Penn Calendar Penn A-Z School of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania

GRADUATE WORKSHOP - Empire and State Building on the North American Frontier

Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

McNeil Center (3355 Woodland Walk), Seminar Room (Room 105)

Lori Daggar: "Beyond Paternalism: Native Nations, Missionaries, & the Making of American Empire in Indian Country"
Brendan Gillis: Policing Beyond Law: Local Jurisdiction and Imperial Expansion in British America, 1740-1765 (PDF)


This month's papers look at the emergence and development of state power before and after the American revolutionary war.  All attendees are encouraged to read the papers, available below.

Lori Daggar (Penn History)
"Beyond Paternalism: Native Nations, Missionaries, and the Making of American Empire in Indian Country"
Read PDF.

Daggar explicates the relationship between Quaker missionaries and the US War Department in early efforts to "civilize" native communities, and challenges the framework of "benevolent paternalism" in our histories of U.S. missions.

Brendan Gillis (Indiana University, Dept. of History)
"Policing Beyond Law: Local Jurisdiction and Imperial Expansion in British America, 1740-1765"
Read PDF.

Gillis explores the legal and political culture of justices of the peace and equivalent magistrates in England and its colonies, arguing that this form of local government fueled the jurisdictional expansion of the empire.

Discussant: Gregory Ablavsky (Penn History)