Colin Nicolson is a leading expert on the history of the American Revolution. His work focuses on the origins of the Revolution in colonial Boston and the Imperial Crisis of 1765-1776. He is an elected fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and an elected member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. He has recently completed a twenty-year externally funded project, the Papers of Francis Bernard (6 vols.) and co-authored a book on the pre-Revolutionary politics and friendship of John Adams. His contribution to REF 2021 included three double-weighted four star books. For REF 2028 he has published another double-weighted four star book, and is currently writing John Adams, A Diplomatic Life, the first book-length treatment of Adams's entire diplomatic career. It aims to trace Adams’s personal transformation from diplomatic novice to skilled negotiator by examining his diplomatic missions to Europe (France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands) as a representative of the American Continental Congress (1778-88) and his subsequent influence on U.S. foreign policy during his vice presidency (1789-97) and presidency (1797-1801). He loves family, fine books, and music, and is a dedicated writer and enthusiastic teacher.
He has supervised 21 PhDs, 14 as principal supervisor. He currently is principal supervisor to three current PhD candidates and co-supervisor to one, with two further PhDs starting in 2025. Several former PhDs hold academic positions and have published their first books in 2023–2024. He welcomes enquiries and applications for PhD projects on the American Revolution Era, U.S. diplomacy and political history generally.
Successfully completed PhDs include:
Maria Pride, “Privateering in the Eastern Ports of Massachusetts, 1775-1783” (2024). Philippe Maron, “John Adams and American–French Diplomacy, c.1778-1801” (2024). Jamie MacPherson, “ ‘Virtuous Intimates’: The Political Friendships of John Adams, 1774-1801” (2020), published as The Friendships of John Adams, 1774-1801: The Art of Politics (Routledge 2024). Dr. Macpherson is teaching at Stirling and Glasgow universities. Nicola Martin “The Cultural Paradigms of British Imperialism in the Militarization of Scotland and North America, 1745-1775” (2019), AHRC-funded with Dundee, publication forthcoming. Dr. Martin is teaching at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Shaun Wallace, “Fugitive Slave Advertisements and the Rebelliousness of Enslaved People in Georgia and Maryland, 1790-1810” (2018), ESRC funded with St. Andrews, published as In Pursuit of Freedom: Enslaved Runaways and Resistance in the U.S. South, 1790-1860 (University of Georgia Press, 2024). Dr. Wallace is a member of the history faculty at the University of Bristol. Christopher F. Minty, “The Origins of Loyalism in New York, c.1765-1775” (2015), funded with several U.S. research fellowships, published as Unfriendly to Liberty: Loyalist Networks and the Coming of the Revolution in New York City (Cornell UP, 2023). Dr. Minty, formerly of the Adams Papers, is an Editor at the Center for Digital Editing, University of Virginia. Stuart Salmon, “The Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolution, 1775-1783” (2010). Dr. Salmon is teaching at Edinburgh University. Five projects on American Evangelicalism (2007-10).
Current PhD projects:
Counterinsurgency Strategy and the American Revolutionary Era: A Reinterpretation; Ranging in the Southern Theatre of the American Revolutionary War, 1776-83; Reclaiming Native Futures: Native American Educational Visionaries and the Struggle for Cultural Sovereignty, 1970-1990 (as co-supervisor); The Origins of the University of Stirling
He has edited the Bernard Papers, a six-volume historical documentary edition of considerable relevance to scholars of the imperial crisis on the eve of the Revolution. The project was funded by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and the Arts and Humanities Research Council Research Fellowship. The AHRC described the Bernard Papers project as "an outstanding proposal meeting world-class standards of scholarship, originality, quality and significance." He is a member of the editorial advisory board for the Select Correspondence of Thomas Hutchinson. He is currently writing John Adams, A Diplomatic Life, the first book-length treatment of Adams's entire diplomatic career.
