John Harris
@drjohnaeharris.bsky.social
Historian. Author of The Last Slave Ships: NYC & The End of The Middle Passage (Yale, 2020).
Working on a new book Spying on The Slave Trade.
Rep’d by Deirdre Mullane
N. Irish immigrant to U.S.
https://www.johnaeharris.com/
Working on a new book Spying on The Slave Trade.
Rep’d by Deirdre Mullane
N. Irish immigrant to U.S.
https://www.johnaeharris.com/
Reposted by John Harris
🗃️ The US attracted more foreign-born people from more places than any other nation in history. We need language to acknowledge that central fact of American history. But we also need language that goes beyond the idea that the United States is, or ever was, simply a “nation of immigrants.” 🧵1/10
January 2, 2026 at 4:12 PM
🗃️ The US attracted more foreign-born people from more places than any other nation in history. We need language to acknowledge that central fact of American history. But we also need language that goes beyond the idea that the United States is, or ever was, simply a “nation of immigrants.” 🧵1/10
Reposted by John Harris
Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/
January 2, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/
“The island seems to be sinking, just as Raúl warned it might 15 years earlier. It is doing so bc he and others delayed true reform. Change will come with steep costs thanks to years of economic policy waffling & the state’s refusal to give Cubans a meaningful political voice in shaping their future
Excellent article from @mjbusta.bsky.social that summarizes Cuba’s current (not that recent) economic and political crisis.
www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/cuba-br...
www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/cuba-br...
Cuba on the Brink
Where will the island’s crisis end?
www.foreignaffairs.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:09 PM
“The island seems to be sinking, just as Raúl warned it might 15 years earlier. It is doing so bc he and others delayed true reform. Change will come with steep costs thanks to years of economic policy waffling & the state’s refusal to give Cubans a meaningful political voice in shaping their future
Reposted by John Harris
On January 1, 1804, revolutionaries established the independent country of Haiti, the first nation to permanently ban slavery. As we begin a year engulfed by the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, it’s worth reading the Haitian Declaration of Independence in full. 🇭🇹
January 1, 2026 at 1:04 PM
On January 1, 1804, revolutionaries established the independent country of Haiti, the first nation to permanently ban slavery. As we begin a year engulfed by the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, it’s worth reading the Haitian Declaration of Independence in full. 🇭🇹
Reading a small cache of family letters my in-laws have from around 1900.
Someone is sick from diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia in all of them.
In this one from Bloomington, Illinois: “now it is the measles, last week in the high school there was 212 students out with them.”
Someone is sick from diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia in all of them.
In this one from Bloomington, Illinois: “now it is the measles, last week in the high school there was 212 students out with them.”
December 31, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reading a small cache of family letters my in-laws have from around 1900.
Someone is sick from diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia in all of them.
In this one from Bloomington, Illinois: “now it is the measles, last week in the high school there was 212 students out with them.”
Someone is sick from diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia in all of them.
In this one from Bloomington, Illinois: “now it is the measles, last week in the high school there was 212 students out with them.”
Reposted by John Harris
The cover’s up, btw.
![Holly Brewer
[engraving of the seal of the Royal African Company, with two African men upholding the crown of England, the ducal crest, and wings with crosses. Underneath is the elephant and castle—the castles were English/occupied fortifications off the African coast that enabled the slave trade.
At the base of the seal in Latin are the words: by royal patronage trade flourishes, and by trade the realm.”]
The King's Slaves
The British Empire
and the Origins
of American Slavery](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:aci62sk54idppcryz6psdnnc/bafkreihcr23pcnlpwvq2zztmcqdk32cel66ijlibr7ogumcmqrw2tlzthe@jpeg)
December 31, 2025 at 4:48 AM
The cover’s up, btw.
Reposted by John Harris
As I’ve been saying, Dem candidates really need to take seriously the imperative to fix public education, or Rs will take advantage and destroy it. We can support educators and serve students, but we need to admit there’s a problem.
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/12/29/d...
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/12/29/d...
