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Revolutions and Constitutions: Nation-Building in the Americas after 1776
Thursday, October 29 at Benson Latin American Collection, Austin
About this event
Explore how the ideals of 1776 helped spark independence movements and new constitutions across Latin America, reshaping the political map of the Americas. Created in collaboration with UT Austin undergraduate history students and faculty, the exhibition combines rare documents and maps from the Benson Latin American Collection with the digital exhibit Polarizing Uncertainty in the Atlantic World around 1776, showcasing student research. Location: Benson Latin American Collection, Ann Hartness Reading Room (SRH 1.106) Building: Sid Richardson Hall 1 Address: 2300 Red River St, Austin, TX 78712
Who's playing
The show grew out of a collaboration between UT history students, Professors Lina del Castillo and Cristina Soriano, and Benson Curator Veronica Valarino. Albert Palacios, the Benson's digital scholarship coordinator, built the companion online exhibit, Polarizing Uncertainty in the Atlantic World around 1776. The students did the archival digging, and their findings shape what is on display.
What to expect
This is a walk-through exhibition of rare maps, manuscripts and documents, set in the Ann Hartness Reading Room on the Benson's first floor. The online companion follows the story from colonial hacienda inventories and royal decrees through Mexican insurgency, royalist pamphlets, Argentina's caudillo era and early constitutional projects. The room is also a working library space, so the mood is quiet and unhurried.
Why go
The exhibition places the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence in a hemispheric story, one that includes contradiction and struggle as well as liberation. Seeing original documents chosen by students makes that history feel less settled. The Benson is one of the leading Latin American collections in the world, and it sits on the UT campus in Austin.
Where
Benson Latin American Collection · 2300 Red River Street · Austin TXDirections
