Lunch and Learn – Connecticut’s Local Leaders: Creating the State and Economy in the Early Republic

Virtual Presentation!

Local leaders have long been studied as managers of daily affairs in their communities, yet this presentation offers a narrative in which they attain national significance. In this virtual talk, Elliot Warren illustrates how local magistrates in the 1780s and 1790s influenced the development of political economy—how the state interacts with markets—because of their role in overseeing local economies. As authorities acting in relative isolation from state and federal authorities, local leaders had ample leeway to shape economic development in the early republic’s most valuable cities and towns.

Elliot’s talk will focus on how local leaders in Connecticut were integral to the development of an ‘American’ political economy. Through the lens of four distinct themes—security, money, representation, and commerce—the talk will highlight the role Connecticut’s local leaders played on a grand scale. The 1780s and 1790s were times of great crisis, from money scarcity to economic depression and the threat of invasion, yet the state and federal governments were unable to face these challenges alone. Local leaders were essential participants in the defense of the nation from without and within. Working to protect and promote their communities, leaders of Connecticut’s towns and cities contributed to the growth of a strong central state, forever changing the way the American state interacts with the economy.

Elliot Warren, a New England Regional Fellowship Consortium grantee, conducted research at the Connecticut Museum in the fall of 2024.

This virtual event is free and open to the public. Get tickets to receive the Zoom link. Questions? Contact Jen Busa, Public Programs Coordinator at jbusa@connecticutmuseum.org.

About the speaker:  Elliot Warren is a PhD candidate at the College of William & Mary and the recipient of a short-term fellowship from the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium. His dissertation, from which this talk is adapted, compares local governments in southern New England and Virginia to better understand the role local leaders played in the creation of the American state. Elliot is originally from New Jersey and received his BA from the George Washington University in 2018 and his MA from William & Mary in 2019. His work has been supported by the Library Company, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry, and the National Society of Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims.

Image: Re-enactment of First Town Meeting in Meriden, 1906. Photograph. 1980.80.16, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History.

TICKETS
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