5 Hard Truths Democrats Must Face on Education
Test scores are down, learning loss is real, and inequality is growing. Here are 5 truths Democrats must face on education.
washingtonmonthly.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:40 PM
As I’ve been saying, Dem candidates really need to take seriously the imperative to fix public education, or Rs will take advantage and destroy it. We can support educators and serve students, but we need to admit there’s a problem.
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/12/29/d...
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/12/29/d...
Reposted by John Harris
For the Kindle crowd, $0.50 for the story of how NYC was America’s last slave trading port:
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage
The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage - Kindle edition by Harris, John. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage.
www.amazon.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:53 AM
For the Kindle crowd, $0.50 for the story of how NYC was America’s last slave trading port:
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
Reposted by John Harris
There is a fantastic documentary about this -- The Uprising of 34.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0114...
www.imdb.com/title/tt0114...
The Uprising of '34 (TV Movie 1995) ⭐ 7.9 | Documentary
The Uprising of '34: Directed by Judith Helfand, George C. Stoney.
www.imdb.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:15 PM
There is a fantastic documentary about this -- The Uprising of 34.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0114...
www.imdb.com/title/tt0114...
For the Kindle crowd, $0.50 for the story of how NYC was America’s last slave trading port:
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage
The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage - Kindle edition by Harris, John. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage.
www.amazon.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:53 AM
For the Kindle crowd, $0.50 for the story of how NYC was America’s last slave trading port:
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08M...
Check it out 👇
My new book drops in about a month, and @barnesandnoble.com has a 25% off promo on pre-orders for the next three days! Use code PREORDER25
(You have to be a B&N member, but membership is free.)
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-escape...
#bskystorians #AmRev #slavery
@stmartinspress.bsky.social
(You have to be a B&N member, but membership is free.)
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-escape...
#bskystorians #AmRev #slavery
@stmartinspress.bsky.social
December 30, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Check it out 👇
Reposted by John Harris
Working on something about what Twitter meant to historians - what was good/not good about it for the profession, in relation to the general crisis of academic history / the profession, etc., the cratering of the university. What was #twitterhistory at its best? What were its failures? 🗃️
December 18, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Working on something about what Twitter meant to historians - what was good/not good about it for the profession, in relation to the general crisis of academic history / the profession, etc., the cratering of the university. What was #twitterhistory at its best? What were its failures? 🗃️
In search of books to assign my U.S. History 1876-present class. The students will be mostly non-majors. Your recommendations please!
December 27, 2025 at 11:06 PM
In search of books to assign my U.S. History 1876-present class. The students will be mostly non-majors. Your recommendations please!
Reposted by John Harris
This probably doesn’t count, but the only extant personal and business papers of a colonial Brazilian trader in enslaved Africans are locked in a Salvador convent. No one’s seen them in fifty years. I’m losing my mind (maybe one guy did?). I haven’t even figured out how to approach the nuns.
I think we need a mega thread of everyone's craziest archive stories.
December 23, 2025 at 12:19 AM
This probably doesn’t count, but the only extant personal and business papers of a colonial Brazilian trader in enslaved Africans are locked in a Salvador convent. No one’s seen them in fifty years. I’m losing my mind (maybe one guy did?). I haven’t even figured out how to approach the nuns.
Reposted by John Harris
At Harvard’s Houghton Library, I found a letter with salt crusted onto it. When I read the letter, I realized it was the guy’s dried tears because the letter was about the death of his young daughter
I think we need a mega thread of everyone's craziest archive stories.
December 22, 2025 at 7:42 PM
At Harvard’s Houghton Library, I found a letter with salt crusted onto it. When I read the letter, I realized it was the guy’s dried tears because the letter was about the death of his young daughter
Reposted by John Harris
Brilliant from @adamserwer.bsky.social: the Roberts Court's attack on the Reconstruction Amendments are "consistent with the Antebellum Constitution’s narrow definition of who “We the People” are."
Here are some legal historians exploring the Antebellum Const.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Here are some legal historians exploring the Antebellum Const.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Conservatives Want the Antebellum Constitution Back
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are in trouble.
www.theatlantic.com
December 21, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Brilliant from @adamserwer.bsky.social: the Roberts Court's attack on the Reconstruction Amendments are "consistent with the Antebellum Constitution’s narrow definition of who “We the People” are."