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Scottish Education Department and Scottish Qualifications Authority: Question setter (1995-2001) and Principal Examiner (1998-2001) for (a) the CSYS in History and (b) the Advanced Higher in History, both in field of study (g): the American Civil War. Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum and Higher Still Development Unit. Consultant on the preparation of study packs for the new Advanced Higher in American History, 2000-2001.
Faculty of Arts
Board member and subject representative
Faculty of Arts
staff appointment committees
Student Recruitment Officer. Department of History
Website Administrator. School of History and Politics
Postgraduate Director. School of History and Politics
Research Committee. School of History and Politics
Director of Undergraduate Programmes in History. School of Arts and Humanities: History and Politics Division
Postgraduate Director. History, Heritage and Politics
Postgraduate Director. History, Heritage and Politics since c.2017
Deputy Director for Postgraduate Training (School of Arts and Humanities)
Since 2012, have recently taken a lead role in developing doctoral training in the School of Arts and Humanities.Doctoral training provided by the School of Arts and Humanities (SAH) complements the Skills Development Programme run by the university's Stirling Graduate School (SGS). While the SGS programme focuses largely on researcher development and generic skills, the SAH activities concentrate on enhancing and applying subject skills within and beyond the academic environment. The SAH Postgraduate Skills Week in December, run jointly with the School of Applied Social Science, offers cross-disciplinary sessions on employability skills (writing, teaching, presenting research papers, publishing research, and understanding the impact agenda) and two days of intensive subject-focused sessions covering qualitative and quantitative research methods and topical research issues and approaches. I also co-ordinate Arts Training Modules for Masters programmes.
M.A. Hons. in History, summa cum laude
Ph.D.
The "Infamas Govener": Francis Bernard and the American Revolution. University of Stirling, Department of History, Research Seminar Programme 1995
Governor Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution. University of Edinburgh Modern History Research Seminar Series
A Plan “to banish all the Scotchmen”: Victimization and Political Mobilization in Pre-Revolutionary Boston . Global Nations? Irish and Scottish Expansion since the 16th Century
The Stirling experience: intermediate assessment. Higher Education Academy. East Midlands Workshop. Preparing Undergraduates for the Dissertation
Higher Education Academy
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/…tation_20100616/
The workshop had been devised as a regional event – hopefully the first of many in the East Midlands – to discuss the key issues involved in preparing students, and indeed departments, for the undergraduate dissertation.
Friendship in Tough Times: John Adams and the Terrors of War, 1775. School of Arts and Humanities (Stirling) Postgraduate Conference, 2014. Inter-Disciplinary Reflections in Adversity
University of Stirling
John Adams and the British Question. British Group in Early American History Annual Conference
http://www.britishearlyamerica.stir.ac.uk/conference.html
John Adams and the US Presidency. A Response to Neil York on 'Plato and the American President: Thirty-five as the Age of Eligibility'. Seminar on Constitutional Thought and History
Panel on Neil York on 'Plato and the American President: Thirty-five as the Age of Eligibility'
Imaginary Friends: John Adams and Jonathan Sewall, and their American Revolution. Loyalism and Loyalty in the British Empire Workshop
This workshop explores the meaning, character and diversity of loyalism in the British Empire. Inspired by a recent growth in the literature on loyalism in old- and new-world contexts, Loyalism and Loyalty in the British Empire is intended to deepen our understanding of a topic which connects with numerous themes in British, imperial and British World studies, but one which has so far lacked a comparative perspective that considers how loyalism and loyalists differed across time and space.
