Education
Swarthmore
College, 1961-1965. B.A. received, 1965.
University
of Wisconsin, 1965-1974.
M.A.
received, 1967. Thesis: "Society
and Politics in Massachusetts, 1774-1780"
Ph.D.
received, 1974. Thesis: "The
Pennsylvania Economy, 1748-1762: A Study of Short-Run Changes in the Context of
Long-Run Changes in the Atlantic Economy."
Supervised by Merrill Jensen.
Employment
York
University.
Professor, 1998-
Associate Professor, 1976-1997
Assistant Professor, 1973-1976
Lecturer, 1970-1973
University
of Wisconsin.
Teaching Assistant, 1966-1968
Fellowships and Honors
Woodrow
Wilson Fellowship, 1965-1966.
Fulbright
Fellowship (at University of London), 1968-1969.
Ford
Fellowship, 1970.
Canada
Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1975-1976.
Canada
Council Leave Fellowship, 1977-1978.
York
University, Faculty of Arts Fellowship, 1989-1990.
Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Standard Research Grant, 1991-1994.
Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Small Grant, 1995-1996.
Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Standard Research Grant, 1997-2000.
Faculty
of Arts Research Grant, Spring 2000.
Faculty
of Arts Research Grant, Spring 2003.
Faculty
of Arts Research Grant, Spring 2005.
Faculty
of Arts Research Grant, Spring 2006
Sabbatical
Leave Fellowship, 2006-2007
“Honourable
Mention” for Divergent Paths in the
competition for the Wallace Ferguson Prize, 1997. This award is
given annually by the Canadian Historical Association to the best book in
non-Canadian history.
Publications
A.
Books
A Mighty Empire: The Origins of the American
Revolution. Ithaca, New
York: Cornell University Press, 1988. Reprinted in paperback, 1989. xv + 381
pages.
Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have
Shaped North American Growth. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996. Issued in both hardcover and paperback. xvi + 300 pages.
New World Economies: The Growth of the Thirteen
Colonies and Early Canada. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. xix + 236
pages.
Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil
War. New York: Hill & Wang, 2009. xii + 416 pages.
B.
Articles (Refereed)
[With
Joseph A. Ernst], "An Economic Interpretation of the American
Revolution," The William and Mary
Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 29 (1972): 3-32. This essay has been reprinted in
several anthologies. 30 pages.
"The
Economic Development of the Thirteen Continental Colonies, 1720 to 1775," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd
Ser., 32 (1975):191-222. This essay has
been reprinted in several anthologies. 32 pages.
"The
Changing Structure of Philadelphia's Trade with the British West Indies,
1750-1774," Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography, 99 (1975): 156-179.
24 pages.
"The
Politics of Ambition: A New Look at Benjamin Franklin's Career," Canadian Review of American Studies, 6
(1975): 151-164. 14 pages.
"The
Origins of the Revolution in Virginia: A Reinterpretation," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd
Ser., 37 (1980): 401-428. 28 pages.
“The
Beards Were Right: Political Parties in the North, 1840-1860,” Civil War History, 47 (2001):
30-56. 27 pages.
“Rethinking
the Secession of the Lower South: The Clash of Two Groups,” Civil War History, 50 (2004):
261-290. 29 pages.
“Explaining
John Sherman: Leader of the Second American Revolution,” Ohio History, 114 (2007): 105-117. 13 pages.
C. Articles (Non-Refereed)
"American
Slavery: The Newer Exegesis," Canadian
Review of American Studies, 6 (1975): 110-117. 8 pages.
"Reply
to John R. Hanson II on 'The Economic Development of the Thirteen Continental
Colonies, 1720 to 1775,'" The
William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 37 (1980): 172-175. 3 pages.
“Origins
of the American Revolution,” Focus on
Research at York University, 1985. 1
page.
"U.S.
blueprint helpful in building the new Canada," The Globe and Mail, September 8, 1992. 1 page.
"Thomas
Wharton," American National
Biography. 1 page.
“Proclamation
of 1763,” The Oxford Companion to United
States History. 1 page.
"Comment
on James Hijiya's 'Why the West Is Lost'," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., LI (1994), 724-26. 3 pages.
“Preston
Manning is hardly the new Abe Lincoln,” Toronto
Star, May 22, 1997. 1 page.
“A
Tale of Two Titanics,” Toronto Star,
January 24, 1998. 1 page.
“Benjamin
Franklin,” Oxford Encyclopedia of
Economic History. 1 page.
“Of
Muskets and Terrorism,” National Post,
October 2, 2001. 1 page.
D.
Articles in Published Conference Proceedings
"The
Pattern of Factional Development in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts,
1682-1776," in Patricia U. Bonomi, ed., Party and Political Opposition in Revolutionary America (Tarrytown,
New York, 1980), 43-60. 18 pages.
Media
Consultant,
“Mary Todd Lincoln,” TV Ontario, 1974.
Panelist,
“James Cameron’s Titanic,” Ralph
Benmergui Show, CBC, 1998.
Commentator,
White Buffalo, History Channel, 2002.
Contributions to the Profession
A.
Conference Organization
Organizer,
Conference, “Microcomputers in the Humanities and Social Sciences,” York
University, April 1985.
Organizer,
Conference, “Arts and Ideas in Eighteenth-Century England,” Founders College,
York University, January 1988.
Chair,
Local Arrangements Committee, Annual Conference, Society for Historians of the
Early American Republic, York University, June 1990.
Convener,
Toronto-area Americanists, 1990-2002
Co-chair [with Adrienne Hood of the
University of Toronto] of the Local Arrangements Committee for the April 1999
Toronto meeting of the Organization of American Historians.
Co-Chair and Program Coordinator,
Sixth Annual Meeting, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and
Culture, Toronto, June 2000.
Representative for York University,
Fulbright Roundtable on U.S. studies in Canada, Montreal, May 6-7, 2005.
Co-Chair [with Rick Halpern of the
University of Toronto], Conference on the American Civil War, June 10-11, 2005.
B. Membership in Professional Organizations
Organization
of American Historians, Economic History Association, Omohundro Institute of
Early American History and Culture, Society for Historians of the Early
American Republic.
C. Editorial Boards and Prize Committees
Member
of Advisory Board, Lincoln Prize at Gettysburg College.
Member
of Council, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture,
2006-2009