Conservatisms in an Age of Revolutions: The United States in an Atlantic World

The Conservatisms in an Age of Revolutions project examines how conservatism emerged in the US and its Atlantic neighbours over the course of the nineteenth century. Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant, it runs for three years from September 2024.

In situating early conservatism in its historical context, the project sets out from the empirical observation that the term 'conservatism' appeared simultaneously in the Unites States, Britain, and Latin America in the 1830s and '40s. In the United States, against a background of political instability at home and revolutionary movements abroad, it became a term of legitimation, invoked even by political actors advocating radical change. The project therefore seeks to understand conservatism as a distinct concept, rather than a mere antithesis to 'liberalism' or 'progressivism'.

The project pursues three principal objectives. First, to investigate how political goals and practices were defined as conservative in the Atlantic world of the 1830s and '40s, and how these interacted with liberal ideas and ambitions. Second, to use this transnational approach to clarify why the language of conservatism was so salient in the nineteenth-century United States. Third, to achieve a better understanding of the origins of late-nineteenth century conservative regimes, including their roots in liberal and radical movements.

The project is led by Professor Adam Smith as Principal Investigator, with Dr Mark Power Smith and Dr Gwion Wyn Jones as Research Fellows. Between them, the two Research Fellows will produce a monograph on US conservatism between the 1830s and 1870s and several peer-reviewed articles. As PI, Adam Smith will convene a conference bringing together scholars working on aspects of conservatism in the nineteenth century, and edit the resulting volume examining nineteenth-century conservatism in an Atlantic perspective.

Since its foundation in 1925, the Leverhulme Trust has provided grants and scholarships for research and education, funding research projects, fellowships, studentships, bursaries and prizes; it operates across all the academic disciplines, the intention being to support talented individuals as they realise their personal vision in research and professional training. Today, it is one of the largest all-subject providers of research funding in the UK, distributing approximately £100 million a year. For more information about the Trust, please visit www.leverhulme.ac.uk and follow the Trust on Twitter/X @LeverhulmeTrust.