Benjamin Hornigold: A Nuanced Study of the Golden Age of Piracy
This paper examines Benjamin Hornigold (1680-1719) and the Pirate Republic of Nassau as a window into power, legality, and survival in the early eighteenth-century Atlantic World. It argues that the Golden Age of Piracy emerged from imperial warfare, destructive hurricanes, and the collapse of colonial governance in the Caribbean. Moving beyond romanticized portrayals of pirates as simple outlaws, the paper shows how pirates of this era operated within blurred boundaries between crime and empire, while pirate communities practiced collective decision-making, elected leadership, and negotiated order in spaces largely abandoned by the state.
Framing the Revolution: How Media Shaped the Boston Massacre
This paper examines the Boston Massacre (March 5th, 1770), highlighting how conflicting eyewitness accounts, propagandistic imagery and the trials of Captain Preston and his soldiers shaped public memory of the event. By analyzing media portrayals, political agendas, and the role of town meetings in framing the story, the paper argues that the Boston Massacre reveals the enduring power of media to transform contested facts into mobilizing symbols of resistance and identity.
Latin American Independence in the wake of The Napoleonic Wars
This paper argues that Napoleon’s wars destabilized the Iberian empires and inadvertently sparked Latin American independence. By forcing the Portuguese court to Brazil and toppling Spain’s monarchy, he created power vacuums that empowered juntas and revolutionary leaders like Bolívar and San Martín. The result was a wave of independence movements that reshaped Latin America and left enduring legacies of nationalism and contested governance.
Differentiating Slaveries in the Americas: Uncovering Regional Systems and the Multiplicity of Enslaved Experience
This paper explores the idea that slavery in the Americas was not a single, uniform institution but rather a collection of diverse and regionally distinct “slaveries.” While the U.S. memory often focuses narrowly on the antebellum South, the essay emphasizes that systems of bondage varied widely—from Indigenous captivity practices, to the northern non-plantation system, to southern plantation economies, and to the brutal sugar operations of the Caribbean. By recognizing these differences, the essay argues for a more nuanced understanding of slavery’s legacies—one that honors the varied struggles of the enslaved.