Dr. Mark Peterson

Biography

Professor Mark Peterson, a specialist in early North America and the Atlantic world, joined the Yale History Department in July 2018. He earned his Ph.D. in History from Harvard University and previously taught at the University of Iowa from 1998 to 2007 and the University of California, Berkeley from 2007 to 2018, where he also served as Chair of the History Department from 2015 to 2018. His recent book, 'City-State Boston: Rise and Fall of Atlantic Power, 1630-1865' (Princeton University Press, 2019, paperback, 2020), alongside his earlier work 'Price Redemption: Spiritual Economy in Puritan New England' (Stanford University Press, 1997), exemplifies his focus on the complexities of early American history. Currently, he is engaged in writing a new book with Princeton University Press titled 'Long Crisis of the Constitution', which offers a historical account of the political compromises surrounding the Constitution based on 18th-century conceptions of power and property. Additionally, he is working on 'Revolution’s Ends: A History of the American Revolution in the 21st Century', providing a new narrative on major conflicts in late 18th-century North America to offer frameworks for understanding the processes that led to the United States' independence and its implications in the world today. He is also planning a volume in a New England trilogy focused on the transformation of material culture and public expenditure from the 16th to the 19th century and completing an edited volume of writings on John Hull, a 17th-century Boston merchant and political leader. Professor Peterson serves as a co-editor of the book series 'American Beginnings' published by the University of Chicago Press.

Research Interests