To mark the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Many Legalities of Early America and the 30th anniversary of the conference which preceded it, a committee has formed to propose that the American Society for Legal History host a one-day symposium, November 5, 2027, in Minneapolis, Minnesota immediately before the Society’s regularly scheduled Annual Meeting. The conference will bring together historians, legal scholars, and experts from related disciplines, including original contributors to the volume, to assess the volume’s legacy, meditate on the state of the field, and explore novel or overlooked legalities in early America.
The program committee welcomes proposals that engage the themes of The Many Legalities of Early America, broadly construed. We are especially interested in papers that present new substantive research and reflect on larger questions of theory, method, perspective, and/or the continuing utility of “legality.” We invite participants to consider other broad frameworks that might connect work across the field without sacrificing its richness and diversity.
The conference also seeks to foster discussion about the evolving relationship between history and law. Interventions might evaluate the tendency to reframe legal change as a dimension of economic, political, or cultural transformations. They might also address the turn in contemporary legal reasoning and judicial decision-making to history as a basis of authority. We welcome papers that examine these and other recent developments critically and productively.
Possible approaches include, but are not limited to:
- Lessons and insights that The Many Legalities of Early America imparts today, especially those that may have gone unheeded or unexplored
- Legal pluralism in British North America
- Legal continuities and discontinuities across the Americas
- Indigenous, imperial, colonial, and transnational legalities
- The role of law in structuring early American social, racial, sexual, and religious change
- Law as an instrument of control, violence, and resistance
- The interplay between substance and procedure in early American law
- Jurisdiction and sovereignty, whether local, regional, national or transnational
- Legal language and interpretation
- Theory and method in early American legal history
Papers will be distributed in advance. Participants should be committed to reading all the papers and serving as a discussion leader for a session. They are also encouraged to attend the ASLH’s Annual Meeting following the symposium. We expect to publish a special journal edition of revised essays after the conference.
Scholars at all career stages are encouraged to apply, and we particularly welcome proposals from early career scholars. Funding will be available to defray the costs of attendance.
Please submit a proposal of no more than 500 words, along with a one-page cv, in a single PDF document to manylegalities@gmail.com by December 15, 2026. Notification of acceptance will be sent by February 1, 2027.
Questions about the conference or proposal submissions may be directed to the Planning Committee at manylegalities@gmail.com.
Planning Committee
Grant Stanton, University of Massachusetts – Boston (Chair)
Gregory Ablavsky, Stanford University History & Law School
Lauren Benton, Yale University History & Law School
Holly Brewer, University of Maryland – College Park
Sarah Barringer Gordon, University of Pennsylvania History & Law School (emerita)
Michelle McKinley, University of Oregon School of Law
Casey Schmitt, Cornell University
