Walter Johnson’s article in the Journal of Social History, “On Agency,” raises important questions about the limits of using agency as a lens to study enslaved peoples. One of his biggest contentions is that agency has often been inextricably linked to any type of enslaved resistance and to proving the preservation of their “humanity.” Johnson… Continue reading →

Over the past fifty years gender has become a significant category of historical analysis across various disciplines. The study of gender has altered traditional narratives of the antebellum and postbellum United States, which typically privileged the elite white male perspective. Gender histories have, instead, highlighted the experiences of previously marginalized groups such as free black… Continue reading →

Recent approaches to Civil War history have called for broadening the spatial lens beyond United States national borders. Historians such as Don H. Doyle, Edward Rugemer and Michael Woods have emphasized the international influence on American tensions leading toward the Civil War and Emancipation. The transnationalist perspectives have added a layer to the abundant Civil… Continue reading →