Response to Neil York on 'Plato and the American President: Thirty-five as the Age of Eligibility'. Seminar in Constitutional Thought and History
Panel on a Paper by Prof. Neil L. York. Participants:
Historical Documentary Editing
Workshop for (online) Summer School of the Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities
Making Boston Pay: Or How To Defend An Empire Without Provoking A Revolution. University of Dundee, History Department Research Seminar Programme 2005
Negotiating British Imperialism: Gov. Francis Bernard and the Imperial Crisis, 1764-1769
Colonial Society of Massachusetts
http://boston1775.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=colin+nicolson
Negotiating British Imperialism: Gov. Francis Bernard and the Stamp Act Crisis, 1764-67. Colonial Society of Massachusetts Annual Meeting, 2012
Presenter. Book Launch for Bernard Papers Vol. 2
Colonial Society of Massachusetts
The ‘Infamas Govener:’ Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution in Massachusetts. British Association of American Studies, Annual Conference
Writing Historical Biography
University of Stirling
Workshop for Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities
Writing Historical Biography
University of Stirling
Workshop for Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities
Coffee, Chocolate and Tobacco: Overseas Trade and European Consumption
University of Glasgow
History Degree Programme
University of Dundee
MSc in Historical Research
University of Edinburgh
American History 2
University of Edinburgh
Finn Pollard, PhD. “In Search of 'the American, this new man': The Literary Quest for an American National Character, 1760-1826
University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh. PhD Examination
MPhil in American Studies
University of Dundee
MPhil in History
University of Glasgow
Iain MacIver, PhD. "Revolutionary Governorship: The Evolution of Executive Power in Virginia, 1758-1781"
University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh. PhD Examination
Michael Griggs, PhD. "‘For Christ’s Crown and Covenant’: An Historical Interpretation of Scottish Covenanting Political Theology and its Contribution to the American Revolution in the Backcountry of North Carolina"
University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh. PhD Examination
Robert Donald MacNiven, PhD. "Slaughter was Commenced: A Study of American Revolutionary War Massacres"
University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh. PhD Examination
Barbara Ball, PhD. “Differential development on the Ohio River, 1850-1880: A historical and genealogical study of two small towns in Ohio and a rural district of West Virginia, before and after the U.S. Civil War”
University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde. PhD Examination
Krysten Blackstone, PhD. "The Hardest Conflict: Morale in the Continental Army During The American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783"
University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh. PhD Examination
Megan King, PhD. ' "Let us dare to read, speak, think, and write": Patriot Fundamentalism and Nonviolent Civil Resistance in Boston and Philadelphia, 1764-1776'.
University of Kent
University of Kent PhD Examination
peer reviewer for articles submitted
The William and Mary Quarterly, The Journal of American History, The Historian and Massachusetts Historical Review
The Bernard Papers Project
http://bernardpapers.com
The Bernard Papers project is publishing a multi-volume documentary edition of the papers of Francis Bernard, governor of colonial Massachusetts between 1760 and 1769. Edited by Colin Nicolson (University of Stirling),the Bernard Paperswill provide five volumes oftranscribed manuscriptsfor the study of colonial Massachusetts and the American Revolution, followed by a calendar volume of Gov. Bernard's entire collection. Bernard's entire collection. The projectaims to understand how andwhyimperial officials in the American Colonies struggled to implement Britishcolonial policy in the face of an incipient revolutionary movement. It provides research materials for historiansinvestigating transatlantic connections, political behavior, and ideology, andreveals the disintegration of British imperialism in Massachusetts before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. stablished in 2000, the Bernard Papers is funded by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. In 2011 the editor was awarded a Research Fellowship by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) to complete research for the project. The AHRC evaluation described the Bernard Papers project as "an outstanding proposal meeting world-class standards of scholarship, originality, quality and significance."
Imaginary Friends
A study of the friendships of John Adams during the advent of the American Revolution, 1760-76.
British Association for American Studies
Royal Historical Society, Organization of American Historians and European Association of American Studies
Elected Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society
Massachusetts Historical Review
http://www.masshist.org/about
Elected Member Colonial Society of Massachusetts
Colonial Society of Massachusetts
European Association of American Studies
European Association of American Studies
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/
Organization of American Historians
Organization of American Historians
Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
Scottish Association for the Study of America
Scottish Association for the Study of America
Founding member and office-bearer: secretary (1999-2001), treasurer, 2001; chair (2003-05).
School of Arts and Humanities
Co-ordinator of postgraduate training in ARTP01 and ARTP02.
