Crowder College

Faculty Member, History

History Instructor

About

Welcome to my Academia webpage!  My research focuses on the political and constitutional history of the early American republic (1787-1861), especially southern politics and sectionalism.  My book, The Failure of Popular Sovereignty: Slavery, Manifest Destiny, and the Radicalization of Southern Politics, focuses on the efforts of southerners to insulate the extension of slavery from federal control by using the ever-changing idea of popular sovereignty to give southerners control of the issue.  Currently, I am developing several research projects, including an article-length study of the transition between the first and second American party systems and a political biography of Thomas Ritchie, the longtime editor of the Richmond Enquirer and a stalwart Old Republican from Virginia.

My teaching interests are quite broad and include not only the early American republic and antebellum eras, but also the colonial era and the United States throughout the long 19th century.  Additionally, I enjoy teaching about the West and Spanish borderlands history--both of which inform my understanding of American history in general.

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