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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I am so grateful to Matthew Alexander Randolph for this thoughtful review of _I Have Avenged America_ in Eighteenth-Century Studies!

With a superb epilogue that reckons with Dessalines’s contemporary legacy, Gaffield has penned an impressive revisionist history that balances the historiographic scales. Focusing on both Dessalines’s life (what happened) and how he is (mis)remembered across space and time in second-hand accounts, the author displays methodological dexterity in close-reading and discourse analysis. I admire Gaffield’s compassion for the difficult choices her subject made as French colonists conspired against the birth of the Haitian nation. Dessalines, this maligned slave-turned-emperor of Haiti, preserved the precarious sovereignty of the Haitian people by employing any means necessary. Anti-colonial violence was a last resort against those who refused to give up their ambition to bring back slavery, unwilling to surrender their prized colony to a Black-led and freedom-for-all future they never wanted to imagine.

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Jon Boyd @jonboyd.org · 27/08/2026

Seen at @seminarycoopbooks.bsky.social yesterday. “New and Notable” indeed. NB @unlawfulentries.bsky.social

Photo of a bookstore display including Anna O. Law’s ’Migration and the Origin of American Citizenship’

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Mark Rice @markricehistory.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Reading list set for my Historiography Survey in Latin American History 2 at the @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social @historygc.bsky.social. It's going to be an exciting semester reading @juliagaffield.bsky.social @carmensoliz.bsky.social @renatakeller.bsky.social and others.

Photo of stacked books which include: Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson; The Lettered City by Angel Rama; The Spanish American Revolutions by John Lynch; The Vanguard of the Atlantic World by James Sanders; Black into White by Thomas Skidmore; Black Legend by Paulina Alberto; The Industrialization of Sao Paulo, by Warren Dean; The World that Latin America Created by Margarita Fajado; Everyday Forms of State Formation edited by Joseph and Nugent; Fields of Revolution by Carmen Soliz; Guaraná by Seth Garfield; In from the Cold edited by Joseph and Spenser; The Fate of the Americas by Renata Keller; The New Authoritarianism in Latin America edited by Collier; Dictatorship Across Borders by Mila Burns; and, Buying into the Regime by Heidi Tinsman.

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Jonathan Gienapp @jgienapp.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

The William and Mary Quarterly forum on the recently discovered John Dickinson documents, revealing his previously unknown secret attempt to prevent the American Revolution, is now available online! The WMQ has generously made the issue open access for the next month. muse.jhu.edu/issue/57168

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Jonathan Gienapp @jgienapp.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

It was a privilege to work with the remarkable WMQ team @oieahc.bsky.social, led by editors @juliagaffield.bsky.social and Meg Musselwhite, who did so much to improve every aspect of the forum. The journal lived up to its legendary reputation for rigorous editorial attention.

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Gautham Rao (pronounced: Knicks in 5) @gauthamrao.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

An incredible forum in the latest William and Mary Quarterly, spearheaded by Jane E. Calvert and @jgienapp.bsky.social. The contingency of the revolutionary moment can’t be clearer.

Table of contents of the latest William and Mary Quarterly, 83 no. 3, forum on John Dickinson, featuring recently uncovered documents

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Jack El-Hai @jackelhai.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

"Led Haiti's fight for independence." Today's #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @juliagaffield.bsky.social & @yalepress.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Here it is, my 285th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more below, please share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

blackwhiteandread.com

#ScholarSunday Thread 285 (7/19/26) – Black and White and Read All Over

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Yale University Press @yalepress.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Interested in books about the early American republic? Use discount code SHEAR26 during the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic conference to receive 30% off and free shipping on your order on featured titles July 16 – October 17, 2026. yalebooks.yale.edu/SHEAR26

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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Obviously, I'm not a huge fan of amazon, but they are selling Living in a DAISY Age at 40% off if you have not gotten a copy yet! I promise it would be a nice beach read 😀 www.amazon.com/Living-D-I-S...

amazon.com

Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made

Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made [McCoy, Austin] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made

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French Colonial Historical Society @frenchcolonial.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Boucher Prize: Mélanie Lamotte, By Flesh & Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire. Harvard University Press. Honorable Mention: Julia Gaffield, I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti’s Fight for Freedom (Yale University Press).