Bernard Papers
PI: Dr Colin Nicolson
Funded by: Colonial Society of Massachusetts
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The Bernard Papers
PI: Dr Colin Nicolson
Funded by: Colonial Society of Massachusetts
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The Bernard Papers
PI: Dr Colin Nicolson
Funded by: Colonial Society of Massachusetts
–
AHRC Fellowship - The Bernard Papers
PI: Dr Colin Nicolson
Funded by: Arts and Humanities Research Council
–
Website Content
Stiff in Opinions, Always in the Wrong: Essay on “A Letter to G.G.”
Nicolson C (2024) Stiff in Opinions, Always in the Wrong: Essay on “A Letter to G.G.”. The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776 [Web Page] 28.10.2024. https://www.libertyfund.org/pamphlet/stiff-in-opinions-always-in-the-wrong-essay-on-a-letter-to-g-g/?#stiff-in-opinions-always-in-the-wrong-essay-on-a-letter-to-g-g
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 6: 1769-1779
Nicholson C (ed.) (2022) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 6: 1769-1779 [Bernard Papers Vol. 6]. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 96. Boston, Mass.: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/4795
Other
Treason and the Imperial Crisis, 1765-1775
Nicolson C (2022) Treason and the Imperial Crisis, 1765-1775. University of Stirling. History, Heritage, and Politics Research Seminars, University of Stirling, 16.03.2022-16.03.2022.
Conference Paper (unpublished)
"Imaginary Friendship in the American Revolution: John Adams and Jonathan Sewall".
Nicolson C (2019) "Imaginary Friendship in the American Revolution: John Adams and Jonathan Sewall".. British Group of Early American Historians, University of Birmingham, 07.09.2019-07.09.2019.
Article
A Case of Identity: John Adams and Massachusettensis
Nicolson C, Dudley Edwards O, Macpherson J & Nicolson K (2018) A Case of Identity: John Adams and Massachusettensis. New England Quarterly, 91 (4), pp. 651-682. https://doi.org/10.1162/tneq_a_00707
Authored Book
Imaginary Friendship in the American Revolution: John Adams and Jonathan Sewall
Nicolson C & Dudley Edwards O (2018) Imaginary Friendship in the American Revolution: John Adams and Jonathan Sewall. 1st ed. Perspectives on Early America. Abingdon: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Imaginary-Friendship-in-the-American-Revolution-John-Adams-and-Jonathan/Nicolson-Edwards/p/book/9781138703827
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Evidence of What? The Bernard Papers and the Origins of the American Revolution
Nicolson C (2018) Evidence of What? The Bernard Papers and the Origins of the American Revolution. Editing Eighteenth-Century and Early Modern Texts, 03.09.2018-03.09.2018.
Website Content
The Imperial Crisis, 1764-1776
Nicolson C (2018) The Imperial Crisis, 1764-1776. Colonial America [online resource] 05.09.2018.
Presentation / Talk
York NL (2018) The Elusive Quest for a Revolutionary American State of Mind: Boston After the Massacre. Discussion by Colin Nicolson. Rothermere American Institute Special Seminar, Oxford, 03.05.2018-03.05.2018.
