The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution sponsors several educational programs, including the SAR Annual Conference on the American Revolution to facilitate university-level study on the American Revolution.
The 2024 SAR Annual Conference on the American Revolution
The American Revolution: War on the Waters
Norfolk, VA
June 7-9, 2024
This conference shall be dedicated to James C. Bradford.
The 2024 SAR Distinguished Scholar is C.C. Felker, US Naval Academy
Details about hotel accommodations and conference registration to follow.
This conference shall consider maritime operations during the War for Independence. Topics may include the influence of geographic and environmental factors on naval operations, the globalization of the War, American privateers, the Continental Navy and Marines, the West Indies as a distraction to British political objectives, Royal Navy tactical doctrine and decision-making, and the contribution of American sailors and marines to the creation of an American identity.
Click here for the conference's call for papers. If you have any questions, please contact the program's sponsor
Previous SAR Annual Conferences
- 2023: Contexts of the American Revolution
- 2022: The American Revolution on the Frontier
- 2021: Religion and the American Revolution
- 2020: Interpreting Independence: The Declaration Through the Generations
- 2019: Women Waging War in the American Revolution
- 2018: Spain and the American Revolution
- 2017: The Adams Family and the American Revolution
- 2016: Empires of Liberty and the American Revolution
- 2015: The Marquis de Lafayette and the European Friends of the American Revolution
- 2014: Women in the Era of the American Revolution
- 2013: Revolutionary Prophecies: The Founders on the Future
- 2012: Thomas Jefferson’s Lives: Biography as a Construction of History
- 2011: Slavery & Liberty: Black Patriots of the American Revolution
- 2010: Sons of the Father: George Washington and His Protégés
2023
Contexts of the American Revolution
This conference was co-sponsored by the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Patrick Griffin, University of Notre Dame. This conference was dedicated to Frank Cogliano, and explored the ways in which we may frame the seminal events of the late eighteenth century. Should the American Revolution be situated in a global, hemispheric, or continental context? Or are imperial, national, Atlantic, or regional frames more appropriate? Are there other contexts, or must we combine our frames of reference, to enhance our understanding of the American Revolution?
2022The American Revolution on the Frontier
The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Seanegan P. Sculley, U.S. Military Academy. This conference was dedicated to Colin G. Calloway. The conference considered how similar was the war on the frontier to the war on the east coast; how Native Americans factored in the Anglo-American conflict; and, how the war impacted settlements on the frontier, both during and immediately following the conflict.
2021Religion and the American Revolution
The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Katherine Carté, Southern Methodist University. This conference was dedicated to Amanda Porterfield. Religious ideas motivated American resistance and loyalism. The conference considered the complex role of religion in the American Revolution, the ways that religious minorities experienced the political upheavals of the period, and the decline of formal religious establishments in the United States. The papers from this conference are expected to be published as The Consequences of Conflict: The American Revolution and Religion. This is a working title.
2020 Interpreting Independence: The Declaration Through the GenerationsThe SAR Distinguished Scholar was Seanegan P. Sculley, U.S. Military Academy. This conference was dedicated to James Kirby Martin. The conference explored how the Declaration of Independence has evolved into an expression of national identity, and more, a moral compass of what it means to be an American. This conference also considered how the Declaration has been understood and used in a myriad of ways, and for a number of purposes.
2019Women Waging War in the American Revolution
This conference was co-sponsored by the Museum of the American Revolution. The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Holly A. Mayer, Duquesne University. This conference was dedicated to Carol Berkin. Women acted in the War for Independence; they did not just react, and their agency informed this conference. The conference examined how women fought the Revolution: that is, fought for it, fought against it, and fought in it, as warriors, followers, and activists. The papers from this conference were published as Women Waging War in the American Revolution (2022).
2018Spain and the American Revolution
This conference was co-sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University. The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Gabriel Paquette, Johns Hopkins University. This conference was dedicated to Sylvia L. Hilton and David Armitage. The conference explored Spain’s significant contributions to the American War for Independence. Spain and Britain clashed repeatedly during the global war of which the American Revolution was but one theater – in the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast and Florida, Minorca, and Gibraltar. The papers from this conference were published as Spain and the American Revolution: New Approaches and Perspectives (2020).
