Ronald Angelo Johnson
Associate Professor & The Ralph and Bessie Mae Lynn Chair of History
On Research Leave Fall 2023
Areas of Specialtization
Early U.S. Diplomacy, African Americans and Haiti
Education
Ph.D., Purdue University
M.Div., Boston University School of Theology
M.A., Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)
B.A., Texas State University
Academic Interests & Research Narratives
My research embraces a transnational approach to African American history in the early United States, with specializations in diplomacy, race, and religion.
I serve as the co-editor of the Journal of the Early Republic.
I am currently writing a book on racialized U.S. relations with Haiti through the American and Haitian Revolutions. My next book will examine the impact of Haitian immigration on nineteenth-century U.S. religion and culture.
Selected Publications
Books
Diplomacy in Black and White: John Adams, Toussaint Louverture, and Their Atlantic World Alliance (UGA Press, 2014)
In Search of Liberty: African American Internationalism During the Nineteenth Century, edited with Ousmane Power-Greene (UGA Press), forthcoming.
Articles
“Africans and Immigrants: Haitian Contributions to the African Protestant Movement in Early America,” Revue Française d’Études Américaines 164 (2020): 38-57.
“‘A Very Curious Game’: The Racialized Public Diplomacy of Toussaint Louverture in the United States,” Journal of Caribbean History 53, no. 1. (2019): 82-116.
“Haiti's Connection to Early America: Beyond the Revolution,” History Compass 16, no. 3 (2018), DOI 10.1111/hic3.12442.
Selected Book Chapters
- “Natural Rights: Haitian-American Diplomacy in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions,” in A Companion to U.S. Foreign Policy, Colonial Era to the Present, ed. Christopher Dietrich (Wiley-Blackwell, 2020), I, 93-112.
- “Enslaved by History: Slavery’s Enduring Influence on the Memory of Pierre Toussaint,” in Traces and Memories of Slavery in the Atlantic World, ed. Lawrence Aje and Nicolas Gachon (Routledge, 2019), 170-187.
Follow Dr. Johnson on:
Twitter: @RonAJohnson
Instagram: @ronaldangelojohnson
LinkedIn: Ronald Angelo Johnson