FORUM: 1776. Views from the British World. “Called It Macaroni”: A British Queer History of the American Revolution

Abstract

Timed to coincide with the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence that launched a revolution that created the United States of America, this series of articles complicates traditional narratives of this transformative event by situating it in a larger British world context. This article outlines the methodologies informing and content of my current book project, “Called it Macaroni”: A British Queer History of the American Revolution , as I presented them in public-facing lectures for Tallahassee Pridefest in 2025 and 2026. This project examines a range of individuals, from the lowest to the highest social ranks on both sides of the American Revolution, who expressed feelings of same-sex desire or trans gender. Also, more importantly, it explores the ideologies that underpinned the American Revolution, and highlights the ways in which they contain the basis for queer and trans inclusion, as well as supporting critiques of injustice around race, class, gender, and citizenship more broadly. I argue for the value of starting the story of the American Revolution in Britain in the seventeenth century and ask whether doing so, and placing aspirational ideals at the heart of the narrative, can provide a framework for a simultaneously optimistic, historically accurate, and broadly inclusive narrative that does not misrepresent any group's struggle for the sake of forging a consensus.