Book Chapter
Understanding the Boston Stamp Act Riots, 1765
Nicolson C (2017) Understanding the Boston Stamp Act Riots, 1765. In: Marsh B & Rapport M (eds.) Understanding and Teaching the Age of Revolutions. Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History. Madison, WI, USA: University of Wisconsin Press. https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5416.htm
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 3: 1766-1767
Nicolson C (ed.) (2017) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 3: 1766-1767 [The Bernard Papers Volume 3, Digital Editition], Digital Edition ed. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 83. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2342
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 2: 1764-1765
Nicolson C (ed.) (2017) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 2: 1764-1765 [Bernard Papers, Volume 2, Digital Edition], Digital Edition ed. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 81. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. https://www.colonialsociety.org/publications/3111/volume-81-papers-francis-bernard-volume-2-1759-1763
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 1: 1759-1763
Nicolson C (ed.) (2017) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 1: 1759-1763 [Bernard Papers Volume 1, Digital Edition], Digital Edition ed. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 73. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts; distributed by the Univ. of Virginia Press. https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2068
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Bringing the Stamp Act Riots into the Classroom
Nicolson C (2016) Bringing the Stamp Act Riots into the Classroom. 130th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, Atlanta, GA, USA, 07.01.2016-10.01.2016. https://www.historians.org/annual-meeting/past-meetings/2016-annual-meeting/2016-program
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 4: 1768
Nicolson C (ed.) (2015) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 4: 1768 [Bernard Papers Volume 4, Digital Edition], Digital Edition (open access) ed. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 86. Boston, MA, USA: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2810
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 5: 1768-1769
Nicolson C (ed.) (2015) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 5: 1768-1769 [The Bernard Papers Volume 5, Digital Edition], Digital Edition (open access) ed. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2948
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 5: 1768-1769
Nicolson C (ed.) (2015) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 5: 1768-1769, 1st. Hardback Book ed. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 87. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts; distributed by the Univ. of Virginia Press. http://www.colonialsociety.org/publications.html#online
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 4: 1768
Nicolson C (ed.) (2015) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 4: 1768. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 86. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts; distributed by the Univ. of Virginia Press. http://www.colonialsociety.org/publications.html#online
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Nicolson C (2015) John Adams and the US Presidency. A Response to Neil York on 'Plato and the American President: Thirty-five as the Age of Eligibility'. Seminar on Constitutional Thought and History, Oxford University, 25.06.2015-25.06.2015.
Conference Paper (unpublished)
The Case for the Prosecution: John Adams and History
Nicolson C (2015) The Case for the Prosecution: John Adams and History. British Group in Early American History 2015 Conference, University of Sheffield, 03.09.2015-06.09.2015. https://www.baas.ac.uk/project/british-group-of-early-american-historians/
Conference Paper (unpublished)
John Adams and The British Question
Nicolson C & Dudley Edwards O (2014) John Adams and The British Question. British Group in Early American History Annual Conference, University of Edinburgh, 04.09.2014-07.09.2014. http://www.britishearlyamerica.stir.ac.uk/conference/2014prog.pdf
Other
Catalogue of the Papers of Francis Bernard
Nicolson C (2013) Catalogue of the Papers of Francis Bernard. [Online searchable database] 03.2013. http://www.bernardpapers.com/16301.html
Working Paper
Catalogue of the Papers of Francis Bernard
Nicolson C (2013) Catalogue of the Papers of Francis Bernard. The Bernard Papers. http://www.bernardpapers.com/media/c1d472da1076163ffff86e3ffffe417.pdf
Book Chapter
The Revolutionary Politics of John Adams, 1760-1775
Nicolson C (2013) The Revolutionary Politics of John Adams, 1760-1775. In: Waldstreicher D (ed.) A Companion to John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Blackwell Companions to American History Series. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 60-77. http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470655585.html
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 3: 1766-1767
Nicolson C (ed.) (2013) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69, Vol. 3: 1766-1767. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 83. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts; distributed by the Univ. of Virginia Press. http://books.upress.virginia.edu/
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 2: 1764-1765
Nicolson C (ed.) (2012) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 2: 1764-1765 [The Bernard Papers]. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 81. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts/Univ. of Virginia Press. http://bernardpapers.com/3801.html
Research Report
The Bernard Papers Project: Survey Report on Collections
Nicolson C (2012) The Bernard Papers Project: Survey Report on Collections. Nicolson C (Editor). Boston, MA: The Bernard Papers Project: Survey Report on Collections. http://bernardpapers.com/16301.html
Other
The Bernard Papers Project: Editorial Instructions
Nicolson C (2012) The Bernard Papers Project: Editorial Instructions. Nicolson C (Editor) Boston, MA: Colonial Society of Massachusetts. http://bernardpapers.com/2194.html
Book Chapter
Nicolson C (2012) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69: Volume 2 (1764-65) (Introduction). In: Nicolson C (ed.) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69: Volume 2 (1764-65). Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press / Colonial Society of Massachusetts, pp. 1-13. http://bernardpapers.com/2173.html
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Negotiating British Imperialism: Gov. Francis Bernard and the Stamp Act Crisis, 1764-67
Nicolson C (2012) Negotiating British Imperialism: Gov. Francis Bernard and the Stamp Act Crisis, 1764-67. Colonial Society of Massachusetts Annual Meeting, 2012, Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Boston, 20.12.2012.