2017The Adams Family and the American Revolution
The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Richard A. Samuelson, California State University, San Bernardino. This conference was dedicated to the memory of Lyman H. Butterfield. The conference explored the Adams family’s understanding of the nature, meaning, and significance of the American Revolution over the generations from John and Abigail to Henry and Brooks Adams.
2016Empires of Liberty and the American Revolution
The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Richard A. Samuelson, California State University, San Bernardino. This conference was dedicated to Jack P. Greene. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and others wrote of the future of the United States in terms of an “empire of liberty.” Given the republican leanings of America’s founding generation, this imperial language is jarring, and perhaps paradoxical. Even so, it reminds us that the American Revolution grew out of a crisis in the British Empire, and that the imperial problems the colonists faced in the 1760s and 1770s did not go away in 1776.
2015The Adams Family and the American Revolution
This conference was co-sponsored by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and The Friends of Hermione – Lafayette in America. The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, University of Virginia. This conference was dedicated to the memory of Jacques Godechot and R.R. Palmer. The conference explored the roles played by several European powers in the American Revolution. The papers from this conference were published as European Friends of the American Revolution (2023).
2014Women in the Era of the American Revolution
This conference was co-sponsored by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, with support from the Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture. The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Barbara Oberg, Princeton University. This conference was dedicated to the memory of Pauline Maier. The conference examined the significant disruptions in daily life and changed expectations of what a woman’s place in a marriage, the household, and the community “ought” to be. Women supported boycotts of British goods and encouraged manufacturing at home; they raised funds to feed and clothe the troops; they supported the family by managing the farm or family business. The papers from this conference were published as Women in the Era of the American Revolution.
Revolutionary Prophecies: The Founders on the Future
The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Robert M.S. McDonald, U.S. Military Academy. This conference was dedicated to the memory of Lance Banning. The conference focused on what several founders hoped or expected for the future of the United States. The papers from this conference were published as Revolutionary Prophecies: The Founders and America’s Future (2021).
2012Thomas Jefferson’s Lives: Biography as a Construction of History
This conference was co-sponsored by the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Robert M.S. McDonald, U.S. Military Academy. This conference was dedicated to Peter S. Onuf. The conference explored how Thomas Jefferson has been viewed by different biographers for nearly two centuries. The papers from this conference were published as Thomas Jefferson’s Lives: Biography as a Construction of History
2011Slavery & Liberty: Black Patriots of the American Revolution
The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Robert M.S. McDonald, U.S. Military Academy. This conference was dedicated to the memory of Benjamin A. Quarles. The conference explored the contribution of black patriots, both enslaved and free, and sought to broaden our understanding about why African Americans helped to secure the liberty of a nation that proved ambivalent about their place in American society.
2010Sons of the Father: George Washington and His Protégés
This conference was co-sponsored by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. The SAR Distinguished Scholar was Robert M.S. McDonald, U.S. Military Academy. This conference was dedicated to the memory of Don Higginbotham. The conference explored the dynamics of Washington’s relationships with a number of men who served with him or under him, both military and civilian. The papers from this conference were published as Sons of the Father: George Washington and His Protégés (2013)
Future SAR Annual Conferences
2025Washington’s Dilemmas
This conference shall commemorate the 250th anniversary of General Washington assuming command of the Continental Army. The papers presented at this conference will explore Washington’s leadership.
2026All Men are Created Equal: Freedom, Slavery, and Race in the American Revolution
The SAR Distinguished Scholar will be John A. Ruddiman, Wake Forest University. This conference will explore the role of African Americans in the American Revolution – free and enslaved, patriots and loyalists. The conference will also consider the impact of the Revolution on the institution of slavery. “More African-Americans secured their liberty during the American War for Independence than in any other moment prior to the Civil War.” (Christopher Brown, Columbia University)
2027Resisting the Revolution: Militant Loyalism During the War for Independence
The SAR Distinguished Scholar will be T. Cole Jones, Purdue University. This conference will focus on loyalist resistance to American independence during the Revolutionary War.
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