Mélanie Lamotte’s By Flesh & Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire is an ambitious and innovative book that examines how French colonies in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean worlds were connected through legal regimes, racial policies, and the circulation of both people and ideas. Taking a trans-imperial approach, Lamotte identifies the imperial policies, especially those concerning sex and labor, that structured the early modern French Empire.

With its bold geographical scope and sustained consideration of New France, Lower Louisiana, Senegambia, Guyana, Guadeloupe, Madagascar, Isle Bourbon (Réunion), Isle de France (Mauritius), and the French outposts in India, Lamotte offers important new insights into the global dimensions of French colonization. The book is especially successful in pairing this expansive conceptual framework with richly textured archival evidence that centers the experiences of men and women across the colonial world. The committee commends both Professor Lamotte and Harvard University Press for this original and deeply researched first book, which makes a major contribution to the history of French colonialism and to broader histories of race, labor, and law.

Honorable Mention: Julia Gaffield, I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti’s Fight for Freedom (Yale University Press).

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Jeff Abbott @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A funny part of the story of when I told Bishop Mark Seitz about this book was that I told him this was my favorite book this year. He asked what number two was, and I explained to him it was @juliagaffield.bsky.social “I have avenged America.” Dessalines is my favorite Haitian revolutionary…

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Chris @cjthered.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I’ve said before On Here that @juliagaffield.bsky.social ‘s book on Dessalines is great, and accessible to an interested layperson (like me). Paperback seems to be coming out this month, too! yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

yalebooks.yale.edu

I Have Avenged America

A moving and humane portrait of the abolitionist revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who led Haiti’s fight for independence from French colonial rule“...

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I am delighted that _I Have Avenged America_ received an honorable mention from the @frenchcolonial.bsky.social for the Boucher Book Prize! Congratulations to the winner, Mélanie Lamotte, who won for her excellent book _By Flesh & Toil_!!

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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This is an incredible story, a view via letters in the summer and fall of 1775 into just how determined Dickinson was (and surely reflecting others) to prevent revolution. Noting Dickinson's 1767-68 series _Letters from A Farmer_ arguing against colonial taxation was reprinted in London in 1774.

Open face book with title page for Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. With the J Almon London reprint.

Page of the first letter addressed to British "my dear countrymen."

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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

And it's a fantastic example of *what scholarship can do.* Long after the misc in DC for the 4th comes down, the WMQ essays will tell us about the ongoing work of understanding this period. Love that @oieahc.bsky.social put the docs on the OI Reader. Dickinson _Letters_ @jcblibrary.bsky.social.

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Jonathan Gienapp @jgienapp.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Major props to the WMQ team, led by @juliagaffield.bsky.social and Meg Musselwhite, who moved heaven and earth to get the documents online by today. The WMQ has been amazing from start to finish. @oieahc.bsky.social

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Jonathan Gienapp @jgienapp.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

The documents, and a set of interpretive essays, will soon be published in a forum in the William and Mary Quarterly coinciding with the 250th of U.S. independence. Until then, the WMQ have made the transcripts of the documents available for viewing. oireader.wm.edu/open_wmq/the...

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Lucia Libre @luciaslibres.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Virulent racism never goes out of style. Fortify yourself by reading Julia Gaffield’s biography of Jean Jacques Dessalines: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

yalebooks.yale.edu

I Have Avenged America

A moving and humane portrait of the abolitionist revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who led Haiti’s fight for independence from French colonial rule“...

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Another sneak peek at what's coming in the July issue of the William and Mary Quarterly!

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

A sneak peek at what's coming in the July issue of the William and Mary Quarterly (my last official issue as editor!). I'm happy to have had the chance to work with @davidrarmitage.bsky.social on this essay!

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Laurent Dubois @soccerpolitics.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Waiting for mine!

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Andrew N. Wegmann @anwegmann.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

That's so good!

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

My Dessalines jersey arrived today! I'm so happy that Saeta is restocking the original, even though FIFA banned it! theconversation.com/fifas-haiti-...

A bright blue soccer jersey made by Saeta for the Haitian World Cup team. The jersey features a group of people, one of whom is holding the Haitian flag. The jersey was banned by FIFA as "political."

