AMerica, Europe, Revolutions, Indépendance and Commemorations in the Atlantic world – AMERICA2026

In 2026 the United States of America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of their Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776), an event that reverberated around the eighteenth-century Atlantic World and whose commemorations will undoubtedly lead to numerous scientific events and publications worldwide. This project (AMerica, Europe, Revolutions, Independence and Commemorations in the Atlantic world) seeks to study the impact of the American Revolution on European societies and their colonies from 1770 to 1800 and to place American, French, and other European historiographies in a comparative perspective. The objective of America 2026 is to “de-Americanize” the interpretation of the American Revolution through a decentered analysis, expanded to an Atlantic scale and even beyond. To achieve this goal the consortium will produce an unprecedented historiographical assessment of the American Revolution through a strong collaboration between scholars in France and in Europe in a sustained conversation with North and South American colleagues; it will also make available a great variety of European and colonial sources in their original languages with abstracts in English. AMERICA 2026 intends to fully contribute to the many debates, cultural, and academic events and productions that will accompany the commemorations. It will also lead to a critical assessment of the study of the American Revolution, of its hemispheric and Atlantic impact, and its role in the history of modernity and democracies. AMERICA2026 is meant to become the academic reference on the American Revolution and its legacies in France, Europe, and the Americas.