L’histoire Atlantique aux États-Unis : la périphérie au centre

In this essay our intention is to draw the genealogy of Atlantic history as it is practiced in the United States. After defining this historiographical approach and emphasizing its opportuneness – without forgetting its rare detractors –, we address the main publications that punctuated its development in the United States and the special issues of journals that have identified its nature and delineated the field. We also discuss the conference and publication programs of the two most active centers in Atlantic history, that of Harvard, Massachusetts, and of the University of Charleston, South Carolina, and the role of their founders Bernard Bailyn and Jack P. Greene respectively. Finally, we explain how this approach has considerably renewed the historiography of British North America.