Statehood and Sovereignty: A Case Study of William Livingston from Philosophe to Federalist

In 1776, in the midst of the American struggle for independence, William Livingston became the first elected Governor of New Jersey. Having been significantly influenced by the works of Enlightenment thinkers and philosophes, William Livingston holds a unique place in history as a bridge between intellectual political theory and its practical application in the American Revolution and the creation of our nation. As governor, he oversaw the transformation of New Jersey from a colony – under British tyranny and then under their own state constitution – to a sovereign state – under the Articles of Confederation – and finally to a member of a federal union – under the Constitution of the United States that he was instrumental in drafting and ratifying. This paper examines William Livingston as a case study of early American political thought regarding the concepts of statehood and sovereignty. Through the analysis of his published and unpublished papers, the relationship between these concepts is outlined within a sociopolitical context through the governments he helped shape. Despite the lack of existing writings demonstrating Livingston’s sympathies towards either side of the Federalist debate, a careful study of his writings reveals Livingston to be a Pragmatic Federalist.

William Livingston and New Jersey’s Revolutionary Environment

<p><em>The impact of the environment on the American Revolution in New Jersey cannot be understated as environmental factors ranging from climate to crop yields to geography all intensely impacted the course of the Revolution. This talk, delivered on November 18^th at the opening reception of the NJ Historical Commission’s 2016 NJ Forum, explores the relationship between the natural environment and military and political policies through the eyes of William Livingston, New Jersey’s first governor. Throughout the conflict, the environment became a constant actor and foil to Livingston, forcing him to make political decisions in tandem with not only British movements but more frequently, owing to climatic, geographic, or agricultural factors. In addition to looking at Livingston, the article examines the interplay between Livingston and his own conceptions on the environment from his pre-revolutionary past. Finally, the article discusses how average New Jerseyans understood the role of his revolutionary government in the context of various environmental factors. Most Jersey farmers and landless laborers based their support for the revolutionary movement not on ideology but on environmental factors that constantly challenged their loyalty to both sides.</em></p>

Historical Thinking in Revolutionary New Jersey: Ancient and Medieval History at Liberty Hall

<span>By exploring the newly-accessible Liberty Hall Archives affiliated with Kean University in Union NJ, this micro-study of the historical references in the writings of John Kean, first cashier of the Bank of the United States, and William Livingston, New Jersey’s first governor, reveals how two colonial and revolutionary gentlemen—one tutored at home in South Carolina and the other trained at Yale with a law practice in New York City—employed historical analogies in their pursuit of revolution and government-building. Specifically, how both the Kean paterfamilias and the builder of Liberty Hall used allusions to Greco-Roman history (and, in Kean’s case, to medieval Britain) provides insight into the manner that one time period of history adopted and adapted prior periods. Such a study reveals how Kean and Livingston, with diverse backgrounds and from different parts of early America, used history as they made their own.</span>