Somerset v. Steuart @ 250: Facts, Interpretations, and Legacies

Abstract

other hand, the relative lack of remote participation, save for the Zoom attendance of a few select panelists, might also be a point of growth for the conference’s future convenings. As we move into postpandemic life, it is impossible to ignore that the practice of virtual participation opens events to scholars and audiences who are unable to travel to attend, whether because of financial constraints, health concerns, family needs, professional conflicts, or other restrictions. The panels and events that felt most enriching were those that convened the widest variety of early Americanist thinkers, and it is worth considering what conversations might be lost from limiting attendance to in-person only. That said, the conference was overall exceptionally organized, and it was notably accessible and friendly to junior scholars and public audiences, while still maintaining a focus on advanced study. As an inaugural event of semiquincentennial celebration, “Revolutionary Legacies” provoked timely and necessary questions for the field of Early American Studies, challenging the conventional geographies, temporalities, and actors of the Revolution. It is exciting that this conference will convene again for the next four years. This event is well worth attending, and its repetition promises to foster continued evolution and reinterpretation of Revolutionary-era scholarship.