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Violence in the Revolutionary Atlantic: The Stamp Act Riots, 1765
Nicolson C (2012) Violence in the Revolutionary Atlantic: The Stamp Act Riots, 1765. Revolutions Colloquium, Stirling, 15.06.2012-15.06.2012.
Website Content
Nicolson C (2012) The Bernard Papers. 29.02.2012. http://www.bernardpapers.com/2101.html
Article
Henry Hulton and the American Revolution: An Outsider's Inside View by N. York
Nicolson C (2011) Henry Hulton and the American Revolution: An Outsider's Inside View by N. York. New England Quarterly, 84 (2), pp. 355-357. https://doi.org/10.1162/TNEQ_r_00095
Presentation / Talk
The Stirling experience: intermediate assessment of the dissertation
Nicolson C (2010) The Stirling experience: intermediate assessment of the dissertation. Higher Education Academy. East Midlands Workshop. Preparing Undergraduates for the Dissertation, University of Lincoln, 16.06.2010-16.06.2010. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/heahistory/elibrary/internal/cr_lavender_undergraddissertation_20100616/
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Nicolson C (2009) A Plan "to banish all the Scotchmen": Victimization and Political Mobilization in Pre-Revolutionary Boston. Global Nations? Irish and Scottish Expansion since the 16th Century, University of Aberdeen, 30.10.2009-01.11.2009. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/events/3595/
Book Review
Taming Democracy: 'The People', the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution
Nicolson C (2009) Taming Democracy: 'The People', the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution. Review of: Taming Democracy: ‘The People’, the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution, by Terry Bouton. (Oxford: Oxford U.P., 2007; pp. 332. ISBN: 978-0195378566. English Historical Review, 124 (507), pp. 449-451. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cep046
Book Chapter
Nicolson C (2008) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Volume 1: Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-1769 (Introduction). In: Nicolson C (ed.) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Volume 1: Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-1769. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 73. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press / Colonial Society of Massachusetts, pp. 1-16. http://books.upress.virginia.edu/detail%2Fbooks%2Fgroup-4057.xml?q=author%3A%22Nicolson%2C%20Colin%22
Edited Book
The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 1: 1759-1763
Nicolson C (ed.) (2007) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 1: 1759-1763 [The Bernard Papers]. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 73. Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts/University of Virginia Press. http://bernardpapers.com/3801.html
Article
The Ordeal of Patrick McMaster: A Galloway Merchant in the American Revolution
Nicolson C (2007) The Ordeal of Patrick McMaster: A Galloway Merchant in the American Revolution. Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, 81 (1), pp. 99-108. http://www.dgnhas.org.uk/transonline/SerIII-Vol81.pdf
Article
Nicolson C (2007) A Plan "to banish all the Scotchmen": Victimization and Political Mobilization in Pre-Revolutionary Boston. Massachusetts Historical Review, 9, pp. 55-102. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25081213
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Making Boston Pay: Or How To Defend An Empire Without Provoking A Revolution
Nicolson C (2005) Making Boston Pay: Or How To Defend An Empire Without Provoking A Revolution. University of Dundee, History Department Research Seminar Programme 2005, University of Dundee, 16.03.2005.
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Making Boston Pay: Or How To Defend An Empire Without Provoking A Revolution
Nicolson C (2005) Making Boston Pay: Or How To Defend An Empire Without Provoking A Revolution. History Research Seminar, 23.03.2005-23.03.2005.
