Join us Tuesday, 23 April 2024, from 4-5 p.m. ET for a Fellow's Forum with Benoit Leridon, University of Birmingham, U.K.
Held in the Berkeley Conference Room of the Jefferson Library this research forum will consist of a presentation by Benoit Leridon, followed by an opportunity to ask questions and discuss with the group.
Preregistration is not required to attend.
About the Presentation
I will research how South Carolina gentlemen’s support of the French Revolution compared with that of Thomas Jefferson, as defined by Connor O’Brien (1996). To what extent did South Carolina gentlemen share Jefferson’s idea of “permanent revolution” that saw no moral limits to the fight for liberty? To what degree did South Carolina gentlemen agree with the other views of Jefferson on the French Revolution and how did they differ with regards to domestic and international politics? This research will help better understand the difference of ideas on the French Revolution between South Carolina gentlemen and Jefferson and will also throw light on Jefferson’s related domestic political strategy vis-à-vis both Democrat-Republicans and Federalists in South Carolina.
About Benoit Leridon
Born in Paris, France, visited and lived frequently in the US from my teen years onwards. As a university student, I studied Classics, Political Science, and History. After a career as an International Baccalaureate Secondary School teacher in Europe, the Middle East, America, and Asia, I decided to become a full-time university professor of History. I joined the University of Birmingham (Edgbaston, United Kingdom) in October 2019 as a PhD student and, in December 2023, defended my dissertation, South Carolina in the Early Republic: The Lowcountry Military Planter Class’s Ideological Support for the French Revolution, 1789-1801.