Joseph Ross

• History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University
• Email: j.r.g.ross2@newcastle.ac.uk

The American Civil War in the Age of the Taiping Rebellion: How did the Taiping Rebellion Shape American Ideas About Unification, Reconstruction and Migration? My thesis will explore US engagement with China between 1850 and 1882. How did Americans make sense of the Taiping Rebellion? Did they see parallels with China's struggles over unity and rebuilding? And what role did they see for China - and the Chinese - in a Pacific World reeling from two rebellions? Using sources from American public culture, I will explore how American ideas about the Far East played into understandings of unification, reconstruction, and migration. Through this, the project demonstrates how transnational history of nineteenth-century America needs to include the Pacific world.

Supervisory Team: Dr Bruce Baker, History, Classics and Archaeology (Newcastle), Prof. Susan-Mary Grant, History, Classics and Archaeology (Newcastle), Dr Joseph Lawson, History, Classics and Archaeology (Newcastle).

Start Date: September 2017