About

I study the political history of the Early American Republic with particular interest in the formation of governmental institutions. I received my undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia.

I am the author of The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798: Contesting the Constitution (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016) and articles about the politics of the 1790s. Currently, I am working on a history of the United States Senate from 1789 to 1833.

I taught at the University of Richmond for over 20 years, teaching classes about the development of political parties and debate through the Civil War. I currently serve on the faculty of the James Madison Memorial Foundation Summer Institute.