Ronald Angelo Johnson
Associate Professor & The Ralph and Bessie Mae Lynn Chair of History
Specialties
Early U.S./African American history, especially diplomacy and religion
Education
- Purdue University, Ph.D.
- Boston University School of Theology, M.Div.
- Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), M.A.
- Texas State University, B.A.
Academic/Research Interests
My research embraces a transnational approach to African American history in the early United States, with specializations in diplomacy, race, and religion.
I am currently writing a book on racialized U.S. diplomacy with Haiti from the American Revolution through Reconstruction. The study also examines the impact of Haitian immigration on early U.S. religion and culture. I have published articles, essays, and reviews in Early American Studies, Diplomatic History, the Journal of African American History, the Journal of Caribbean History, Baptist History & Heritage, and the American Historical Review.
Publications
Books
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Diplomacy in Black and White: John Adams, Toussaint Louverture, and Their Atlantic World Alliance (UGA Press, 2014)
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In Search of Liberty: African American Internationalism During the Nineteenth Century, edited with Ousmane Power-Greene (UGA Press), forthcoming.
Selected Articles
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“Africans and Immigrants: Haitian Contributions to the African Protestant Movement in Early America,” Revue Française d’Études Américaines 164 (2020): 38-57.
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“‘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.
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“Haiti's Connection to Early America: Beyond the Revolution,” History Compass 16, no. 3 (2018), DOI 10.1111/hic3.12442.
Selected Book Chapters
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“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.
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“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.