The “Contested Freedom” conference was part of a series of “For 2026” conferences, put together by the Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Civilization. Virginie Adane (Nantes U) put together an “AMERICA2026” questioning “freedom across the Atlantic” with Annika Bärwald (U Bremen), Mathieu Ferradou (Nanterre U), Megan Marushke (U Leipzig) and Christine Mertens (MCEAS/Roosevelt Institute). They spoke about mobilities, subjugation and freedom in the Atlantic world during the age of revolutions. Their participation helped shed light on the circulation of formerly enslaved Africans in continental Europe (esp. in Hamburg) and, in the context of an increased attention paid to the “Vast Early America” paradigm, on the importance of maintaining an imperial paradigm to approach the American Revolution.