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Laurent Dubois @soccerpolitics.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Read @juliagaffield.bsky.social on FIFA's decision to ban Haiti's original World Cup jersey, the deep pattern this is a part of, and the irony that they are probably helping to educate more people about the Battle of Vertières. Great piece! theconversation.com/fifas-haiti-...

theconversation.com

FIFA’s Haiti jersey ban echoes the long campaign to discredit and downplay the Haitian Revolution

The move is part of a longer history of obscuring and demonizing the Haitian Revolution and its leader, Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

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Justin T. Brown-Ramsey @brown-ramsey.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Seconded. It has been incredibly helpful for writing the opening chapter of my dissertation.

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Matt Busch @mattbusch.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Just started @juliagaffield.bsky.social's I HAVE AVENGED AMERICA and man, it opens with a bang let me tell you. If you're looking for a new book to pick up, this is it.

Picture of the front cover of I Have Avenged America written in white text. Subheading readings Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti's fight for freedom in gold text and the author's name, Julia Gaffield, in blue text. All text over a painting of Dessalines in military uniform.

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Waitman Wade Beorn, PhD, FRHistS @waitmanwbeorn.com · 11/06/2026

I hope we can still buy the original version because that is 🔥 (Also, we need a Dessalines movie.)

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

My author copies of the paperback of _I Have Avenged America_ arrived! (Read it to learn why the Haitian #WorldCup soccer jerseys were rejected as "political") The official release date is July 13! @yalepress.bsky.social

Cover of a book titled "I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti's Fight for Freedom," featuring a painting of Dessalines by Ulrick Jean-Pierre.

Back cover of "I Have Avenged America" featuring blurbs by Ada Ferrer, Marlene Daut, Lyonel Trouillot, Carolyn Fick, and Jean Casimir.

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

It's always a good time to read a book about the Haitian Revolution!! 👇

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

It's always a good time to read a book about the Haitian Revolution!! 👇

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Juan José Ponce Vázquez @jjponcevazquez.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Currently reading this fantastic book by @juliagaffield.bsky.social, really enjoying it, and realizing that every once in a while, reading a book about the Haitian revolution is a much needed exercise, especially when written by great historians.

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Julia Gaffield, PhD @juliagaffield.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

I’m wrapping up my 3-year term as Interim Editor of the William and Mary Quarterly, and I am grateful to have worked with so many fantastic authors and generous reviewers. It has been an amazing experience, and I am looking forward to getting back to regular professor life (as FULL Professor!!)

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Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune @ruthzee.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Happy Haitian Flag Day, Boston! Bon Fèt Drapo 🇭🇹 In times like these, celebrating our history, culture, and pride matters more than ever. Thank you to the students, seniors, artists, elected officials, and community members who joined us for today’s breakfast and flag raising.

A woman in a bright blue blazer and red skirt smiles broadly while surrounded by a large crowd of children wearing matching blue Mattahunt Toussaint Louverture t-shirts and holding small Haitian flags. The joyful scene captures an energetic Haitian Heritage Month celebration.

A large group of honorees poses together inside Boston City Hall’s lower lobby, most holding official City of Boston proclamation documents and wearing gold medals. Red, blue, and purple balloons and a lit letter H decoration are visible in the background. The group is dressed festively, with several people in red, blue, and formal attire.

Two dancers in matching red long-sleeve tops and blue satin skirts perform energetically in front of a festive backdrop featuring a shimmering red and blue mosaic display of the Haitian coat of arms, surrounded by a red, blue, and green balloon arch with tropical leaf decorations.

A woman in a blue blazer speaks at a Boston City seal podium at an outdoor flag raising ceremony at Boston City Hall Plaza. She is surrounded by dignitaries and community members dressed in red and blue, many holding small Haitian flags. A large red, blue, and purple balloon arch decorates the brick wall behind the group, and a crowd of attendees fills the foreground.

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Yale University Press @yalepress.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

The New York Public Library places I HAVE AVENGED AMERICA by Julia Gaffield on a Haitian Revolution Reading List 📖

nypl.org

A Haitian Revolution Reading List | The New York Public Library

Learn about this historic fight for freedom and its legacy of self-liberation and independence.

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Rejin @rejinl.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

People (outside of Haiti) are still afraid of him 🤷🏾‍♀

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Rejin @rejinl.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

I was just noticing yesterday how very many Toussaint books there are and how few focus on Dessalines, so I absolutely need this!

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I Travel Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 10/05/2026

“After Britain abolished slavery on 1 August 1834, £20m was paid in compensation to enslavers for loss of their “property”. The enslaved people themselves received nothing.”

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