Teasing My Research

No, not the kindergarten brand of teasing. I’m excited about presenting some of my Jackson research at this summer’s SHEAR and this fall’s Southern.

At this year’s SHEAR, which meets in Philadelphia, I’ll be presenting a paper entitled, “Masculinity and Familial Relations in the Early Republic South: A Study of Andrew Jackson’s Advice to His Male Wards.” The paper will look at how Jackson’s advice outlined expectations of masculinity for his male wards. I intend to use his correspondence with Andrew J. Donelson, Andrew J. Hutchings, and Andrew Jackson, Jr. (Should I provide a scorecard to help the audience keep these four Andrews straight?)

At the Southern, which meets in Baltimore, I’ll be presenting a paper entitled, “Slavery, Kinship, and Andrew Jackson’s Presidential Campaign of 1828.” This paper will examine the issue of slavery in the 1828 presidential election and the role of kinship networks in attacking and defending Jackson regarding this issue.

These presentations follow the recent publication of my historiographical article on Jackson and slavery, which grew out of last year’s OAH panel on Jackson. I’m looking forward to getting feedback on some of my ideas while I’m finishing up the Jackson biography.