Matthijs Tieleman
Assistant Professor
Office
SCH Schroeder Hall 306c
Office Hours
Tuesdays, 12:15 - 2:15 PM
Or by appointment
Or by appointment
Office Phone
Email
- About
- Education
- Awards & Honors
- Selected Research
Biography
Matthijs Tieleman is Assistant Professor of Early American History at Illinois State University. In 2021, he received his Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Prior to his position at Illinois State, he was a postdoctoral scholar at Arizona State. He originally hails from the Netherlands.
Matthijs is currently working on a book manuscript, entitled The Patriot Atlantic: The Dawn of the Age of Revolution, that examines the transatlantic connections between the revolutionary Patriot movements in North America, Ireland, and the Netherlands during the mid to late eighteenth century.
Matthijs's research has attracted support from various institutions, including the American Historical Association, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, the American Philosophical Society, the Huntington Library, and the Omohundro Institute. His award-winning writings have appeared in academic publications as well as American and Dutch national media, including The Washington Post and the History News Network.
Current Courses
HIS 241.001 Colonial Life And Institutions
HIS 135.005 History Of The United States To 1865
HIS 135.006 History Of The United States To 1865
HIS 309.001 Selected Topics In United States History
HIS 409.001 Selected Topics In United States History
Teaching Interests & Areas
Early American History; Atlantic History; American Revolution; U.S. Constitution; Early Modern Europe; the Enlightenment; Political history
Research Interests & Areas
Atlantic Revolutions; Early American history; Dutch history; Irish history
PhD History
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Los Angeles, California
MS American History
The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland
Bachelor of Arts History
Vrije Universiteit
Amsterdam
Influential and Inspirational Faculty Member Award
Illinois State University
2025
Exchange Fellowship with Trinity College, Dublin / Marsh's Library
The Huntington Library
2022
Franklin Research Grant
American Philosophical Society
2022
Postdoctoral Research Scholarship
Arizona State University
2021
Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellowship in Revolutionary Era Studies
Siena College
2021
Research Travel Award
Forum on Early-Modern Empires and Global Interaction (FEEGI)
2021
Runner-up Prize Applied History Essay Contest
Stanton Foundation and Harvard University Belfer Center
2021
Center for New World Comparative Studies Fellowship
John Carter Brown Library
2020
Dissertation Writing Fellowship
Center for European and Russian Studies
2020
First Article Prize
Center for European and Russian Studies
2020
Eugen Weber Research Award
Department of History, UCLA
2019
Michael Kraus Research Grant in American Colonial History
American Historical Association
2019
Conference Travel Grant
AANS / Nederlandse Taalunie
2018
Lapidus Early American and Transatlantic Print Culture Fellowship
Omohundro Institute, College of William & Mary
2018
Society of the Cincinnati Dissertation Fellowship
McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania
2018
Graduate Summer Research Mentorship
Graduate Division, UCLA
2015
Book Review
Review of Perl-Rosenthal, Nathan. The Age of Revolutions: And the Generations Who Made It
Matthijs Tieleman.
(2025), H-Diplo, H-Net
Journal Article
To Shake Off the British Shackle Forever: The Political Economy of the Dutch Republic During the American Revolution
Matthijs Tieleman.
Early American Studies, 23 (2), 225-261, (2024)
E Pluribus Unum
Matthijs Tieleman.
Journal of Applied History, 3 (1-2), 121-133, (2021), 10.1163/25895893-bja10014
'No Intrigue is Spared': Anglo-American Intelligence Networks in the Eighteenth-Century Dutch Republic
Matthijs Tieleman.
Itinerario, 45 (1), 99-123, (2021)
Newspaper, Article
Lessons from the 18th-century Dutch Republic
Matthijs Tieleman.
History News Network, (2020)
"How 18th-century information wars can solve the problem of 21st-century 'fake news'
Matthijs Tieleman.
The Washington Post, (2019)
Presentations
“A poor facsimile? American independence in the Context of the Patriot Atlantic”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Roosevelt Institute for American Studies, Middelburg, NL, December 10, 2025
“The Patriot Atlantic”,
Matthijs Tieleman.
ons of the American Revolution, Great Lakes District Meeting, Bloomington, IL, October 24, 2025
“The Patriot Atlantic”,
Matthijs Tieleman.
The American Revolution in a Global Context, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, September 15, 2025
“The Patriot Atlantic”,
Matthijs Tieleman.
ons of the American Revolution McLean County Chapter meeting, Bloomington, IL, August 13, 2025
“The Patriot Atlantic”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Life Long Learning, Senior Professionals ISU, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, February 5, 2025
“The ‘Guilded’ Age: Protectionism by Free Trade in the Revolutionary Dutch Republic During the Age of Enlightenment”, American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, January
Matthijs Tieleman.
American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, January 5, 2023
“A Constitutional Revolution”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Oceanic Origins of the Age of Revolution Conference, University of Southern California (USC) / Early Modern Studies Institute (EMSI), June 9, 2022
“Against the ‘Monarchical, Aristocratical Democracy’: The Revolutionary Atlantic World, Patriotism, and the Creation of the American Sonderweg Demokratie”
Matthijs Tieleman.
George Washington Forum on American Ideas, Politics, and Institutions: Liberal Democracy and the Age of Revolution, Ohio University, Athens, OH,, November 12, 2021
“The Fallen Continent: A Critical Appraisal of Europe by the Dutch and American Patriots, 1775-1787”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Modern Revolutions and the Idea of Europe, Annual Conference of the Research Network on the Idea of Europe, Athens, Greece, September 9, 2021
“‘Mutual Interests and Reciprocal Benefits’: The American Revolution and Dutch Political-Economic Thought, 1775-1787”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Friday Seminar McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, February 5, 2021
“Power of the Pamphlet: Connections and Similarities Between Common Sense (1776) and To the People of the Netherlands (1781)”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Fourth International Conference of Thomas Paine Studies, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, September 24, 2020
“‘America’s Friends Do Not Sleep’: The American Revolutionary Press in the Dutch Republic, 1775-1787”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Biennial Conference of the Forum on Early-Modern Empires and Global Interaction (FEEGI), Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, February 14, 2020
“‘Get Rid of That Vreempie!’: Dutch Perceptions of America During the American Revolution, 1775-1784”
Matthijs Tieleman.
International Conference of the Association for Low Countries Studies, University College London, UK, November 6, 2019
“Natural Rights, Local Privileges: Dutch Patriot Identity in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World”
Matthijs Tieleman.
International Congress on the Enlightenment, Edinburgh, UK, July 14, 2019
Address at the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati in Honor of George Washington’s Birthday
Matthijs Tieleman.
The Union League of Philadelphia, The Union League of Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 2019
“Exiles in the Empire of Liberty: Dutch Patriots in the Early American Republic”,
Matthijs Tieleman.
American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, January 3, 2019
“Spies versus Smugglers: The Imperial Crisis in the Dutch Republic, 1763-1775”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Omohundro Institute Annual Conference,, Williamsburg, VA, June 14, 2018
“The Stadtholderate and Popular Sovereignty: Early Modern Populism in the Orangist Revolution of 1747”
Matthijs Tieleman.
International Conference on Netherlandic Studies, Bloomington, IN, May 31, 2018
“A Revolutionary Wave: Dutch and American Patriots in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World”
Matthijs Tieleman.
Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, March 3, 2018