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
This GOOD BOY ran onto the course during the Women’s Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint event, crossing the finish line and being automatically recorded by OMEGA’s photofinish camera 😆
February 18, 2026 at 11:46 AM
This GOOD BOY ran onto the course during the Women’s Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint event, crossing the finish line and being automatically recorded by OMEGA’s photofinish camera 😆
Reposted by John Harris
It's Publication Day! It was such a genuine pleasure to work on this important & timely volume w/ Bryan Banks & every one of our contributing authors. Amazing group of people, & I am just so pleased.
Get your copy of The Global Age of Revs, help spread the word, & consider assigning in your class!
Get your copy of The Global Age of Revs, help spread the word, & consider assigning in your class!
Happy #pubday to "The Global Age of Revolutions: A History from 1650 to Today," edited @bryanbanksphd.bsky.social and @cindyermus.bsky.social!
Redrawing the map and resetting the clock of the Age of Revolutions
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10176/
@ageofrevolutions.bsky.social #skystorians
Redrawing the map and resetting the clock of the Age of Revolutions
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10176/
@ageofrevolutions.bsky.social #skystorians
February 17, 2026 at 5:39 PM
It's Publication Day! It was such a genuine pleasure to work on this important & timely volume w/ Bryan Banks & every one of our contributing authors. Amazing group of people, & I am just so pleased.
Get your copy of The Global Age of Revs, help spread the word, & consider assigning in your class!
Get your copy of The Global Age of Revs, help spread the word, & consider assigning in your class!
Reposted by John Harris
Here's Harriet Jacobs writing in her memoir about NYC: “What a disgrace to a city calling itself free, that inhabitants, guiltless of offense, and seeking to perform their duties conscientiously, should be condemned to live in such incessant fear, and have nowhere to turn for protection.”
February 17, 2026 at 2:01 AM
Here's Harriet Jacobs writing in her memoir about NYC: “What a disgrace to a city calling itself free, that inhabitants, guiltless of offense, and seeking to perform their duties conscientiously, should be condemned to live in such incessant fear, and have nowhere to turn for protection.”
Reposted by John Harris
And NYC was so unsafe for Black people that the population dropped significantly from the 1830s through the Civil War.
February 17, 2026 at 2:01 AM
And NYC was so unsafe for Black people that the population dropped significantly from the 1830s through the Civil War.
Reposted by John Harris
Coming this May. A documentary about WEB Du Bois - www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kMs...
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With A Cause | Official Trailer | American Masters | PBS
YouTube video by American Masters PBS
www.youtube.com
February 16, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Coming this May. A documentary about WEB Du Bois - www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kMs...
Reposted by John Harris
I wrote about enslaved people in Hamburg, flight attempts, and the city's free-soil law of 1837. It's an open-access publication: 🗃️
No Safe Haven: Fugitives from Slavery as Contested Refugees in Hamburg, 1770–1840 | Itinerario | Cambridge Core
No Safe Haven: Fugitives from Slavery as Contested Refugees in Hamburg, 1770–1840
www.cambridge.org
February 11, 2026 at 5:30 AM
I wrote about enslaved people in Hamburg, flight attempts, and the city's free-soil law of 1837. It's an open-access publication: 🗃️
Reposted by John Harris
Reposted by John Harris
Finding my 3-times great grandfather, Henry Rucker, registering to vote in 1867 was life changing. He did so at great risk to life and livelihood, but he did it anyway.
Honored to commemorate the day that those rights were Constitutionally enshrined, still sacred & paid for at great sacrifice.
Honored to commemorate the day that those rights were Constitutionally enshrined, still sacred & paid for at great sacrifice.
February 3, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Finding my 3-times great grandfather, Henry Rucker, registering to vote in 1867 was life changing. He did so at great risk to life and livelihood, but he did it anyway.
Honored to commemorate the day that those rights were Constitutionally enshrined, still sacred & paid for at great sacrifice.
Honored to commemorate the day that those rights were Constitutionally enshrined, still sacred & paid for at great sacrifice.