Here are some legal historians exploring the Antebellum Const.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Here are some legal historians exploring the Antebellum Const.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Reposted by John Harris
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
The King's Slaves
A provocative account of how empire and absolutism institutionalized slavery in America
press.princeton.edu
December 18, 2025 at 11:14 PM
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
Reposted by John Harris
Blue sky-storians, I am preparing an Atlantic World class for MA students. I am so excited.
Have any advice? Any new MUST READS I should consider? Definitely hitting the classics, but would love to hear what has worked for you!
Have any advice? Any new MUST READS I should consider? Definitely hitting the classics, but would love to hear what has worked for you!
December 17, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Blue sky-storians, I am preparing an Atlantic World class for MA students. I am so excited.
Have any advice? Any new MUST READS I should consider? Definitely hitting the classics, but would love to hear what has worked for you!
Have any advice? Any new MUST READS I should consider? Definitely hitting the classics, but would love to hear what has worked for you!
When illegal slave ships were intercepted by British, French, Portuguese and other antislavery patrols in the 1800s, African captives were not freed - they were sent into indentured servitude. More than 700,000 souls. It’s a huge story in the history of abolition.
From the current issue: “Conceptualizing ‘Liberated Africans’ and Slave Trade Abolition: Government Schemes to Indenture Enslaved People Captured from Slavery, 1800–1920”
by Henry B. Lovejoy (@colorado.edu)
doi.org/10.1093/past...
by Henry B. Lovejoy (@colorado.edu)
doi.org/10.1093/past...
Conceptualizing ‘Liberated Africans’ and Slave Trade Abolition: Government Schemes to Indenture Enslaved People Captured from Slavery, 1800–1920*
Abstract. A new survey of ‘Liberated Africans’ exposes how global calculations of involuntary African indentured labour after 1800 have been significantly
doi.org
December 17, 2025 at 10:44 AM
When illegal slave ships were intercepted by British, French, Portuguese and other antislavery patrols in the 1800s, African captives were not freed - they were sent into indentured servitude. More than 700,000 souls. It’s a huge story in the history of abolition.
Reposted by John Harris
If you are buying books this Holiday Season, make sure to support university presses. Lots of great deals. open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Buy University Press Books This Holiday Season
Whatever success I can claim as a published author is the result of editors at academic publishers believing in and supporting my projects.
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
If you are buying books this Holiday Season, make sure to support university presses. Lots of great deals. open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Reposted by John Harris
RIP and thank you, Ms. Allen Boyce. 🗃 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/u...
Jo Ann Allen Boyce Dies at 84; Braved Mobs in Integrating a School
www.nytimes.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:56 AM
RIP and thank you, Ms. Allen Boyce. 🗃 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/u...
Reposted by John Harris
Next Monday, 1–2 pm, our lecture series sets sail into climate history! Prof. Eleonora Rohland explores "DOLDRUMS" – how old ship logs reveal past climate patterns and the secrets of a unique windless Atlantic zone. Join us on Zoom – register below. #earlymodern #climate #maritimehistory #history 🗃️
December 12, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Next Monday, 1–2 pm, our lecture series sets sail into climate history! Prof. Eleonora Rohland explores "DOLDRUMS" – how old ship logs reveal past climate patterns and the secrets of a unique windless Atlantic zone. Join us on Zoom – register below. #earlymodern #climate #maritimehistory #history 🗃️
Reposted by John Harris
My new book, 'The Fenian Empire: A Hemispheric History of Irish Republican Nationalism' is now live in the NYU Press catalogue and due for release in early June, fittingly on the 160th anniversary of the first major Fenian raid on Canada
nyupress.org/978147983258...
nyupress.org/978147983258...
The Fenian Empire
A bold new exploration of Fenian revolutionary activity across the AmericasIn the aftermath of the American Civil War, the Fenian movement stood at a crossro...
nyupress.org
December 8, 2025 at 4:36 PM
My new book, 'The Fenian Empire: A Hemispheric History of Irish Republican Nationalism' is now live in the NYU Press catalogue and due for release in early June, fittingly on the 160th anniversary of the first major Fenian raid on Canada
nyupress.org/978147983258...
nyupress.org/978147983258...