An International Workshop on the UK Prize Papers and the American War of Independence: Wartime Lives, Capture, and Transnational ExchangeAbout this Event
This international workshop highlights the importance of the UK Prize Papers collection for research on the American War of Independence and offers new insights into lived experiences in war at sea and on land. Bringing together specialists on prize law, the American War of Independence and the Prize Papers, the workshop approaches the collection as a transnational archive of wartime capture and its afterlives. The workshop creates a forum for sustained international exchange and collaboration.
The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of both the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in July and the opening of the British Vice-Admiralty Court in newly-captured New York City in September 1776. Although exceptionally rich, the prize papers of this court have been largely inaccessible. The newly catalogued papers of the New York court (and its mother-court in London) provide new perspectives on the War of Independence at sea, and on lived experiences of the time, through the intercepted papers and letters found by the British on merchant and fighting ships.
Maritime warfare was central to the War of Independence. Controlling, disrupting, and capturing shipping was crucial to the war on both sides. America started privateering early, in 1775, and sought new (previously forbidden) trading partners. From 1778, French naval and privateering activity expanded the war against Britain, followed by Spain and the Netherlands. British naval forces and loyalist privateers sought to stop American and allied shipping, enforce their imperial authority, and weaken the Continental cause. The conflict eventually extended far beyond the North American seaboard.
An initial group of papers from 150 captured ships, American or supporting America, will be published online on 8 October in the Prize Papers Portal, the open-access online database of the Prize Papers Project. The Prize Papers Project, an international collaboration between the University of Oldenburg and The National Archives, UK, sorts, catalogues, and digitises the complete collection of the Prize Papers. The project is funded by the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony, Germany as part of the Academies Programme of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities.
This first publication is only the beginning. Major bodies of captured material from American, French, Spanish, Dutch and recaptured British vessels will be published in the coming months and years, as more material is identified, catalogued, digitised, contextualised, researched, and made accessible.
The two-day international workshop, held on 8–9 October at The National Archives, UK and available both online and in person, will bring together specialists in prize law, the American War of Independence, and the Prize Papers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and across Europe. Participants will discuss the Prize Papers and foster sustained international exchange and collaboration.
The workshop is jointly organised by the Prize Papers Project (The National Archives, UK / University of Oldenburg, Germany) , the German Maritime Museum Bremerhaven, and the German Historical Institute London. It takes place alongside Revolution 250: America’s Independence Story, The National Archives’ major 2026 exhibition marking the anniversary of American independence and drawing in part on the Prize Papers. The workshop is hosted by Nele Popp, Amanda Bevan, Randolph Cock, Oliver Finnegan and Lucas Haasis.
This page is for registering to attend in person.
Would you like to participate online (only October 8)?
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/the-prize-papers-of-the-american-war-of-independence-online-tickets-2000900092038
Program
Thursday, October 8
09:45 – Foundations of the Prize Papers
Nele Popp & Lucas Haasis: Welcome
Amanda Bevan & Luan Cakolli: A Voyage of Discovery and Delivery … and what we're learning along the way
Suzanne Foxley: A pass to lie. Prize cases of secret military provisioning during the American Revolutionary War as brought before the New York Vice-Admiralty Court
11.00 – The Stories We Preserve
Séverine Angers: 'Write to me by different ships as the English capture many'
Randolph Cock: Piecing Together Clues from the USS Lexington, 1777: A Whodunnit
Rebekah Harbord: Behind the Scenes: Preparing documents from the Prize Papers for digitisation
12:30 – Lunch
13:30 – Loyalty, Deception and Survival at Sea
Bethany Groff Dorau: 'Taken by 64 Guns': A Case Study of Dalton Marine Captain Offin Boardman
Christopher Minty: 'False & Colourable': The Brigantine Adventure and the Paper War of the American Revolution
Abby Mullen: Mutiny or Loyalty? Revolt from the Enemy in American Prizes
15:15 – Exhibiting History and Reimagining the Revolution
Graham Moore: Revolution 250: Exhibiting the Prize Papers at The National Archives
John Beiner and Lucas Haasis: History at the Helm: The Prize Papers and the Making of the Videogame Ahoy
16:45 – Empires of Privateering: 1780 Around the Globe
Keynote by Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, with opening remarks by Christina von Hodenberg, Dagmar Freist, Daniel Göske & Amanda Bevan
Friday, October 9 (only in person)
09:45 – Visit to the Exhibition with Graham Moore & tour behind the scenes with Alice Middlemiss
11:45 – Document Display for participants, showcasing types of papers found
Credit Header Image: The Action Between the Frigates Bonhomme Richard (Capt John Paul Jones) And HMS Serapis, During The Battle Of Flamborough Head, 1779. Oil on canvas 34 x 46 in. Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1780, number 314, titled: ‘The action between the Serapis, capt. Pearson, the Countess of Scarborough, and Paul Jones’s Squadron. R.Paton.' Public Domain.
Event venue
The National Archives, Bessant Drive, Richmond, United Kingdom
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