David Waldstreicher Books in Order

The history, culture and religion of Armenians provide the background for an account of migration to North America. David Waldstreicher examines the forces encouraging emigration and the experience of acceptance as Armenian communities establish themselves within a new social setting.

Political festivals helped Americans build national identities after the Revolution while exposing deep disagreements. Using celebrations and their circulation in print, David Waldstreicher examines how competing groups turned holidays into political arguments, with participation shaped by race, region, class and gender.

Benjamin Franklin’s life as an escaped indentured servant, printer and slaveholder reveals contradictions within American freedom. David Waldstreicher connects Franklin’s rise with the economy of slavery, arguing that unfree labor was central to both his success and the Revolutionary project.

David Waldstreicher examines slavery’s place in the Constitution despite the document’s avoidance of the word itself. Tracing debates from the Revolution through ratification, he argues that compromises over human bondage shaped the national government and helped sustain the institution.

Edited by Waldstreicher and Matthew Mason, selections from John Quincy Adams's diary trace his changing relationship with the politics of slavery. Introductions and commentary connect private reflections with public actions, showing how an issue once peripheral to his career became central to his political identity.

Historians examine Black political activity from the Revolutionary era through Reconstruction, treating emancipation and citizenship as connected struggles. Essays explore voting, migration, local institutions and activism, challenging accounts that confine African American political influence to a few exceptional moments.

Waldstreicher reconstructs the life and writing of Phillis Wheatley, kidnapped in West Africa and enslaved in Boston before becoming a celebrated poet. Close readings of her verse connect friendships, emancipation, literary ambition, and political engagement with the tensions surrounding slavery and the American Revolution.