G. Patrick O'Brien – The Conversation

A license plate recognition camera is seen in Boulder. Colo., on March 5, 2026. Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images

September 16, 2026

How the American revolt against Flock cameras mirrors the Boston Tea Party of 1773

G. Patrick O'Brien, University of Tampa

The bipartisan revolution against automated license plate readers suggests Americans have not entirely lost their rebellious spirit.

President Donald Trump, right, has been saying he wants to annex Canada, including directly to its prime minister, Justin Trudeau. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

March 3, 2025

America’s designs on annexing Canada have a long history − and record of political failures

G. Patrick O'Brien, University of Tampa

Trump is not the first American leader to dream of northern expansion. History suggests these designs reveal simmering divisions inside the United States.

An allegorical painting depicted the British Empire taking in American loyalists in 1783. Benjamin West’s portrait of John Eardley Wilmot, 1812. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

August 31, 2021

Refugees after the American Revolution needed money, homes and acceptance

G. Patrick O'Brien, Kennesaw State University

When people fled the new United States in the 18th century, they were taken in by the British Empire but became disillusioned by unfulfilled British promises.

Coffins of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani and others are carried on a truck surrounded by mourners. Majid Saeedi via Getty Images

January 10, 2020

Large turnouts for Soleimani’s funeral in Iran carry powerful collective emotions – just as Americans saw during the colonial era

G. Patrick O'Brien, Ave Maria University

Iranian leaders seem eager to use the powerful emotions surrounding his death to coalesce power around the regime. History shows that mass mourning is a powerful way to bring people together.

Hoda Muthana and child during an interview with ‘CBS This Morning.’ CBS News screenshot

March 6, 2019

Hoda Muthana wants to come home from Syria – just like many loyalist women who fled to Canada during the American Revolution

G. Patrick O'Brien, University of South Carolina

Like today’s Western women who joined ISIS and now want to return home, American women with British sympathies during the Revolution left the country – but many tried to bring their families back.

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