Book Review
The first American revolution: Before Lexington and Concord
Nicolson C (2003) The first American revolution: Before Lexington and Concord. Review of: The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord. By Ray Raphael. New York: New Press, 2002. xiv, 273 pp. isbn 1-56584-730-X.. Journal of American History, 89 (4), pp. 1509-1510. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3092570; https://doi.org/10.2307/3092570
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Nicolson C (2002) A Tale of Two Governors: Thomas Hutchinson and Francis Bernard and Counter-Revolution in Massachusetts. History Research Seminar, 27.02.2002-27.01.2019.
Conference Paper (unpublished)
'The Infamas Govener': Francis Bernard and the Origins of the Revolution
Nicolson C (2001) 'The Infamas Govener': Francis Bernard and the Origins of the Revolution. Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, University of Glasgow, 10.07.2001-15.07.2001. https://oieahc-cf.wm.edu/conferences/7thannual/wednesday.html#4
Book Review
Nicolson C (2001) Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 by Fred Anderson. Review of: Crucible of War: The Seven Years'War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, by Fred Anderson (New York: Knopf, 2000); pp. 862; ISBN: 0571205356. English Historical Review, 116 (467), pp. 736-737. http://www.jstor.org/stable/579876; https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/116.467.736
Authored Book
The 'Infamas Govener': Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution
Nicolson C (2000) The 'Infamas Govener': Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution. First ed. Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press. https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/89/1/203/689058/The-Infamas-Govener-Francis-Bernard-and-the
Article
'A Great National Calamity': Sir William Pepperrell and Isaac Royall, Reluctant Loyalists
Nicolson C & Scott S (2000) 'A Great National Calamity': Sir William Pepperrell and Isaac Royall, Reluctant Loyalists. Historical Journal of Massachusetts, 28 (2), pp. 117-141. http://www.westfield.ma.edu/mhj/pdfs/Nicolson%20and%20Scott%20summer%202000%20combined.pdf
Book Review
Nicolson C (1999) Civic wars: Democracy and public life in the American city during the nineteenth century by Mary P. Ryan. Review of: Civic Wars: Democracy and Public Life in the American City during the Nineteenth Century, Mary P. Ryan, (Berkeley and Los Angeles, Calif., and London: University of California Press, 1997). Pp. 383. ISBN: 0 520 20441 7.. Journal of American Studies, 33 (1), pp. 125-126. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=8276&jid=AMS&volumeId=33&issueId=01&aid=8275&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=
Book Review
Parades and the politics of the street: Festive culture in the early American republic
Nicolson C (1999) Parades and the politics of the street: Festive culture in the early American republic. Review of: Parades and the Politics of the Street: Festive Culture in the Early American Republic (Early American Studies), Simon P. Newman, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999, 288pp. ISBN-13: 978-0812217247. Journal of American Studies, 33 (1), pp. 199-200.
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Governor Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution
Nicolson C (1998) Governor Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution. University of Edinburgh Modern History Research Seminar Series, University of Edinburgh, 28.01.1998-28.01.1998.
Conference Paper (unpublished)
The ‘Infamas Govener:’ Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution in Massachusetts
Nicolson C (1998) The ‘Infamas Govener:’ Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution in Massachusetts. British Association of American Studies, Annual Conference, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 17.04.1998.
Book Review
Yankee sailors in British gaols: Prisoners of war at Forton and Mill, 1777-1783
Nicolson C (1997) Yankee sailors in British gaols: Prisoners of war at Forton and Mill, 1777-1783. Review of: Yankee Sailors in British Gaols: Prisoners of War at Forton and Mill, 1777-1783, Sheldon S. Cohen, Newark, University of Delaware Press,1995, 280pp. ISBN-13: 978-0874135640. History, 82 (268), pp. 634-635.
