Here you will find my selected works. I will be uploading new papers as I produce them and will be maintaining a Curriculum Vitae through this page. Please let me know if there are any errors, if you have any suggestions for me to look into, or comments on my work!
*NOTE* Some of these files are in .wps, Works Word Processor, format. These files can be opened with Microsoft Word and, I imagine, most other words processors. If you have any problems opening files, please contact me.
Democratick Radical: William Legget and Jacksonian Political Economy
This article-length work is my Honors Thesis and best writing sample. It represents my most comprehensive and important work. The article details the thought of William Leggett, Jacksonian newspaper editor and political economist. It provides the reader with a detailed account of Leggett, his thought, and the historiographical conversation surrounding Leggett and Jacksonian libertarianism. Enjoy!
The Market Revolution as Leviathan History
This paper investigates the "Market Revolution," the historiographical concept often used to explain the sweeping changes of the Jacksonian Period (ca. 1815-1845) and provides a short critique of such an interpretive tool.
Investigates several of the historiographical questions regarding the Crusades posited in Norman Housley's book Contesting the Crusades.
Liberty under Lincoln: A Case Study of Northern Opinion-Makers
This short article utilizes the Republican Party mouthpieces, the New York Times and Harper's Weekly as well as various secondary sources to illustrate the various breaches of civil rights and liberties in the "Civil War" North under the Lincoln Administration.
The Sectional Distinction of North and South
Investigates the divisions (or lack thereof) between the American North and South in the period immediately preceding the War to Prevent Southern Independence.
John Barnetts & the Olustee Campaign
This award-winning (Editor's Choice in the 2009 Write the Ship) article, I use the career of Shippensburg native and veteran of the War to Prevent Southern Independence, John Barnetts to illustrate larger movements and patterns in the "Civil War" experience. It serves as an example of how to use local history to illustrate larger historical patterns.
The Law of the Igbos and the Establishment of Colonial Order in "Things Fall Apart"
This published article combines light literary commentary with historical research and context to investigate the role of political structures in staving off imperial incursions and concludes that stateless societies have much better chances of doing so as shown by the case of the Igbos in colonial Nigeria. It is expanded in the below article "Anarchy, State, and Empire: A Comparative Study of Igbos, Zulus, and British Imperialism."
Revisiting "Revisiting 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'"
This article (for which I won the 2010 Regional Phi Alpha Theta Conference "Best Oral Presentation" Award) more closely examines one of the instances cited in the above paper "The Market Revolution as Leviathan History," specifically the role of the Market Revolution in changing the celebration of the American Christmas. It includes a far more sophisticated Austrian critique of the Market Revolution rooted in the methodological superiority of Mises' Methodological Individualism.
This short paper investigates the life and actions of Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia. It is not exactly of much scholastic importance--much less Austrian in approach--but it is a great read nonetheless, if I may say so.
The Paper Empire: The Bank of England and Financing the Empire
This paper sifts through some of the most fundamental secondary works regarding British imperialism with an eye toward exposing the role of the British central bank, the Bank of England, and the fractional reserve system in financing the British imperial enterprise. *Spoiler alert*: Without them, the world would be a much better place.
Anarchy, State, and Empire: A Comparative Study of Igbos, Zulus, and British Imperialism
This work represents a much stronger and greatly expanded version of the above paper, "The Law of the Igbos and the Establishment of Colonial Order in 'Things Fall Apart.'" It utilizes the comparative historical method to investigate the cases of stateless Igboland and the hyper-statist Zulu Empire to determine whether stateless societies or monopolistic governments (a redundancy, I assure you) are more effective at preventing, resisting, and overturning imperial encroachments. Winner of the 2010
Write the Ship Editor's Choice Award.
The Market for the Common Good
A brief foray into an introduction to anarcho-capitalism delivered at the 2009 North American Undergraduate Conference on Religion and Philosophy. It will hopefully serve as a good reference to those of you interested in "extreme" libertarianism (which is really just an extreme love of and respect for humanity and the Good) but who have not properly introduced yourselves to the material. The bibliography should provide you with the appropriate beginner's materials.