Reposted by John Harris
Today is the paperback release day for my book The Contagion of Liberty! It’s about how Americans demanded that their governments provide inoculations for smallpox to the public as their right and also to affirm that public health is a foremost duty of government. www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
The Contagion of Liberty
The Politics of Smallpox in the American Revolution
www.press.jhu.edu
February 3, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Today is the paperback release day for my book The Contagion of Liberty! It’s about how Americans demanded that their governments provide inoculations for smallpox to the public as their right and also to affirm that public health is a foremost duty of government. www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
Reposted by John Harris
Dear history fans, what objects would you like to see in an exhibition on privateering & life at sea in the 18th century? Everyday objects, letters, navigational instruments, or something unexpected? It will also explore forced migration. I’d love to hear your thoughts #earlymodern #maritimehistory
January 25, 2026 at 8:42 AM
Dear history fans, what objects would you like to see in an exhibition on privateering & life at sea in the 18th century? Everyday objects, letters, navigational instruments, or something unexpected? It will also explore forced migration. I’d love to hear your thoughts #earlymodern #maritimehistory
Reposted by John Harris
The crisis is real, and this is part of our effort at new approaches to supporting scholars and advancing scholarship in the (vast!) early Americas.
Sharing again and would appreciate your sharing, too. More info in the thread. 🧵⬇️
Sharing again and would appreciate your sharing, too. More info in the thread. 🧵⬇️
Friends, I hope you’ll share this widely. The @jcblibrary.bsky.social is hiring 2 3-yr research associates for collaborative work on religions and freedoms in the early Americas. Info is here and I’m happy to take questions offline: brown.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/staff-...
January 15, 2026 at 12:08 PM
The crisis is real, and this is part of our effort at new approaches to supporting scholars and advancing scholarship in the (vast!) early Americas.
Sharing again and would appreciate your sharing, too. More info in the thread. 🧵⬇️
Sharing again and would appreciate your sharing, too. More info in the thread. 🧵⬇️
Reposted by John Harris
Self-promotion warning: @manchesterup.bsky.social will issue paper edition of our essay collection on #earlymodern European overseas empires in Jan '26 for pre-order @ GBP 30 @carrington-farmer.bsky.social manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526195791/
Manchester University Press - Agents of European overseas empires
Agents of European overseas empires - Browse and buy the Paperback edition of Agents of European overseas empires by Elodie Peyrol-Kleiber
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
August 17, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Self-promotion warning: @manchesterup.bsky.social will issue paper edition of our essay collection on #earlymodern European overseas empires in Jan '26 for pre-order @ GBP 30 @carrington-farmer.bsky.social manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526195791/
Reposted by John Harris
My author copies of THE CROWN’S SILENCE are here!!! Please spread the word, support local bookstores, and buy a copy for every royal 👑 in your life!
King Charles, I’m looking at you!!
Out on 1/27 in the US 🇺🇸 and on 1/29 in the UK 🇬🇧. #booksky 📚 #slaveryarchive
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
King Charles, I’m looking at you!!
Out on 1/27 in the US 🇺🇸 and on 1/29 in the UK 🇬🇧. #booksky 📚 #slaveryarchive
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
January 8, 2026 at 7:32 PM
My author copies of THE CROWN’S SILENCE are here!!! Please spread the word, support local bookstores, and buy a copy for every royal 👑 in your life!
King Charles, I’m looking at you!!
Out on 1/27 in the US 🇺🇸 and on 1/29 in the UK 🇬🇧. #booksky 📚 #slaveryarchive
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
King Charles, I’m looking at you!!
Out on 1/27 in the US 🇺🇸 and on 1/29 in the UK 🇬🇧. #booksky 📚 #slaveryarchive
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by John Harris
January 12, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by John Harris
If you want an easy way to read and then amplify the voices of historians, follow and share things from @contingent-mag.bsky.social.
January 11, 2026 at 8:10 PM
If you want an easy way to read and then amplify the voices of historians, follow and share things from @contingent-mag.bsky.social.
Reposted by John Harris
🧵🪡
These look like a banger series of documentaries on protests in the US.
Off to check where to stream.
These look like a banger series of documentaries on protests in the US.
Off to check where to stream.
In my 2nd half US history class, I assign 3 documentaries covering protests (that some would call riots) in US history. The first is HBO's Triangle: Remembering the Fire. It's an amazing film that uses descendants of those affected by the fire to make their stories more real to modern students. 🗃️
January 9, 2026 at 10:14 PM
🧵🪡
These look like a banger series of documentaries on protests in the US.
Off to check where to stream.
These look like a banger series of documentaries on protests in the US.
Off to check where to stream.
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
“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...