Historians Joanne B. Freeman, Daniel Walker Howe, Kay Wright Lewis, and Sean Wilentz visit the University of Oxford’s Rothermere American Institute for a two-day colloquium on the nature of disagreement and conflict in the United States between the American Revolution and Civil War. Topics will include the Constitutional Convention, the Missouri Comprise, the War with Mexico, the Seneca Falls Conference, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, abolitionism, nullification, political violence, the ideas of race war and extermination, and the concept of pacifism.

Friday 31 May: Joanne B. Freeman, Daniel Walker Howe, Kay Wright Lewis, and Sean Wilentz will speak individually and respond to questions from the audience, guest interlocutors, and the moderator. RAI Senior Research Fellow Donald Ratcliffe will discuss the Missouri Compromise, marking the bicentennial of an 1820 Congressional agreement that Thomas Jefferson said was ‘a reprieve only, not a final sentence’ during the sectional dispute that held the United States on the edge of disunion and culminated in civil war. Day One will conclude with a champagne reception and book signing.

Saturday 1 June: Joanne B. Freeman, Daniel Walker Howe, Kay Wright Lewis, and Sean Wilentz will participate in a two-hour panel session involving questions from the moderator and audience. Day Two will conclude with refreshments and book signing.

Copies of participants’ books will be available for purchase at the event.

A provisional programme is now available here www.rai.ox.ac.uk/event/compromise-moderatism-extremism-and-fanaticism-in-american-politics-and-society-1783-1861

Please register separately for each day. Free registration here www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/compromise-moderatism-extremism-and-fanaticism-in-america-1783-1861-tickets-57201644659