Joanne Freeman

May 28, 2020 | by

Yale University (CT)

Joanne Freeman is a Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University. A leading expert on early American politics and culture, she is the author of the award-winning Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic, and editor of Alexander Hamilton: Writings and The Essential Hamilton. Her most recent book, The Field of Blood: Congressional Violence and the Road to Civil War -- a New York Times notable book of 2018 and Lincoln Prize finalist -- explores the impact and implications of physical violence in the antebellum U.S. Congress.

Long committed to public-minded history, she has been a historical advisor for writers, documentary filmmakers, the National Park Service, and a playwright; Lin-Manuel Miranda used her work in writing Hamilton. A co-host of the popular American history podcast BackStory, she is a frequent commentator for major media outlets and history documentaries. Her Yale online course, The American Revolution, has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people in homes and classrooms around the world.