Article
So you want to be part of it? CAL Resources for New York’s Lower East Side
Nicolson C & Allen P (1997) So you want to be part of it? CAL Resources for New York’s Lower East Side. Craft, 17, pp. 3-5. http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/CTICH/Publications/craft17_1.htm
Article
Nicolson C (1996) "McIntosh, Otis & Adams Are Our Demagogues": Nathaniel Coffin and the Loyalist Interpretation of the Origins of the American Revolution. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 108, pp. 72-114. http://www.masshist.org/periodicals/proceedings.cfm
Article
Images of William Henry Jackson: The Frontier Photographer
Nicolson C & Allen P (1996) Images of William Henry Jackson: The Frontier Photographer. Craft, 14, pp. 7-8. http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ctich/craft.htm
Conference Paper (unpublished)
The "Infamas Govener": Francis Bernard and the American Revolution (Keynote Speaker)
Nicolson C (1995) The "Infamas Govener": Francis Bernard and the American Revolution (Keynote Speaker). University of Stirling, Department of History, Research Seminar Programme 1995, 15.03.1995-15.03.1995.
Book Review
'We didn't have Flies until these White Folks Came'
Nicolson C & Allen P (1995) 'We didn't have Flies until these White Folks Came'. Review of: Roy Rosenzweig, Steve Brier, and Josh Brown, Who Built America? From the Centennial Celebration of 1876 to the Great War of 1914. CD-ROM, New York: The Voyager Company, 1995. ISBN 978-1581250442. Craft, 12, pp. 12-13.
Research Report
Nicolson C, Duncan T, Lausen P & Jeffreys B (1992) Community Councils and the Reform of Local Government in Scotland: The Development of a Coherent Grassroots Democracy.
Book Chapter
Forms of Community Representation and Participation in Urban Scotland
Nicolson C (1991) Forms of Community Representation and Participation in Urban Scotland. In: MacGuinness H (ed.) Housing, Industry and Community Development in the West of Scotland: The New Agendas. Seminar papers. Paisley: Local Government Centre, Paisley College, pp. 33-58.
Article
Governor Francis Bernard, the Massachusetts Friends of Government, and the Advent of the Revolution
Nicolson C (1991) Governor Francis Bernard, the Massachusetts Friends of Government, and the Advent of the Revolution. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 103, pp. 24-113. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25081034
Research Report
Nicolson C, Duncan T, Jeffreys B & Pippa L (1991) Community Councils and Local Government in Scotland: The Future of Grassroots Democracy: Response to the Reform of the Structure of Local Government in Scotland. CCRC, University of Strathclyde.
Research Report
Report of a Seminar on the New Council Tax
Nicolson C, Duncan T, Jeffreys B & Lausen P (1991) Report of a Seminar on the New Council Tax. CCRC, University of Strathclyde.
Research Report
Report of a Workshop on the Reform of Local Government
Nicolson C, Duncan T, Jeffreys B & Lausen P (1991) Report of a Workshop on the Reform of Local Government. CCRC, University of Strathclyde.
Research Report
Community Health in the East End
Nicolson C (1990) Community Health in the East End. Nicolson C (Editor). CCRC, University of Strathclyde.
Research Report
The Future of Community Representation in the East End Initiative
Nicolson C (1990) The Future of Community Representation in the East End Initiative. Nicolson C (Editor). CCRC, University of Strathclyde.
Thesis
The Friends of Government: Loyalism, Ideology and Politics in Revolutionary Massachusetts, 1765-1776
Nicolson C (1988) The Friends of Government: Loyalism, Ideology and Politics in Revolutionary Massachusetts, 1765-1776. Doctor of Philosophy. University of Edinburgh.
ARTP02 Training for Masters in the Arts and Humanities
ARTP01 Training for Masters in the Arts and Humanities
HTRPP13 Part time Dissertation for the MRes in Historical Research
HTRPP12 Sources and Methods
HTRPP11 Historiography
HISU9X7 History Dissertation
HISU9S3 Reputations in History
HISU9D7 The American Revolution
This year-long module facilitates in-depth study of the origins and nature of the American Revolution, my area of research expertise.
HISU9D5 US History since 1890
This thematic module considers US relations with the wider world and selected themes in US political history up to c.2009.
HISU9D4 US History from 1789 to 1890
This thematic module examines (i) slavery in ante-bellum America, (ii) the Civil War and Reconstruction, and (iii) the American West.
