In 2026, the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In light of this significant occasion, the journal California History is preparing a special issue focusing on “American Revolutions in California.” This issue will examine the legacies of the Declaration and the American Revolution in the nation’s largest state, and the potential for new approaches to research, public presentations, and teaching American Revolutionary history as informed by the California experience.
The journal invites submissions exploring topics relating to American Revolutions in California. These may include, among many possibilities: the impact of the Declaration’s political ideology and the model of the U.S. Constitution on the founding of the state; the impact of the “continental” concept of the U.S. on California’s Indigenous peoples; interconnections among the American Revolution, the Mexican Revolution, and the origins of the state; the ways in which the multi-ethnic origins of the state did or did not change the original meanings of the American Founding; the “Three Revolutions” – the American Founding, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement – in California history; the ways in which the American Revolution did or did not inspire the powerful Progressive Movement in the state; the repeated trope of “revolutions” in California cultural history.
California History seeks several types of submissions:
- Original Research or Research-in-Progress essays on a topic relating to “American Revolutions in California.”
- Public History essays – detailing exhibits, websites, blogs, etc. – on “American Revolutions in California.”
- Pedagogical essays discussing teaching materials, lesson plans, and experiences centered on teaching the Declaration and/ or the American Revolution in California classrooms.
- Forum essays: featuring accessibly written, academically sound opinion pieces interpreting current events through an historical lens, in this case as they relate to the Declaration and/or American Revolution in California.