“The Ruptures of War and the Afterlife of Dispossession: Native Nations, Benjamin Franklin, and the Coming of the American Revolution”—The Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Lectures, delivered by Ned Blackhawk, Part II

“The Ruptures of War and the Afterlife of Dispossession: Imperial Warfare, Settler Uprisings, and the Crisis of Native American Diplomacy”—Part II of the Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Lectures

Ned Blackhawk will deliver the Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Lectures on American Civilization and Government in two parts: Part I on November 17, Part II on November 18. This biennial lecture series at The New York Public Library, established by the estate of the historian Eric F. Goldman in honor of his wife, aims to encourage provocative comment and analysis concerning contemporary issues of deep, long-term significance for American democracy.

THIS IS A TWO-PART PROGRAM. YOU MUST REGISTER SEPARATELY FOR PART I, ON NOVEMBER 17, AND PART II, ON NOVEMBER 18. To register for Part I on November 17, click here.

Benjamin Franklin’s mother, Abiah Folger, and maternal grandfather, Peter Folger, lived in a world structured by Wampanoag-English relations, and their experiences shaped Franklin’s own life and writings. Ned Blackhawk will discuss the story of Franklin’s origins and the influence of these Native relations in the first lecture of the series. To register for Part I on November 17, click here. 

In Part II, Blackhawk will expand on his National Book Award–winning study, The Rediscovery of America, exploring how “the Indigenous origins of the American Revolution” offer new and vital perspectives on the Revolution’s continental origins. After the Seven Years’ War, interior affairs recalibrated colonial politics in Pennsylvania and emboldened anti-monarchical forces to attack Indians and Crown authority alike. When the Paxton Boys massacred Conestoga Indians in December, 1763, Franklin condemned them in terms that echoed his family’s past. As we learn in Part I, Peter Folger had mediated between Wampanoag communities and an embittered colonial order after Metacom’s War. His grandson now defended Native people against vigilantism and the incipient “settler sovereignty” it expressed. But as Franklin’s ambitions turned toward western land speculation, imperial reform, and ultimately independence, his commitment to Native diplomacy wavered. Blackhawk traces these conflicts over Indian affairs into the Revolution’s formative years. He asks what Franklin carried forward from the Folger family’s world and what he abandoned, as Native nations faced shrinking avenues for diplomatic and legal redress that would define their struggles in the centuries to come.

To attend | Please register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form shortly before the program.

The video recording of both lectures will be made available on NYPL's YouTube channel later in November. The lectures will not be livestreamed.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

An enrolled member of Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, Ned Blackhawk is the Howard R. Lamar Professor of History at Yale University, where he serves as faculty coordinator for the Yale Group for the Study of Native America (YGSNA). He is an acclaimed author and editor of works in Indigenous history, and his 2023 book, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, won several national awards, including the National Book Award for nonfiction. A national bestseller, it was translated into eight foreign languages. A young adult edition of The Rediscovery of America will be published in Fall 2026, through a partnership between Seven Stories Press and Penguin/Random House. Blackhawk’s current work focuses on the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War and the place of Native nations in the unfolding Revolutionary War, portions of which were featured last year in the Boston Globe and the Atlantic.

ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. 

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form.

CONNECT

Please submit all press inquiries at least 48 hours before the event: email [email protected] or use this Gmail template.

For all other questions and inquiries, please email [email protected] or use this Gmail template.

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The Cullman Center is made possible by a generous endowment from Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honor of Brooke Russell Astor, with major support provided by Mrs. John L. Weinberg, the Mellon Foundation, the Estate of Charles J. Liebman, The von der Heyden Family Foundation, John and Constance Birkelund, The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, and the Sidney J. Weinberg, Jr. Foundation, with additional gifts from Helen and Roger Alcaly, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Arts and Letters Foundation Inc., Christopher Hewat, William W. Karatz, Merilee and Roy Bostock, and Cullman Center Fellows.