Indians: A Durable Imperial Policy?”

10:45am – 12:15pm
PANEL 3: New Netherland and the Contested Northeast: Empire, Diplomacy, and Indigenous
Sovereignty
This panel explores the seventeenth-century Northeast as a dynamic region where Dutch
colonists, Indigenous nations, and rival European empires negotiated competing claims to land,
authority, and political power. By centering Indigenous diplomacy alongside the Dutch Atlantic,
the papers challenge Anglo-centric narratives of colonial America and illuminate histories of
rebellion, sovereignty, and resistance beyond Virginia.
Webinar link: https://iona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QWrlGB8ITNueBi46bO4lkA

Chair: Deborah Hamer, New Netherland Institute
● BJ Ellis, Omohundro Institute
● Erin Kramer, Trinity University [virtual]
● Andrea Mosterman, University of New Orleans
● Megan Cherry, North Carolina State University

1:30pm – 3:00pm
PANEL 4: Revolutions Across Empires: Resistance and Independence in the Atlantic World
This panel situates the history of revolution within a broader Atlantic world, tracing how ideas of
resistance, sovereignty, and independence circulated across imperial boundaries and diverse
political communities. From Igbo resistance in the colonial Americas and revolutionary Louisiana
to transnational radical networks and the Corsican Republic, the papers reveal the
interconnected ideas and struggles that shaped the Age of Revolutions across multiple empires.
Webinar link: https://iona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h5loIAaBSR-6n1ei48SzwQ

Chair: Mark Boonshoft
● Fernando Cyrillo Júnior, Transnational Networks of Radicalism: Recontextualizing
Freethought in Revolutionary America [virtual]
● Guilherme Farias Ghefter, La Rivoluzione and The Revolution – An overview of
early-American sentiment regarding the Corsican Republic (1755-1787)
● Melissa Morris, title forthcoming [virtual]
● Ala Montgomery, title forthcoming

3:15pm – 4:45pm
PANEL 5: Revolution Remembered and Repurposed: Memory, Race, and Historical Narratives
This panel examines how the meanings of revolution have been remembered, contested, and
reimagined across generations. Spanning topics from race and historical anthropology to
Loyalist memory, gradual abolition, and nineteenth-century radicalism, the papers explore how
revolutionary ideals were interpreted, challenged, and mobilized long after the events
themselves, revealing the enduring power of revolutions in shaping historical narratives and
political thought.
Webinar link: https://iona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4IyIz22KSBulGaEsYgmhpA

Chair: Nicole Mahoney
● Emilee Robbins, “Memoir and Memory: How Loyalist Elizabeth Fisher Recalled
Revolution” [virtual]
● Kelly Ryan, “The Tyranny of Kings, Capital, and Commerce: Why American Radicals
Embraced Social Revolution in France, 1848”
● Kaitlin Tonti, “Understanding Revolution in the New Republic: The Question of Gradual
Abolition” [virtual]

5pm – 6:30pm
Keynote address: Dr. Kathleen Brown
Webinar link: https://iona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gQ0S1AVGQ7mm4vz2xwrTeA

6:30pm – 7:30pm
Keynote reception

This conference is possible thanks to support from “Common Sense and the Constitution: Civic Engagement in the Spirit of 1776” initiative from the American History and Civics Education – Seminars (AHC-Seminars) Program at the Department of Education and the Lapidus Initiative for Early American Inquiry.

Read the complete Call for Proposals here.